(ACE) The MAUVILLE Team

This was one hell of a pickle. Gramps was right; casting any form of light would attract any undead that were down there, so shooting a bolt of fire from his staff was out of the question. Not to mention accidentally burning the entire place to the ground, like Kenna had mentioned. "Anything right below us? Like another one of these platform things?" she asked.

Sirius leaned over as far as he dared and straightened up a few seconds later with a shake of his head. "No, I don't think so. I mean..." He thoughtfully scratched behind one of his large ears. "I might be able to Psychic one or two of you down, provided you're not too heavy and don't mind that, but ... where does that leave the rest of us?" Well, damn. He should've known it wouldn't be plain sailing for long. If only they could climb down in some way...

"...Wait!" the Delphox suddenly cried, dashing back into the room and beginning to tug on the dusty curtains that were hanging on either side of the door. "Maybe if we roll these up and tie them together, we can make a rope." He glanced back over his shoulder towards the bedroom door. "We can use the bed sheets too." Of course there would be a solution somewhere. Hah, he was smarter than he looked.

"Somebody give me a hand with this," he said, pulling hard on the stubborn curtains. "And see if there's anything else we can use somewhere." He was so excited; they were going to get out of here. Orion too, and then he could dodge his brother's furious attacks once more while he tried to talk things through in a rational way. Everything would be normal again.

Except, in all the excitement, he did not notice that his brother was gone.

Gramps continues to look down into the abyss below with occasional glances to their companions as they take turns discussing back and forth. Everything was a risk. A light, the darkness, staying, leaving... "Maybe if we roll these up and tie them together, we can make a rope." Frowning, the helioptile looks down at his steel companion, wondering if this solution could work for his heavier companion. "Perhaps...but we should test anything we do in here before attempting it over the cliff as it is.."

He states with his reservations about the new plan leaking into his voice. "I can help tie knots once we gather more materials. There might be human clothing or bags we can gather as well for a rope." He offers, his eyes lingering back to his own paws as he places them against his chin in thought. What else did his master always keep with him...?

In contrast, Eris look calmly about the room. The prospect of leaving their shitty room for a room with the same chance of being shitty not appealing either way to the bug. "Don't look at me, I don't have hands." Eris says with a neutral expression that only cracks into a small lingering smile as she notices the others seem to have yet to discover--their blue party guest ditched.

Good riddance! At least not -everything- was going wrong. Hoping the other fox hasn't noticed this she remains silent on the matter. "Are you sure you want to go down at all? Why not up? Find more stairs or something. Unless your rope down can support me and your psychic a horse."

"I might be able to Psychic one or two of you down, provided you're not too heavy and don't mind that, but ... where does that leave the rest of us?" Madison made a face, scrunching up his nose in distaste. "You aren't getting me to go down there alone." The Normal type muttered, partially to himself, but loud enough to be heard. "Who knows what might be hanging around downstairs." Especially in the dark; the idea of having to rely on another Pokemon not to drop him to a horrible, gravity-induced death was terrible enough, but being ignorant to what horrors potentially lurked down below was that much worse.

"...Wait! Maybe if we roll these up and tie them together, we can make a rope." Dusty old curtains? That didn't sound much more comforting. Still, the Lopunny turned around, deciding it couldn't possibly hurt to look around for materials; it gave him something to do other than dwell on the pointlessness of their current situation, anyways. "Are there even enough materials in here to make a rope long enough to reach the ground? If something ends up coming undone, it's a long way down." Truth be told, he wasn't exactly crossing his fingers that this particular plan would work- not because he didn't want to get out of there, but simply on account of how many potential ways he could see things going wrong. Madison had not gone through the trouble of outrunning an angry, vicious dragon only to end up dying from a fall because a rotted old curtain couldn't hold his weight.

"Are you sure you want to go down at all? Why not up? Find more stairs or something." Now that was an idea he could actually get behind. "I don't see why we shouldn't." The Lopunny said, nodding. "We haven't run into anything dangerous upstairs." Well, nothing sick and dangerous. "It might be safer to look around here."

[[skip]]

"Are you sure you want to go down at all?" Eris asked, earning a quick glance from Sirius as he gave the curtains one final pull and they popped off the rack and fell into his arms. Dust billowed everywhere, causing him to cough. "Why not up? Find more stairs or something. Unless your rope down can support me and your psychic a horse."

"My Psychic is pretty good, actually," he said matter-of-factly, quite keen to get that information out before anything else. "And as for going up, that's a big no-no. One more flight of stairs and we'll reach the rooftop. Then what happens if the undead make their way up to this floor? We're trapped again. Not to mention all the birds out there that'll likely try to make a snack out of us." He'd been to this city before; he knew its layout. The only way was down, and the only way down was by--

...OH WAIT. There he went again; thinking too quickly and not letting his actual head do its job. Humans liked to put all sorts of little exits at the end of corridors and such, most of which led either outside or to lower floors. 'Fire exits', they called them. Maybe there would be one of those out in the corridor if he wandered along a little more...

Kenna seemed to know about it too. "A lot of human buildings like this usually have a couple emergency exits, don't they? Maybe we'll come across one? Trying to climb down with some curtains and sheets is..." She trailed off, her face betraying what she was thinking; she thought it was a crap idea.

"Yeah, yeah, I was just thinking the same thing." He abruptly dropped the curtains and turned to the door. "Yeah, that was a dumb idea. Let's forget about that." He began to scan the room for his brother; if he'd been there a lot longer than they had, maybe he'd know the location of the nearest exit. Not that he was likely to cooperate, but still...

"Hey, Orion! D'you know where any of the emergency exits are? Because ... Orion?" Looking frantically around the room, his suspicions were confirmed. His angsty little sibling had been quiet for far too long.

Sirius sighed, slapping his hand up to his forehead. "I'm gonna kill him."

The duo listens to the others debate back and forth. Noting the general agreement that the abyss before them was too dangerous. Stepping carefully back inside the damaged apartment, Eris moves to allow her companion to climb onto her shoulder on his own accord. Her elderly companion looking around warily, as if noting for the first time himself that their 'guest' was no where in sight. "A lot of human buildings like this usually have a couple emergency exits, don't they? Maybe we'll come across one? Trying to climb down with some curtains and sheets is..."

"Oh yes! There might be some that survived the er, earthquake.." Gramps adds enthusiastically, looking out towards the door they entered as if expecting to spot one there. "I've seen those before. They look too fragile if you ask me. Better than this thought." Eris sighs, giving a shallow shrug. "Oh...well, we would just have to be careful then. Make sure it's not collapsing at any parts and the way through is safe." The helioptile states, remaining optimistic.

"Hey, Orion! D'you know where any of the emergency exits are? Because ... Orion?" Ugh. Him... Eris visible grimaces while Gramps fiddles with his fingers having noticed himself, but chose not to say anything. "I'm gonna kill him."

As the helioptile fumbles with words as the younger pokemon slaps his face, the scizor makes steps toward the door, answering for them, "Hell, I'll help with that part. Even if he was here, he wouldn't have helped us." "He is his brother..." "And there is always the unfortunate chance we'll run into him later. We should be focusing on finding these exits."

"A lot of human buildings like this usually have a couple emergency exits, don't they? Maybe we'll come across one?" There was an idea- much better than simply trying to scramble down the side of the building with some makeshift rope, to be sure. A vaguely pessimistic voice in the back of the Normal type's mind, however, didn't hesitate to remind him that they still didn't know what was lurking back down on the ground. That thing sounds like it's gone, but who knows? Maybe it called in some friends; a commotion like that isn't really difficult to notice. But if they weren't safe on the ground, and they weren't safe in the building, then what could they possibly do? The claustrophobic feeling was back, tiny alarm bells going off in his head. They were going to die, weren't they? They were going to...

No. Focus, Madison.

"I'm gonna kill him." He was pulled out of his stupor by the ironic declaration, blinking dully and glancing around in an attempt to figure out the context. "And there is always the unfortunate chance we'll run into him later. We should be focusing on finding these exits." Oh, right. It looked like the blue bastard was gone, wasn't he? Good riddance. Madison couldn't help but think unsympathetically. "He couldn't have gone very far, anyways." The Lopunny instead said out loud, shrugging neutrally. "If we're going to try to find an exit, we might as well keep moving; if he knew where they were, then we could end up heading towards the same place anyways." At least it was something.

[[skip]]

"Hell, I'll help with that part," Eris sneered, earning a sharp glare from Sirius. "Even if he was here, he wouldn't have helped us."
"He is his brother..." Gramps softly interjected. Sirius puffed out a sigh; at least somebody understood.
"And there is always the unfortunate chance we'll run into him later. We should be focusing on finding these exits."

While the Scizor clearly knew what to prioritise, Sirius just couldn't agree. The exit to this completely screwed excuse of a city could be sitting right in front of them and he wouldn't pass through it without Orion. It'd be like leaving a part of himself behind, like his staff.

"He couldn't have gone very far, anyways," said Madison. Sirius scrambled over to the front door to poke his head out into the corridor, looking left and right for any signs of his brother. Only the intense darkness and the stench of dead human greeted him. "If we're going to try to find an exit, we might as well keep moving; if he knew where they were, then we could end up heading towards the same place anyways."

His mind made up, Sirius turned back to them all. "Look ... I don't expect all you guys to come with me. If you wanna take a stab at getting out of here alive instead of letting me drag you all over the place, be my guest, but I am not leaving this city without my little brother." He was aware of his voice wavering as he spoke, and hastily swallowed the lump growing in his throat. "I'm gonna go see if I can find him. If you want to come, that's fine, but if you don't then ... fair enough."

Without another word, Sirius pulled his staff out of his sleeve and ignited it, holding it high as he stepped out into the corridor.

"Look ... I don't expect all you guys to come with me. If you wanna take a stab at getting out of here alive instead of letting me drag you all over the place, be my guest, but I am not leaving this city without my little brother." The delphox's voice audibly wavers as he addresses the group. Eris couldn't understand it, but she stayed silent while he spoke regardless. "I'm gonna go see if I can find him. If you want to come, that's fine, but if you don't then ... fair enough." And there it was. Follow or get the fuck out.

She can feel Gramps' eyes staring at her and hear a small gasp, shocked that they wouldn't all immediately help the fox find his relative. That they might separate. She continues to remain quiet, waiting for the others' input. "We would want the others to help if it were us...and like Madison said, this could lead us somewhere safer and to his brother at the same time." The helioptile feels himself sinking slightly as his companion visibly exhales and hunches.

She hated the blue boy, but could think of nothing worth saying to argue against him. "And he seemed at least mildly familiar with the building...so surely he would try and go where it is safest, correct?" Gramps says while peeking at the other group members and hoping they will agree. Thinking about if it were him...and Eris was lost and no-one would help him...it hurt. None of them alone could make it here, not with--with that thing they saw earlier. Maybe the younger fox was just lashing out because he was scared or hurt...?

Rolling her eyes, her mouth contorting several times as she combats dueling thoughts, the scizor grumbles, "Fine." From on top her shoulder, Gramps smiles, though the bug's eyes instead focus on the doorway out. "I don't like him though."

"Look ... I don't expect all you guys to come with me. If you wanna take a stab at getting out of here alive instead of letting me drag you all over the place, be my guest, but I am not leaving this city without my little brother." The Lopunny visibly deflated so quickly, it was almost comical to watch. Ugh, really? Madison couldn't help but whine to himself, jaw clenched tightly to keep his silent complaining from turning verbal. What was more selfish, he couldn't help but wonder, not wanting someone to search for a family member in dangerous times or not wanting to help? In the end, he supposed it didn't really matter either way; selfishness was practically a choice of lifestyle for him at that point and he had no plans on changing that anytime soon.

"I'm gonna go see if I can find him. If you want to come, that's fine, but if you don't then ... fair enough." Madison grimaced, arms crossed tightly across his chest as the Fire type moved to leave. Obviously no one would go with the guy, he mused bitterly, the blue one didn't exactly do much to endear himself to anyone. That was fine by him, though; at least this way they could focus on getting the hell out of there, right?

"We would want the others to help if it were us...and like Madison said, this could lead us somewhere safer and to his brother at the same time." No. Not right. "Well, yeah, but..." Madison began weakly, his voice a feeble protest. He didn't care as much about the Delphox as he did not being there longer than he had to. Biting his lip, the Normal type watched his companions come to their own conclusions, and sighed, knowing that without a doubt he would probably get roped into following; there was, after all, power in numbers, and he didn't want to loose that.

Shoulders slumping melodramatically, the Lopunny let out a sound halfway through a sigh and a groan. "Okay. Fine, okay. I'm going."

[[skip.]]

[skip. I still need Calem for my next post.]

The darkness was so thick, so intense, that Sirius felt it would swallow him up into nothingness. Thank goodness he had his torch so he could spot the corpses before he tripped over them. Surely the stairwell wasn't too far from here...? Orion had gotten out of their hair pretty damn quickly. Hopefully it would just be at the end of the hallway.

He glanced over his shoulder to see that Gramps, Eris and Madison were coming with him. He could understand why they didn't like Orion very much; the guy was hardly made of sunshine and rainbows, and was glad that he didn't have to do this on his own. Maybe they weren't as unremarkable as he thought.

The blackness stretched out ahead of them, with no end in sight. Sirius guessed he wouldn't be able to see the door until he was right in front of it. Stepping over the half-eaten corpse of a woman, he belched as he held a paw over his mouth, trying to keep his stomach contents where it belonged. Not that there was much of it left by this point.

"You guys OK back there?" he asked over his shoulder. "Hopefully it isn't too far from here-- whoa..." The walls rumbled and the floor shivered as another aftershock shuddered through the building, dropping a cloud of dust from the ceiling in front of him. Clearly this place was just as structurally unsound as he'd anticipated. Sirius bit his lip, took a deep breath, and marched forward. They needed to be quick.

"C'mon, let's step on it."

(Please skip me this round.)

[Skip.]

The Aiveon was barely moving at all but Calem could not miss the clear strain in his hind legs. The limbs almost appeared to be purposely holding Claus back and even the short distance Abby had on him was too much for the little cat to make. "By me!" Ignoring the snarl of surprise then abrupt skidding of the Absol's paws, the boy jumped off of her back and darted to the Aiveon's side.
"Calem!" she spat in vain.

"I can't run!" came Claus' desperate cry but the trainer was right upon him by then.
"Don't bite me, 'kay bud?" Calem did not wait for a response, already reaching beneath the small Eeveelution's chest and scooping him up with one arm as gently as he could, however there was only so much he could do about the pressure that came with lifting.
"This--! It--! We don't have time for this!"

The Absol ducked her head, careful to point her scythe downwards as she abruptly slid underneath her trainer and got her shoulders between his knees. Effectively picking up the youth, Abrielle wasted no time breaking into a run even as the perilous debris behind them creaked ominously.
The last thing they expected was a blue Delphox, but as they rushed from the scene, sure enough, there one was. "Calem-"
"I know," he muttered back, holding Claus close to his chest with one arm while reaching for McGonagall's ball with the other.

"I'm not hostile-- just looking for a way out," the other fire starter said quickly as they were within earshot. The Absol skidded across the concrete- again- and stared suspiciously while Calem's expression remained strained but not cold. "Hope you don't mind a tag-along."
Abby's agitation at so many stragglers was evident. "I swear to Arceus, Boss-"
"I know. Later," he snapped at her before addressing the shiny. Come on, hope you can run; my Absol sensed the roof caving in back there and I don't know how far it goes. I can have my Altaria carry you if you can't keep up." Already Abby was trotting forward again.
"I'm Calem; this is Abrielle. And this guy is Claus-- he's with us." The threat in his tone was clear; don't hurt the Aiveon.

[ ooc: had permission to carry Claus ]

Despite the painful rebellion of his fragile legs, Claus does not have to fear being left behind-in no time at all, Calem is by his side, ready to carry him when his own body couldn't. "Don't bite me, 'kay bud?" The words come as a surprise: why would he be afraid of Claus biting him? You weren't supposed to bite the hand that fed you, or in this case, the arms that picked you up off of the ground; that was common sense. His mind might be fuzzy sometimes, but Claus knows what gratitude is. "This--! It--! We don't have time for this!" Quickly forgetting the oddness of the command, Claus barely has time to react before the Absol has lifted up the youth and by extension, him as well. He gives a short yelp of surprise as Abby sprints forward, his soft paws quickly clinging to Calem; despite the suddenness of the action, Abby's run seems to stop as soon as it begins. What was wrong? Was there something in their way? The Absol doesn't seem like the type to stop for nothing at all...
"Calem-"
"I know."
Finally, Claus spots the blue fox; that was definitely what had caused their sudden stop. What if it attacks me too? Abby believed him undead before, maybe this one would make the exact same mistake. Claus was sure Calem would be able to protect him if anything went wrong.

"I'm not hostile-- just looking for a way out," the fox explains, not even mentioning him. That was a relief. This one didn't look like it wanted to him, not like Abby, and that was definitely not a bad thing. "Hope you don't mind a tag-along."
"I swear to Arceus, Boss-" Claus' ears were almost beginning to ache, keeping up with all these voices. It would have been a lot better if it were just Calem around, his voice didn't hurt to listen to. "I know. Later." Claus still doesn't say anything as Calem addresses the fox; what would he say? It wasn't a good thing to interrupt others, especially humans, and it wasn't like Claus has anything to add on anyways. He could barely recall anything past arriving in the city, which was certainly nothing useful for a complete stranger. "Come on, hope you can run; my Absol sensed the roof caving in back there and I don't know how far it goes. I can have my Altaria carry you if you can't keep up." Oh, they were moving a bit again. Well, that was good, considering that the city was liable to come crashing down around their heads at anytime. Luckily, Claus is with companions who know what they're doing; he was perfectly safe. "I'm Calem; this is Abrielle. And this guy is Claus-- he's with us." Looking up from Calem and to the blue fox, Claus watches for the latter' reaction with a faint shade of anxiety. Please don't attack.

With every shiver of the ground, every splutter of dust that fell from the ceiling, Sirius's speed increased. He was practically jogging by the time he finally reached the end of the corridor and, surely enough, a metal door with a fluorescent red light above it came into view. "That's gotta be it!" The door was already ajar instead of slammed shut like they usually were; this was most likely the one that Orion had used.

Cautiously peeking his head around it, Sirius noticed two sets of stairs - one went up, and the other down. His brother was a firebrand, but he was no idiot; he surely meant that going up would only trap him further. He stepped inside the stairwell, holding the door open for the others.

"Looks like we're going down. We gotta be quick though..." The building rumbled again, like the belly of a great beast. Sirius bit his lip as he glanced at the ceiling above them. "I have a feeling that--" The beast bellowed then, the noise of screeching metal and crumbling stone almost deafening as the ceiling above them began to crack and splinter. Shit.

"That's gotta be it!"

The call rings out from ahead of the pair as the delphox reaches the end of the corridor. From where they stand ten feet back, the door is obviously ajar. Someone was through here recently. Eris and Gramps watch in silence as Sirius cautious leans his head out of the opening to check for dangers. Seeming satisfied that it is safe enough, he turns to hold the door for the rest of them.

When it has been opened enough to slip through, Eris moves to walk through it with her companion on her shoulder. They were wasting enough time as it was thinking about trying to 'rescue' his brother. Why waste any by dawdling. The scizor makes her way to the stairs leading downward and pauses at the first step to glance over her shoulder and make sure the others were following.

Sure enough, everyone seems to have agreed to help. Either they were moved by Blue Boy's few supporters -ha!- or none of them wanted to be left alone in the dark. She snorts at her own thought. Then the building shook again. Gramps' arms tightened around Eris' neck as her pincers struck out to her sides to grip the thin metal railings lining either side of her. The noise was deafening. Were the others screaming? Could they voices even get high enough to match the ominous screeching coming from above?

This doesn't sound good...the structural soundness of this building was questionable at best before... If the words had not been spoken right beside her ear, she would not have heard them. The helioptile states in a rushed, mortified voice, his gaze bound to the ceiling. Snapping her head up to the source, visible cracks form and splinter from above. Shit. This place was coming down. All the floors. Right on to them."Run!"

Coming back to her sense, the scizor's pincers release the now indented railings and she runs without looking back.

Power in numbers... Power in numbers... He repeated it to himself over and over again, gaze locked onto the flame of the Delphox's staff- it gave him something to focus on, something that was significantly less dark and morbid than the rest of their surroundings. This was such a terribly foolish idea- maybe they would have been better off jumping out the window. At least in that case if they ended up dying from the fall it would have been relatively painless- more certain. There was nothing worse in Madison's opinion than shuffling through the gloom, unaware of what gruesome fate could await them around any corner.

"That's gotta be it!" The cry caught the Lopunny's attention, long ears perking up ever so slightly in response. Freedom? Salvation? A damn exit? Oh lucky day. "Let's hurry up and go then." The Normal type called out, general fear and unwillingness to lend a hand in what was clearly an unwanted family reunion making him feel just a bit testy. "None of us are getting any younger."

Almost as if to spite him, the entire building seemed to decide then was an ideal time to groan at once. "Nnnhh..." A whine broke free from his throat, shaky and incomprehensible as the ceiling above them started cracking before his very eyes. So this is how I die, huh? This place is going to be my tomb. It was a nice run while it lasted- okay, but not great. Strangely enough, his thought process was very, very calm- especially strange considering how desperate the Lopunny usually was to cling to life by any means necessary. It was almost as if the fear had frozen him in place, eyes locked on the cracks that seemed to grow larger and larger as the seconds ticked by...

A small piece of rubble chose that moment to break free, smacking the Normal type in his face above his left eye. Hissing at the sting from his newly acquired cut, Madison abruptly seemed to come back to reality. "Run!" The voice was nearly drowned out, but he didn't need to be told twice. "We're dead, we're dead, we're dead-" Oddly enough, the mantra inspired him to move faster.