(ACE) The LAVERRE Team

((Skip; Plant is distressed, staring at the blocked door, and keeping very close to Hide))

((Skip my two, want to bring the cycle back around to let Dazey post the next push of the group out of the boutique.))

OoC)) Skip, Death is doing nothing this round. His attack begins next round.

Calmness. Tranquility. The end of night.

All things the morning meant in the past. But staring at the rising sun in the distance, the Umbreon only thought of chaos. Malice. Evil.

Her eyes were trained on the Machoke with the sun at its back— somehow the deep shadows across its features made it look even more evil. She remained in her trance until Shadow’s yell and a loud splintering of wood snapped her out of her haze.
Alirah’s head whipped around to the broken down door, pausing to mouth a quick thank you to the Charizard before she hurried out to scan the perimeter. Her golden heart sank at a mile a minute as she realized how outnumbered they were, that escape was truly their only viable option.

Except running wasn’t her specialty. Her body was prone to collapsing after exertion and she was all too aware the situation it was going to put her in.

Still, she swallowed hard and yelled. “Everyone! Follow me! Don’t say the name!” The Poké Ball Factory. A landmark anyone could find to track them down.
She blasted off, her small frame practically flying with each leap across the pond she used to play at. The wooden bridge creaked in opposition but remained firm until she made it across, where she stopped and whirled around to check for her companions.

Conan was scared, there was bad guys everywhere and they was crazed on wanting to harm them. The time was now to worry about everything but that soon washed away when Shadow had knocked down the door in the back. Alirah had spoken saying a hope that they could find safety. “Everyone! Follow me! Don’t say the name!” The Eevee was shaken a little but he looked at Plant and Hide. He wanted to stay by them as they would travel together. Shadow looked like he could handle himself. After all, that Charizard looked like he's tougher than he looks. The only thing he wished was that he could do was be as strong as his parents.

The Eevee was ready to go with the other two as he was a bit scared still. "A-Alirah, will Shadow and Kaneki be safe?" Honestly, he was concerned that they could be caught or killed out there but he knew Kaneki hasn't failed them nor does he planned to fail them. Shadow though, Conan didn't know much of him but his promise would only be the thing he would go by. Conan swallowed and stayed very close to Hide.

The sound got louder, closer, the sound of claws and otherwise rumbling outside as they scoured their way across the building. Why?! Why this place, what had they done? Why was this happening?! "Take a deep breath for me, Plant. You'll be safe here, I won't let them get close, 'Neki over there definitely won't let them close." Hide's voice broke through his panic, the tone soothing against his rattled nerves. "I know it's scary, but you won't get hurt, I promise you." Plant hadn't been that familial with Hide before but that was like a different world as he huddled closer to the Riolu, trusting every one of his words. Still, he was terrified, a wail escaping his maw as a fist pounded and beat its way through the door. Kaneki would protect him, but in his terror his mind went straight to every other frightening situation he had been in, and the protector traveled with. If Verglas was here he could put those awful Pokemon to sleep, he could freeze them in place, he would make an icy barrier over the door--!

Bubbling tears welled from his eyes. Verglas was gone; he was dead and would never be able to protect him again, nor could he ever pay him back. As Kaneki fought back with a series of attacks and the Pokemon outside closed in further and further, all the noise around him seemed to blur into a cacophony of terror. A sound so awful his entire body went cold, as if it knew to brace for impact. They were trapped, cornered by Pokemon who wanted to harm them for no reason, and their options were minimal at best. The others talked, planned, but he struggled to listen as he drowned in his own fear. What good would it be to get out, that's where all the Pokemon were! His mouth betrayed him, his sniveling filling it with mucous and choking out any whining words he may have thought. Bringing his tiny hands closer to his chest he felt for the hard stone of his necklace, but even its touch offered no comfort.

"Alirah, kids, get ready." Shadow's voice sounded so far away, like he was in another world, but his actions could not be ignored. As his shadowed fist slammed down on the blocked door and he burst it open, exposing them to the outside, Plant felt his breath halt in his throat. Whether it was fear, subconscious, ushering, or what you, the child found himself moving on autopilot as his stiff body ran out through the threshold. Everything in his mind said to hide, not to go where the enemy was, but he trailed after his friends without protest. “Everyone! Follow me! Don’t say the name!” Alirah instructed before charging off, her pink pelt the beacon he needed to follow. He didn't dare think, to considering anything otherwise, and focused on the Umbreon's bright form rather than the horrendous noises about them.

Outside was a stark change from the boutique. With no walls to block the noise the horrible chanting was all the more audible. The snickering laughs, the choking malice, were he not putting all his focus upon watching Ali he could have drowned in it all. The booming sound of attacks were enough to send shocks throughout his body, and his stumbling steps threatened to trip him as he pushed himself to run even faster. Nothing looked familiar, the swampy town not at all like the foggy land he had been in the day prior. Passing over natural ponds Plant wanted to deviate, to tear off into nature and hide where he was most comfortable, but the small bit of control he had over himself would not like Ali disappear from his sights. 'Dont say the name' was a vital instruction, and as his panting breaths dried his slick throat he managed to ask the quickest question possible, "W-where?!"

They were all in agreeance, then. That was good, Kaneki was not in the mood to be listening to them acting like idiots in the face of this danger. The spectreon let a calm wash over him, claws sliding out from where they were retracted as his tails gave a slow curl, eyes narrowing. His red eye started to glow with a Detect, and he readied himself for the next move. Once that door came down, all hell would break loose and they'd be all sent helter skelter. He barely noticed Shadow glancing his way, only sparing the charizard a glance before his eyes were back on the enemy, his body coiled like a spring about to snap.

"Let's do this. Once we're out, make a run for it. They'll likely give chase the minute they hear the back door crash down." Hide watched the two closely, his chocolate brown eyes flitting over Shadow for a moment, then back over to Kaneki, watching the spectreon. He knew that Kaneki was going to be okay, he promised. But that didn't help the sinking feeling of dread that was slowly building in his gut. Something didn't feel right, and Hide's aura senses were going haywire. He could feel a headache forming, the sound of pokemon chanting and yelling droning on in the riolu's ears. He winced, rubbing at his face and then lightly tapping at the side of his muzzle. Come on, Hide. Get it together. It's not that bad, just breath through it... you've been through worse. He thought to himself, keeping his protect bubble up around himself and the kids, They wouldn't have a large window to run... so he'd have to be on high alert. "Alirah, kids, get ready."

The first hinge being snapped was Kaneki's cue, and as soon as the door started to fall, the spectreon was already springing into action, bolting out the door with his paws hitting the wood and using it as a vault as it fell to launch himself into the fray of attackers. His pwas collided with one, claws sinking in so he could anchor himself there and fire off rapid-shot shadow balls into their face. His back feet kicked and clawed at his captive, fur bristling outwards with a snarl. "Hide, Alirah! Move!" He yowled, only briefly sparing a glance to see them racing out and away from the two of them.

Hide bolted the moment he was told to, keeping his bubble up around them as he raced alongside Alirah, keeping the four of them within his protective barrier. “Everyone! Follow me! Don’t say the name!” Don't say the name, smart-- they couldn't afford to be followed. Hide nodded as he raced alongside her, one paw out to keep the berrier up and his body lowered to keep his speed up. "A-Alirah, will Shadow and Kaneki be safe?" His eyes briefly went down to Conan, cracking a brilliant smile at the eevee. Even in these tense times, he believed in Kaneki; even if Shadow was a flop, he knew Kaneki would be okay. He promised after all!

"Don't worry, Conan. Kaneki's built of some strong stuff. He's going to be just fine. He'll kick all their asses and make sure we're all safe. He promised that he'd come back safe and sound, after all. He said, turning his attention to Plant, who was racing alongside them, keeping his focus on the kids, making sure they were okay and that they were keeping up. He panted softly with the exertion of keeping his protect up along with his fast running, but he stubbornly pushed aside the exhaustion. He had a job to do, and damn it, he wouldn't let them down. "W-where?!" Hide reached his other hand down as he ran to offer it to Plant, either for him to hold or for the snivy to climb up, he didn't mind either. "Just hold onto me, Plant. I won't let you get lost, okay?" He said softly, keeping hsi eyes ahead, on the running form of the pastel umbreon.

Kaneki vaulted off the first body he'd jumped onto, continuing to collide himself into the next foe in his sights. The further he got into the fight the less the spectreon cared about maing himself less of a target. He passed through the defense of a machoke who tried to block his attack, teeth sinking into their arm with a hiss, his claws sinking in as he kicked at and tore into flesh. His tails flared and lashed angrily, the red gas looking almost like sprays of blood as Kaneki savaged their attackers. He pulled away from his current target at they fought to get free and retreat, blood smeared along his dark muzzle and teeth. The spectreon panted hard, his pupils thin slits and red eye glowing brightly as he sized up his next opponent.

"Something's happening. Go on ahead, me and Kaneki can handle this!" Something--? No shit something was happening! They were being attacked! However... Kaneki paused, his gaseous ears flicking forwards with a heavy breath out, listening intently. The sounds... were different. They weren't only just screaming out of anger now, he could hear the bloodied cries and the throes of death happening further back. Who was attacking...? It wasn't any of them, and somehow... Kaneki didn't think they were friendly either. His fur bristled and he growled out lowly, his detect flaring up again as he searched the crowd. What the hell was happening? And how much of a danger was the new unknown?

It was so hard to breathe. Her lungs burned and her legs were so heavy. The chanting rung in her ears and for a brief second she just wanted to lay down and give in.
"A-Alirah, will Shadow and Kaneki be safe?"

She stared at Conan for a moment. Immediate guilt washed over her for her weakness, her willingness to give up her role as a guardian of these children and fail them. No, she couldn’t do that. She wouldn’t.

Alirah sucked in a breath and ran harder, eyes set ahead with steely determination to reach their destination. “Yes. So we have to return the favor and be safe too!”

"W-where?!" Plant asked between pants.
She slowed her gait to fall into step with Hide and the kids. If something happened to her, they needed to know where to run. “When you reach the gym with the big tree, go left around it and keep running straight. You’ll see a huge building with gates and a fence,” she said on a hushed whisper. “Oh shoot!”

She felt a pressure wrap around her ankle and then suddenly— where was the ground? Why was everything upside down?!
Alirah nearly screamed when she rotated around to be nose-to-nose with her captor. A Mr Mime held her inches from its face by her back legs, grinning and snorting in her face.
Her blood rushed to her head and threw all her senses into overdrive, including her survival instinct and on reflex she was forming an enormous Shadow Ball at the tip of her snout.

She threw the massive blob of darkness at the creature’s face and watched it’s head explode in a gruesome shower of blood and brain matter for the split second before she fell hard on her head and then rolled onto her side. She lay there for a moment, covered in blood and sobbing. “I killed him. Oh god I killed him, Hide…”

She managed back to her feet, checking her surroundings and recalibrating her sense of direction towards the factory. Her breaths were bordering on hyperventilation now but she kept moving. She had to.

This was getting more scary by the minute as not only the sounds of anger but there's sounds of death as well. All the Eevee had to do was look behind him and see something even more frightening. “When you reach the gym with the big tree, go left around it and keep running straight. You’ll see a huge building with gates and a fence,” She was cut off by a crazy Mr. Mime. “Oh shoot!” Conan watched as a Mr. Mime grabs Alirah and fear sank in. His fear of seeing Alirah about to die right in front of him had jumped up but what he seen though was the opposite. Alirah had attacked and killed the Mr. Mime. The Eevee seen what Alirah did but being old enough to understand it was either life or death and she did it to defend herself. Maybe Shadow might have to talk with her. “I killed him. Oh god I killed him, Hide…” A sad look came on Conan's face seeing Alirah sobbing and covered in blood. However his hearing had also picked the sounds of undead started to come towards the battlefield. They had to get moving before more trouble comes. Conan couldn't say anything to Alirah. She was already shaken up pretty bad.

They had started going again and with them now hearing less of the screams of madness and agony, the eevee still wasn't going to let what Alirah did to the Mr. Mime bother him. It attacked her with an intent to kill her so she attacked back in defense. "Alirah, its scary out here." Conan wasn't going to lie, it was scary and the crazy pokemon wanted to hurt them. However no other pokemon gave pursuit. The eevee looked back seeing flames starting to appear in the city and some spooky glow was coming from another part just barely outside. Looks like that might be where Shadow and Kaneki is. They had to wait for them.

“When you reach the gym with the big tree, go left around it and keep running straight. You’ll see a huge building with gates and a fence.” Ali was quick to explain their path, her quiet and fast voice needed extra focus to hear. Left of the big tree, thats what he latched on to. He could do that...! His steps quickened, and he struggled to keep an eye on the brownish and pink shapes while also looking for the big tree. It was a lot, and the horrible sounds from behind them were not letting up and endlessly distracting.
For all his efforts Plant could not block out the noise, and as his friends attacked back it only got worse. The sneering calls turned to screams, roars, and cries of agony. Plant tried to press his hands against his ear slits, but the sound could not be stopped. The unmistakable crackle of fire was enough to hitch his step and send him bolting, but his stumbling steps would always slow to keep extra close to his friends. Blood pulsed through his skull and echoed above the screams. They, they weren't going to make it...! How could they possibly avoid all these horrible Pokemon?!

"Just hold onto me, Plant. I won't let you get lost, okay?" Hide's voice broke through his inner turmoil, his words calm and comforting. As the Riolu outstretched a hand Plant moved without thinking. Let it be memory or instinct, he could not stop himself to clambering up onto the Riolu. He had preformed that motion so many times with Verglas it had become ingrained, an innate response, and as soon as he did it a new whirl of emotions hit him. This was not Verglas; the size, shape, hold, touch, smell, it was all wrong. Yet.. simply being atop another Pokemon gave him instant relief, a sense of safety he had found nowhere else. A heavy sigh puffed out of his lungs between his pants, and he held on securely to his host.

As comforting as it was it did nothing for the sound, and no matter how far away from the dangerous Pokemon they made it their cries only seemed to get worse. The harsh sound of wingbeats drummed above them, and Plant tilted his head just in time to see Shadow spiral and land. "Something's happening. Go on ahead, me and Kaneki can handle this!" Something was coming? Like one of the bad Pokemon had made it through or something else entirely?! The dragon was quick to return to the fight, leaving the Snivy wanting for answers. Spooked, he tightened his grip and pressed his snout into Hide's fur. No, no he had to have faith they would be okay...

A yelp from Ali forced his gaze to shift, but immediately he regretted doing so. She was being held up awkwardly by some Pokemon, a gangling creature he had never seen before. It had a look of malice on its face, such a cruel twisted expression Plant could feel the ill-tent from it. Panic quickened his racing heart and he screamed as an attack was form. They had to do something!! but he couldn't so much as release a vine before it was too late and the area was covered in a shower of blood and gore.
The smell hit him before the sight, a horrible, horrible smell that while used was enough to send alarm throughout him. Pressing his face back into Hide's fur Plant shielded his eyes from the horror, desperately trying to block out the reality of the scene, but he could not stop Alirah's whimpers from hitting his ear drums. “I killed him. Oh god I killed him, Hide…”

Kaneki braced himself against the ground with his muzzle pulled back in a vicious snarl. Eyes wild and red eye glowing as he gripped at the muddied ground, Kaneki's tails lashed and flared out wildly in every direction, snapping back and forth while his mane and ears billowed angrily like flames. The spectreon darted forwards as another ghost type tried to race along past them to get to the others, colliding hard into their side. Fueled by adrenaline and instinct, Kaneki yowled out a battle cry as he sunk his teeth into the other ghost, paws ripping at flesh and the two rolled across the ground.

The pokemon he'd attack whirled around with a shadow claw and attacked Kaneki in response, the ghostly attack sinking into the eeveelution's fur and flesh, blood dribbling from the wound that it'd caused along his side. Fur and blood was spilled everywhere as Kaneki ripped into the attacker, Payback hitting them harder in reltaliation as he ripped his mouth free with a disgusting spray of blood and viscera.

Kicking himself free of the body, Kaneki skittered back towards where Shadow was, his fur bristling and body trembling from the adrenaline running through his body. There was something else; something more dangerous than these small fry. Kaneki's dual colored eyes locked onto the glowing form of the Marowak ahead of himself and Shadow, his claws and bloodied fangs bared in a warning snarl. He didn't even move as the shadow balls hit the ground either side of them, facing the deranged ghost type with a defiant snort. "So a traitorous undead and a ghost without a body tends to escape." Kaneki spat blood that wasn't his out of his mouth and onto the ground at his comment, lip curling.

"Funny, I feel pretty solid. Though you look a little worse for wear. Get lost on the way to the freakshow, buddy?" He spat, his tails lashing with a low growl. His eyes went over the Marowak, taking in how they stood, how they were acting... they were strong, but Kaneki had been through worse. Even if he was left dragging himself back with missing limbs, he would protect Hide and the others until his last breath. And he was not going to die to some wannabe freakshow.

"Why do you resist the call? Does the living..... Ahh!" He snorted out a low hiss as they looked shadow over again, taking in how the oddly colored charizard was decidedly not dead. He has some rather rot-brain ideas though. It's an easy mistake to make, I suppose. He thought, looking up at the charizard briefly, bfore turning his eyes back to the Marowak as he spun that scythe-looking bone club around. He was used to handling it... Kaneki would have to keep an eye on that. "You face me now."

"Best news I've heard all day, fucker. I was just thinking how much fun it would be to smear that ugly mug across the pavement." He sneered, before charging up a shadow ball and shooting several rapid fire attacks of shadow balls towards the Marowak. He used the attacks as a cover to race hismelf forwards without hesitation, lunging at the ghost type with a feral snarl.

---

Leaving Kaneki to fight on his own left a sour taste in Hide's mouth. He kept glancing back to where they were left, letting out a soft whine under his breath. He knew how strong the Spectreon was... but he also knew how stubborn he was too. Kaneki wouldn't back down from a fight just because he was weaker than his opponent, expecially not if he had someone to protect. His attention was grabbed by the feeling of Plant clambering up onto his shoulders, chocolate brown eyes glancing back to watch him closely. He gave the grass type a winning smile, reaching his paw up to help keep the snivy held in place so that he didn't fall off as they ran. Good. Up there at least I know he'll be safe... I promised Ken that I'd look after everyone.

His ear twitched as Alirah fell into step beside them, turning to look back at her. His mind was running a mile a minute, bouncing from one thing to another as he fought to keep on track. Right now he had only one goal he had to do; he needed to focus, Kaneki would be fine.

He hoped.

“When you reach the gym with the big tree, go left around it and keep running straight. You’ll see a huge building with gates and a fence,” he opened his mouth to reply, but the words he was going to say turned into a sharp bark of alarm as Alirah was suddenly ripped from his sights, skidding to a sharp stop as his stubby claws dug into the ground to act as traction for the riolu to turn back around. “Oh shoot!”

"Alirah!"

Concern and fear laced into his voice, his paws flickering with energy as he prepared to attack the manic Mr Mime that'd grabbed the poor Umbreon. The whole scene happened in a manner of seconds, the sudden upheaval of their leader followed by the familiar sound of a shadow ball and the unfortunately more familiar sound of gore and viscera hitting the ground in wet slaps. At first, Hide's mind went to the worst; he assumed Alirah was dead.

God— What was he going to tell Kaneki?

But next came the sight of poor Alirah, alive and well, but covered in blood and gore and other bits of what once was the Mr Mime's head. Hide breathed a sigh of relief once he realized she was still alive, but his ears fell in concern as sobbing and fearful words followed soon after, “I killed him. Oh god I killed him, Hide…” He sighed softly, reaching down to gently rub his paw along her shoulder, letting the umbreon get up in her own time.

"It's okay, Alirah. You did what you had to... it was you or him." His voice was soft, consoling the umbreon as he watched her stand. He made sure she was okay before they started moving again, pausing only briefly to make sure that Conan was following them before he summoned another Protect bubble around them, running after Alirah as they made their way to the Pokeball Factory.

The Marowak continued to twirl his scythe as he locked eyes with Kaneki. Foolish eeveelution, going up against Death himself. Killing these two will be his greatest treasure and their souls will feed his scythe. "Best news I've heard all day, fucker. I was just thinking how much fun it would be to smear that ugly mug across the pavement.” How brave of such an eeveelution to say such words but it wouldn’t matter. Kaneki shot shadow balls at him but attacking him from the front to get a hit? How useless it was. Spinning his bone in front of him to block the incoming attacks, he couldn’t see Kaneki approaching for a direct attack. As the last shadow ball is blocked he spotted Kaneki but only had enough time to use the bone to guard the attack.

Now the two was struggling for the bone. Though Death had the strength to throw Kaneki off, he’d rather toy with him first that’s if the charizard doesn’t interfere. Then again, it would make this more interesting. ”Do you feel that? The echoes of the dead? They wish for you both to join them.” Though Death kept his grip on his bone, he was very much plotting at the same time. 

The blown apart skull lay on the ground, the brain matter still clinging to her face… the fact she’d murdered someone so violently in front of children… And worst yet, what if that Mr. Mime was completely innocent? It wasn’t unheard of for someone to be manipulated, controlled… maybe he had a family.
No! He was evil. I have to believe that!

"Alirah, its scary out here." Conan cried.
She was already on the verge of weeping and the little voice just wrenched her gut so much more.
“I-I know, dear, we’ll be safe soon,” she promised, staring at the shape in the distance growing nearer. She gave a final push, sucking in a breath of air and bounding for the Factory.

The small stretch of woods between Laverre and the Factory remained as ominous as ever, with tangled branches reaching high along either side of the overgrown pathway and the signature spookiness of the area surrounding Laverre only amplified by both the current situation and the chance of wandering undead. “Here we go,” Alirah said.
She moved towards the immense blockade filling in the gap of fortification between the massive pillars connected to the high stone fence. With an exhale, she bounded from one miscellaneous item to another until she finally crested the top and descended downwards.

She pressed her nose to the ground and scented for recent visitors, both undead and otherwise. Curiously she did notice a recent - maybe the last few days - scent. Two actually! Neither smelled of decay which piqued the interest of the Umbreon. “Someone’s been here. But they’re not undead so maybe they’re friends?” She sighed heavily and sat down on shaky legs. “I don’t like leaving Kaneki and Shadow like that…”

OoC)) Skip, Shadow is watching carefully and waiting to make his move against Death.

Kaneki let out a snarl as his fangs and claws met with the solid feeling of bone as the marowak blocked with his weapon instead of flesh like he wanted. He gripped hard to the bone in his grip as the two restled with it, his tails lashing and writhing like angry snakes. The red mist crackled and hissed like flames, the smooth curls replaced with angry spikes of red mist that was almost alive on its own as it flared and spiked out like a raging wildfire. Clenching his jaws down on the bone, Kaneki planted his back feet on the ground and wrenched his head back, trying to rip the bone free from the other's hands.

This damn weapon would be a pain to deal with; it was tough to break which meant it was definitely something that he'd have to keep an eye on. The sooner he got this thing off the marowak, the better. That would at least mean one less thing he'd have to worry about in this fight.

He was aware of the fact that Shadow had let to join the attack, something that had the spectreon's fur bristling with anger. Coward. He had no time for someone who got cold feet when it came to attacking someone, in this kind of situation it was kill or be killed, and hesitating often meant the difference between life and death. If Shadow got out of this damn fight alive, Kaneki was absolutely going to chew him out about his hesitation in stepping in.

He had no time to coddle and baby people who were a weak stomached when it came to attacking another living pokemon.

Kaneki raised a paw high off the scythe he was gripping to, claws out and glowing with dark energy as he slammed them down hard onto the head of the marowak, his arm passing through the bone harmlessly in order to make sure his attack hit true. He followed it up with another quick successive hits once contact was made, jerking his head back with a victorious snarl as the bone scythe was wrenched away from the other ghost's grip. Finally--!

”Do you feel that? The echoes of the dead? They wish for you both to join them.” Kaneki, jerked his head to the side to  toss the bone away and out of reach, planting his feet on the ground as he kept himself bodily between the weapon and its owner. His tails lashed and he pulled his muzzle back in a snarl, his teeth stained with blood already as he braced, ready to attack again. "They're a few years too late, dumbass. I'm already dead, and I'm not planning on joining their dumb little posse. How about you go join them instead?" He spat back, lowering himself down to the ground again as he shot out more shadow balls at the marowak. Without that stupid bone, it'd be harder to dodge these at least.

Kaneki darted himself around to the side this time, using the shadow balls to hide his approach until he could lunge forwards, claws outstretched to body himself into the side of the other ghost. Even if he got a few injuries himself, he wasn't going to let this thing anywhere near Alirah and the others. He was done with letting people get hurt because he was too slow to get there in time, or not strong enough to defend them when they needed it.

---

Hide waited until Alirah was back on her feet before they started running again, though his ears were perked high and on alert for anything that was approaching. He had to be vigilant, there were clearly others around and they were not above sneak attacks. At least Conan and Plant were safe under his protect bubble, but Alirah... he shook his head. No. I need to have faith. We'll get to this damn factory in one piece and together. We have to, Kaneki's expecing us to be there. He thought to himself, sucking in a steely breath before looking back to the path they were headed.

“I-I know, dear, we’ll be safe soon,” Alirah's soft voice and her promise made Hide smile, reaching briefly to try and wipe the viscera off her face, though he pause mid-motion as she got up and started darting off again. He sighed softly but chuckled, a smile on his face. Oh well. I'll clean it once we get there. He thought, gently reaching his paw up to keep Plant situated where he was sitting before running off after Alirah.

He looked around as they ran, watching the trees overhead of them for a sign of anything else that was going to be dangerous for them, or even the danger of undead coming out of nowhere to attack them as well. This whole situation was awful... it was supposed to be safe, right? What had happened in the time he and Kaneki had been away from these guys? Just how long were they out? It couldn't have been any longer than a day, right? How could things change so much in the span of a night?

His wandering thoughts soured a little at the last thought, and his frown grew, his eyes falling to the ground. Of course things could change in the span of a night, he knew that better than anyone. The sight of Kaneki when he was younger, a smiling, bright eevee, though there was always such pain behind his gray eyes even back then... but it was simpler. And then in the span of a night, he was gone, and Hide spent the next few years looking for him, chasing the scraps of anything to find him. It took a battle to finally find him again, something that'd left Hide wounded and Kaneki had to defend him. He still vividly remembered that moment, the moment that he saw his friend, his beau in such a different state to what he remembered him in.

He sighed, shaking his head. In many ways, Kaneki had changed. But under it all... was still that scared, young eevee he'd first met. He was strong, but he was also vulnerable too. Something that Hide was painfully aware of.

“Here we go,” his eyes looked up as he registered that they'd arrived at the factory, and he eyes scanned over the debris and other large objects that covered over the fence as a huge blockade against anything coming in. Holy hell... talk about a fortress. This place would be perfect to defend! All they had to do was stop them climbing the blockade and it was perfect... he watched as Alirah scaled the wall, looking around to see if there was an easier way in for the kids. "Hide? Can you see Alirah?" His mouth formed a thin line and he hummed, shaking his head.

"Sorry bud, I can't. Don't worry though, I'll get us over there." he said, coming over to carefully scoop Conan up into his arms, then glancing back at Plant to make sure he was holding on tight. With that, he hopped from box, to metal post, to another box, to a plank of wood and then finally up and over the blockade covering the fence. What a workout. Hide made his way down to where he could see Alirah sniffing at the ground, carefully placing Conan back onto the ground. His own nose lifted to the skies, aura sensors lifting a little as he searched around. Two others were around here... but he couldn't pinpoint where.

“Someone’s been here. But they’re not undead so maybe they’re friends?” Ah, Alirah noticed them too. He hummed, looking over at her, and then back at the blockade they'd just scaled over. Impressive, that she could still think of people as friends, despite the living pokemont that'd just turned their previous home into a horror scene. He looked back Alirah and shrugged a little, keeping his own optimism hopefully high. "Who knows. Lets hope they're friendly, we need a break after all this crap." He said, chuckling softly as he carefully found a spot to sit down.

He looked up at the sky, his ear twitching as he heard Alirah's soft voice once more, “I don’t like leaving Kaneki and Shadow like that…” He frowned, eyes narrowing a little. Yeah... he didn't like it either. "They'll be okay. Kaneki promised he'd be okay, after all, and he's smart. Even if he's outmatched in strength, he'll find a way to beat whatever that thing is. I have faith in them." He said, before reaching over carefully to swipe some of the viscera off of Alirah's face, cleaning the mess off her so that she didn't look like something that'd just been caught in the splash zone of a woodchipper. "There we go. Now you look less like a weird clown painted doll, huh?"

Death kept his bone held as tight as he could as Kaneki continue to wrestle it away until an impact with his skull was made causing the Marowak to lose a bit of grip on the bone scythe. Taking more successive hits, Death couldn’t keep ahold of his bone anymore as Kaneki pulled it out of his hand. Foolish Spectreon, even without his scythe, his shadow balls would serve quite well in this. "They're a few years too late, dumbass. I'm already dead, and I'm not planning on joining their dumb little posse. How about you go join them instead?" That anger was quite serious but Death didn’t need to join the dead as he considers the undead his family and his minions. He didn’t need the undead to join in on this fight. After all, toying with these two would prove quite entertaining. Though seeing that Kaneki was angered by the charizard’s lack of initiation in the attack, he laughed at Kaneki as a shadow ball formed and is launched at the spectreon hitting him with it. ”That Charizard’s hesitation might have kept him from being killed upon initiation. Regardless of that hesitation, he’s after all a freak and his purple scales makes him unfit for life.” Not noticing that this would anger Shadow more than anything but he formed a second shadow ball which then lead to more shadow balls being formed. He was going to attack Kaneki and Shadow in order to get his scythe back and strike Kaneki first with it.

The Marowak then seen the red glowing eyes of Shadow glaring with such anger at him. ”Come then purple demon, let me harvest your soul for its power.” Little did Death know that he was about to bite off more than he could chew if both of them went on the offensive. Regardless of the circumstances, he was going to have his fun with them.

"They'll be okay. Kaneki promised he'd be okay, after all, and he's smart. Even if he's outmatched in strength, he'll find a way to beat whatever that thing is. I have faith in them."

Alirah smiled at her friend, dipping her head gratefully at his much needed reassurance as a way to silently thank him. Her legs were trembling, so itchy and iron filled her nose from the splotches of gore marring her cotton candy face. She reminded herself not to swipe her tongue along her lips lest she possibly become a cannibal herself and ingest some of the brain matter or skull fragments, or both.

Hide moved towards the Umbreon with a careful and gentle paw, whisking away as much of the leftover remains as possible to relieve the poor girl of her immense discomfort at wearing someone’s brain like a macabre makeup.
"There we go. Now you look less like a weird clown painted doll, huh?"

She chuckled softly and smiled.
“I’m so glad I haven’t had a chance to see it, I probably would’ve fainted,” she half-joked. “Thank you, Hide.”
Alirah moved forwards, albeit much slower and calmer than before. The coast seemed clear and she wasn’t going to hesitate to opt for an easier, less terrifying travel. Running for her life was definitely pretty low on her most favorite modes of transportation, just barely ahead of flying.

Alirah approached the front door of the Factory in all of its slightly spooky glory, giving it a half hearted nudge with her snoot with full expectations for it to be locked from the inside.
To her surprise, it crept open with a loud creak almost ominously. She turned her head back to Hide in a sort of, did you see that? type of way, still in disbelief that with such a heavily fortified exterior that the door would be left so carelessly unlocked.

Alirah’s ivory white rings glowed brightly as she crept into the door and noodled around objects she could only imagine were left by previous occupants. “Maybe they were humans, or even the Factory employees,” Alirah pondered out loud at the cots and makeshift beds, furniture and other items spread about. She swiped a paw over a magazine, flipping an untold number of pages to land on a nude woman’s image in the human object and quickly, awkwardly diverted her eyes. Gross.

OoC)) Skip, Conan is following Alirah and Hide closely.

Alirah was shaken, her sobs and gasps relentless as they hit Plant's eardrums and drove out the rest of the awful noise around them. Death, death at her paws. The child shook, unable to speak, cry, or scream even as the harsh scent of blood assaulted his palate. She had killed it...! It had to be mean, be bad, be a predator like the Raticate that had burned him. It had attacked, It had to be bad--! It didn't matter whether the desperate thoughts were to convince himself that Ali was still a good Pokemon or that he shouldnt be sad for the creatures death, it still hit him hard as he shielded his eyes from the world in Hide's fur. Life was cruel, Pokemon were mean, no one could be trusted, and they didn't have a moment to spare for pitiful emotions.

Everyones paws were drumming forward again after only a few seconds, the buildings, plants, and general scenery blurring together as the child struggled to pull himself out of the horror, though he hardly dared to look. The world truly waited for no one, and they left the unceremoniously behind. When Hide came to a halt Plant dared to focus on that around him once again, and begged for a more pleasant sight than before. The intimidating blockade gave him a sense of foreboding, of something that did not want him there, but the factory beyond caught his gaze. It was huge, hard looking, and unlike any sort of building he had ever seen before. They were running here?

He does not have a chance to ask before Alirah clambers over and Hide carries them above and beyond the makeshift wall. As he sets Conan down on the other side the Snivy takes the opportunity to dismount, the formidable walling giving him confidence to stand once more. Yet the sight of the factory up close was hardly more comforting, its harsh walls and metallic look seemingly inhospitable to the nature and plush loving Pokemon.
“Someone’s been here. But they’re not undead so maybe they’re friends?” The pink Umbreon discerned, a distinct lack of panic to her tired tone. Such optimistic thinking, after everything they needed such a break, but his racing breaths would not yield so easily. "Who knows. Lets hope they're friendly, we need a break after all this crap." The Pokemon took a moment to breathe but the stress from that Mr. Mime refused to fade even as the run-for-your-life energy began to dissipate. "Those Pokemon- that Pokemon wasn't a friend!" He yipped with a thrust of his hands. "These ones could be bad too!" What if it was trap and these Pokemon knew the others, or they were the culprits for Kaneki and Hide's prior disappearance? Knots twisted in his stomach, and he eyed the blockade with wide eyes. If they had made it over so easily what was to stop those chasing them?

Sucking in deeps breaths of air the Snivy forced himself past the desire to vomit. His hands twitched, needing something to occupy them for those wrists were still raw. Stuffing them in his pocket he felt for the cube inside, and gently pushed it with his fingers as he took shot, deep breaths. "I don't like this place." He whines as they start heading inside. The environment felt so stark compared to the forested town, the makeshift rest area doing little to soften the overall factory feel. "Its... unwelcoming."