(ELITE) The SAFFRON Team

(Please skip me, I'm not feeling well. Ashes follows with Mar in tow, and glowers at the tiny/narrow hallway where the stairs go up, cuz he big and small hallway is small.)

[OoC: orz, I keep failing to remember that renegade is in the Safehouse, so this round snuck up on me. Unfortunately, I'm too involved in school work to post before tomorrow, and I don't have much content to add right now anyway, so Faux is just going to follow Ashes up the stairs because they're intrigued by him and well, they kind of have to since they're too young to really leave and survive on their own for very long. They may even strike up conversation with him by giving him an official hello. In case Fox wants to add to that. They'll probably walk next to him sheepishly and be in silence for a bit, then say "Hi.... Nice to meet you.... I'm Faux.", along those lines. if not included in your next post Fox, I can make it my next post. Again, sorry for skipping, I didn't have much to input at this time anyway.]

"Yeah yeah. Lead on 'Oh Superior One'. The sooner we get this done the sooner I can leave."

Neloth chose to ignore the sarcastic vibes of the Umbreon's voice as they began to traverse the stairwell, instead saying, "You keep this up and I may start to like you a little more," with a smirk. He'd seen this attitude a lot, from most of his new acquaintances, in fact, but their scorn soon turned to admiration when they saw just what he could do and what he knew. Sarcasm sometimes even became jealousy as they discovered that his intellect far surpassed their own and that they had no hope of ever surpassing it. Certainly not this blundering bunch of buffoons, anyway.

He reached the midway point of the stairwell and stopped to make sure they were all following. The big Charizard seemed to be having trouble fitting his large form through the passageway, hunching up his wings and looking very miserable indeed.

"It's like this all the way up, I'm afraid," he said, tugging at one of his whiskers as he waited for them to catch up. Drifting comfortably a couple of feet from the floor, he crossed his legs and let his spoons bounce up and down next to his head. "I would offer to try reducing your size, but the last time I did that they gave me a headache with all their screaming - not ideal for remaining undetected from the undead, and certainly not for my ears." Apparently, contorting the body's bones and muscles into a more manageable size using psychic energy wasn't possible just yet - he'd have to work on it.

He carried on up the steps, the broken light fixtures of the first floor coming into view. The door lay in a smashed mess on the ground; Neloth floated right over it and scowled disdainfully at the few dozen office booths in front of him. Rick sometimes spent days doing paperwork in one of them; they were the most boring days of Neloth's life.

"These first few floors are all office environments," he stated when the others caught up. "I doubt there will be much of value here, but you're free to a look around if you wish. As long as you're quick; I haven't got all week!"

"Oh, and I suppose I'd better learn your names as well," he added flatly, not bothering to hide the grimace on his face. "Just so I don't have to start naming you after the Seven Dwarves." Honestly, names were just so pointless, especially when he could just point at the Umbreon and shout, "Dopey, over here!" They always picked up on it sooner or later.

"You keep this up and I may start to like you a little more," That was not the reaction Yoru had been expecting when his mutterings were overheard, and somehow that made it even more unnerving. Suppressing a shudder the vulpine made his way behind the imposing psychic and followed begrudgingly up the stairs pausing when Neloth stopped to turn and look at them. Following the crazy bastard's gaze Yoru saw the larger Char having trouble making his way up thanks to humans and their tiny statures needing everything to be proportionate. "It's like this all the way up, I'm afraid," Yoru glared at the Alakazam as he didn't bother helping, instead making a sick comment about crushing some poor kid's bones in an effort to shrink them once before.

As their captor continued up the stairs, still not helping the Charizard, Yoru decided to try and offer a little encouragement to his larger companion. Spending so much time around Jet had proven useful it seemed, because the Umbreon picked up on a small design of the stairway. "Don't be afraid of busting the doorway," he offered. "Only the left wall is carrying the weight of the next floor. You can punch holes in the right side as you head up to give you some wiggle room." Not wanting the asshat to come back angry Yoru left his advice at that and quickly made his way up the last of the stairs to where Neloth was waiting. "These first few floors are all office environments. I doubt there will be much of value here, but you're free to a look around if you wish. As long as you're quick; I haven't got all week!"" Ugh, this guy was exhausting. But still he couldn't resist the urge to snoop around in the building he and Vicious had so longed to get into.

"Oh, and I suppose I'd better learn your names as well," The Fantastic Mr. Fox added, continuing his annoying ramblings once more. "Just so I don't have to start naming you after the Seven Dwarves." Seven what? The hell was this guy on about? Barely looking up from the desk he was currently glancing through he called back, deciding a fake name was likely better than a real one. "Spike," he replied, voice echoing strangely from the metal drawer his head was in. "I'd say nice to meet ya, buuuut....it hasn't been."

Ushering Mara in front of him with his wing, they followed the others. It was a tight fit, and Ashes had to do some awkward finagling to get his large, leathery wings to curl inward enough to even get through the doorway. He watched the ones ahead of him with envy as they ascended the human 'stairway' with relative ease. He glared at the silver safety bars, as if they would somehow melt into the wall if he stared hard enough.
"Hurry, you're holding up the line!" Mara said with a theatrical whisper ahead of him. Ashes broke his gaze to find Maras' small claw beckoning him up, then back at the bars. He smirked at the cylinders. No such luck. "Sure, nothing better than getting stuck in a tight space," he grumbled at her. The dragon shuffled his way up, his scales and wings scraping in protest against the walls and ceiling.

When the dragon came to the first corner, his brows furrowed in confusion. His shoulders and wings were already in a compromised position; how was he going to contort his way out of this? Grunting, he bumped his shoulder into the inner wall a few times before he stopped and looked upwards. This was the center of the place, and if it broke up, the whole thing would fall.
"It's like this all the way up, I'm afraid. I would offer to try reducing your size, but the last time I did that they gave me a headache with all their screaming - not ideal for remaining undetected from the undead, and certainly not for my ears." Ashes' mouth fell slightly ajar as he stared at the aged fox. What is he even???

Disgust crawled onto Maras' face as she listened to the old geezer. He was a creep-o, for sure. He was the kind of pokemon that mom and dad tell you to not take candy from. His crotchety grumpiness, his old man voice and the way he played with those face hairs of his made her feel....queasy. Her large eyes fell on the red rings suddenly in front of her as the fox offered some advice for her now almost-stuck-brother.

The large dragon nodded as he shoved his haunches into the opposite wall, squeezing forward and through. Shaking the concrete dust off as he cleared the door, he stepped out to stretch his wings as they started giving out names.
"Spike," the dark fox replied, voice echoing strangely. "I'd say nice to meet ya, buuuut....it hasn't been." Ashes grinned a little before replying, more for the others and less for the flying spaghetti monster.

"Ashes. That's Mar." He nodded slightly towards the Charmander, who waved a casual claw. "Sup."

The Umbreon snipped at Neloth, the distaste for each other was practically dripping from their muzzles like saliva. But the Alakazam's body language seems to make him appear to back away, probably his superiority allowing him to feel infinitely more competent than the other. He was the most self-confident Pokemon that Faux ever had the... pleasure of meeting.
"You keep this up and I may start to like you a little more,"


Faux continued trampling up the stairs, dragging their tail along the ground as if the tip of their tail wasn't on fire because normally it wasn't. The sound of footsteps clanged through the narrow stairwell as they ascended, the Charizard right behind them and directly in last place scrunching his wings enough to try to slip through. Faux stopped to observe, just waiting for his wing to catch or something, the big guy looked like he needed help.
"Hurry, you're holding up the line!"
The Charmander on his back chirped at him, sounding indistinguishably male or female... but they hadn't seen them before. That must have been the child that the shadow dog was mentioning.
"Sure, nothing better than getting stuck in a tight space,"
Neloth hung at the top of the stairs like some sort of egyptian emperor looking down on his slaves.
"It's like this all the way up, I'm afraid. I would offer to try reducing your size, but the last time I did that they gave me a headache with all their screaming - not ideal for remaining undetected from the undead, and certainly not for my ears."

Faux shuddered at that image, looking away from the dragon before they could imagine stumps where his wings are.
They finally hit the top and come into a room. Faux looks around at the boxes, finding it no different than the room they crashed into through the window.

"These first few floors are all office environments. I doubt there will be much of value here, but you're free to a look around if you wish. As long as you're quick; I haven't got all week!"

The psuedo-charmeleon glances around, spying a few open boxes. With his permission, but not like they needed it, they slink over to the box while cautiously peeling an eye out for the Alakazam's looks.

"Oh, and I suppose I'd better learn your names as well. Just so I don't have to start naming you after the Seven Dwarves."

Faux peeks over the edge of their box, tail flame flickering light all over the walls and making the shadows jump. The other Pokemon start, with mild caution.

"Spike. I'd say nice to meet ya, buuuut....it hasn't been."

"Ashes. That's Mar."

"Sup."

Faux looks to the Charmander, then down into the box. They heaved something out to get a clearer look at the rest of the items, of course finding nothing quite fruitful yet beyond useless record papers.

"Nice to meet you all.... My name is Faux...." they murmur loud enough for the others to hear them, looking at all of them before continuing to pull out more items with their large talons.

Spike, Ashes, Mara and Faux ... easy enough names to remember. Pitifully plain, but at least it was something. Despite that though, this was an interesting bunch of Pokemon to say the least. Neloth tugged on his whisker thoughtfully as he watched them disperse throughout the room. He had never seen red rings on an Umbreon before; he was quite sure that they were usually yellow, or light blue on very rare occasions. Why some Pokemon were born different colours than usual Neloth had once hypothesised as some sort of corruption or alteration in the DNA, but he'd never heard of a red-ringed Umbreon before. This was something new ... and very interesting.

He guessed something similar was afoot with Faux; a grey Charmeleon certainly wasn't anything he'd seen before. And why was Ashes's tail flame black? Not only that but he seemed more than comfortable moving around in a quadruped stance, something rarely seen in his species.

The Alakazam's mind whirled with every possible theory and idea it could come up with, and for a brain as advanced as his, it was a lot. It was as though he was a computer with hundreds of tabs open at once. In his musings he found himself drifting in Spike's direction as the Umbreon rummaged through a drawer. It was time to brainstorm.

"Hold still a moment," he ordered. "Let me take a look at you." Hmm, yes. The light coming from those rings were as bright and natural as they could be; nothing artificial about them. Definitely some sort of corruption in the genetic material or-- was he ... infected? Neloth wracked his brains to try and visualize an undead Umbreon. He'd seen them before, but couldn't recall them having red rings.

"Hmm, yes. Interesting," he mused to himself after a moment, pulling himself back up tall. "I must say, I've never met any of your kind with rings that colour. I am most interested in them. In fact, I am rather offended and surprised that there is something that I do not know. It truly is an oddity for me."

"Would you care to explain how you acquired them, if you know the answer to that?" His mind bloomed open, ready to absorb every word and remember every second of this conversation, and store it into the colossal database that was an Alakazam's brain. Being such a genius truly was a delightful hoot.

Quietly trying to remember everyone's names as they rattled them off, frowning to himself when he realized he wasn't even sure he could remember one of them, Yoru buried his head into a drawer of the next desk he had wandered to. Humans kept weird shit in their desks, that was for sure. Whoever this guy was had a small stash of human candies though, so that was a bonus. He quickly snatched a few to try and eat before he got caught and in his delight didn't notice how creepily close Neloth had gotten until he heard that obnoxious voice behind him.

"Hold still a moment. Let me take a look at you."

Yoru startled, head cracking on the underside of the desk as he tried to whip it out of the drawer, cursing at the instant headache that cause. "Oh, come on!" he grumbled, annoyed at the fascination the freak seemingly had with him. "What now?" But he regretted asking as Neloth looked him up and down, the other male seemingly a vulture as he circled and examined his 'prey'. It was incredibly uncomfortable and Yoru kept shifting away from the penetrating gaze even though he refused to take his eyes off of Neloth himself. This was just getting too weird for his liking and, despite his promise, the Umbreon was seriously considering fucking right the hell off to get out of this situation.

"Hmm, yes. Interesting," The other fox murmured, as if that was a completely normal thing to say after violating someone's personal space. "I must say, I've never met any of your kind with rings that colour. I am most interested in them. In fact, I am rather offended and surprised that there is something that I do not know. It truly is an oddity for me." Yoru frowned deeper, more at himself than Neloth for not thinking that his off color rings would get him noticed. They always got him noticed, and since the Epidemic he was usually mistaken for infected because of their red. Of course this infection-fascinated freak would want to play puzzle with his insides too. Because this guy was so normal, right?!

"Would you care to explain how you acquired them, if you know the answer to that?" Yoru couldn't help but let his frown turn into a sneer, fangs glinting from the corners of his mouth as he tried to bite back a snarl. How stupid did he think everyone else was? Neloth may have been a smarty pants to these humans but to a survivalist he was just some pampered silver spoon who needed to get his ass whooped a couple of times so he could see what the real world was like. Man, fuck this guy. "You really are an idiot," Yoru replied snarkily. "Acting so superior to everyone else by showing how much you 'know', when really you just like the sound of your own voice. Let me help you out here. My rings? Well, like most shinies, I was born this way. Dumbass." Huffing angrily, and knowing he was already going to get himself in trouble for back-talking 'the boss', Yoru reached back inside the desk and pulled out the candies he hadn't eaten yet and trotted over to Ashes and the kids.

"Here," he offered, dropping them at the Charizard's feet. "Since Mr. Smartpants missed some food I thought you guys might like it instead. Since there was nothing of worth left, obviously he didn't want them. You guys take 'em." He sat down in front of the small group and stared back at Neloth, eyes narrowing and daring the psychic to try anything. He was willing to make up for his mistake for the sake of the ones who couldn't protect themselves, but he would be damned if Neloth thought Yoru was doing this because he was scared of him.

Mara strolled through the rubble and thrashed desks, fascinated by all the human things. Through the years of travelling with their brother, they usually stuck to the wilderness for familiarities' sake, but sometimes Ashes took her to visit human settlements when they were safe enough to travel through.  She was utterly enthralled by humans and the incredible things they made.  She eagerly dug through wastebaskets, cardboard boxes - even metal boxes that slid open from the desks. Her claws easily slid through the handle of one as she peered in, shuffling through the things within. A bunch of long, thin twigs were strewn about, to which she picked one up and lightly gnawed on one.
"Hmm..." She listlessly thought, her claws digging around as she continued to chew on the pencil. An orange glimmer came from the bottom of the far corner of the drawer. Her eyes widened as she grabbed the thing, and pulled it out. It was a giant ring of some kind. She peered at it excitedly as she inspected it in her claws. "Whoa...." Tiny little slate-colored stones lined the center of it.

"Huh, that's pretty cool." Ashes muttered as he padded up behind her, his long neck allowing him to see over her. Her gaze turned upwards as she smiled at him. "The rocks are all smooth on it!" She happily toyed with it, experimenting by putting it on her arm, then her head. She tilted her head to the side as she pondered on its' placement. Her eyes suddenly lit up, and quickly threw it through her flame and pulled it until it snugly fit around the higher part of her tail. She beamed, waving her tail around to watch it glimmer. "Oh heck ya! Can I keep it? It's so cool!" She pleaded up at her sibling, her small teeth bright. The Charizard raised his eyebrow, but gave her a small smile. "Of course. It looks good on you."

Mara giggled and bounced around a bit, swinging her tail in happiness. The Charizard snorted in amusement, but quickly frowned as his ears dropped in on the others' conversation.  "Would you care to explain how you acquired them, if you know the answer to that?"
Acquire what?... Ashes nonchalantly turned the side of his head towards the ringed fox and the annoying one. "You really are an idiot," Yoru replied snarkily."Acting so superior to everyone else by showing how much you 'know', when really you just like the sound of your own voice. Let me help you out here. My rings? Well, like most shinies, I was born this way. Dumbass." This revelation didn't mean much to the dragon, as he wasn't even sure what shinies meant, in relation to being born a certain way. But he did enjoy the high level of sass he gave the nutcase as he trotted back towards them.

"Here," he offered, dropping wrapped little things he knew to be 'candy' to the two younger Chars at the Charizard's feet. "Since Mr. Smartpants missed some food I thought you guys might like it instead. Since there was nothing of worth left, obviously he didn't want them. You guys take 'em." Ashes nodded at Mara, but glancing over to the black fox, who seemed to be taking a protective stance in front of them. His frown deepened as his green eyes flickered to the Alakazam, whom he knew was sure to retaliate.

The Vaporeon watched the Charmander retreat without a word, her expression quickly falling to a bitter mask with eyes glazed over with cynicism. Lapis stepped back, carefully avoiding debris as she pulled away from the blasted open door. I should have known it would be dumb to stick around a group of strangers.

Darker sapphire eyes narrowed as the water type nimbly leaped onto one of the larger chunks of asphalt and perched there a moment, only taking the time to give a cold look back towards the strangers. Did she really believe they could become allies? The Alakazam was pissing off the red Umbreon, a sight that would have been fun to watch, but Lapis shook her head instead.

No, they're never worth it.

The Vaporeon pounced off the perch, landing with a stumble on the ground behind it. Hidden from the prying eyes of the other Pokemon, she walked slowly forward until the scaled cat's form was hidden in shadows. Lapis kept walking, until she left the city far behind.

[ ooc: Sorry guys, this is a leaving post. I could not for the life of me think of an in character way to keep Lapis there; she wouldn't just go pop in to say hi and by being away I missed my opportunity to work with Fox and Mara to drag her into the chaos. But maybe I can join with someone else soon! :c ]

Faux continued digging through boxes after their quite timid introduction, biting their lip after receiving no response. Guess even saying hello didn't even warrant a hello back. Their  paw-fingers clung to various objects in the boxes, none of them really piquing their interests so far. The silence behind them where the Alakazam and Umbreon were didn't bother them in the slightest. Honestly, it was enough to let them sigh quietly in relief. Blissful silence, void of bickering - for now. Two boxes over, the Charmander waddled up to look through the boxes and then the drawers, finding infinitely more interesting stuff than Faux did. They pulled out a ring, and it was quite a pretty thing. Faux just stopped what they were doing to watch as they inspected it.

"Whoa...."
"Huh, that's pretty cool."
"The rocks are all smooth on it!"
The Smeargle in disguise leaned against the boxes, continuing to spectate. The orange lizard tried it on their limbs and head like they were playing dress up, and it was such an innocent scene that it brought the canine back down to earth for a brief moment. It almost felt like the past 24 hours that had gone by were the most real, long, and enduring that they've ever had to experience in their life. Such a childish innocence like that, that they had been blissfully wrapped up in themself about a month before.... Faux could almost ignore the fact that they were beginning to let theirs slip away to the responsibilities of this new world.
"Oh heck ya! Can I keep it? It's so cool!"
"Of course. It looks good on you."
The Charmander danced around happily, ending up putting it around near the base of their tail. Faux's fake muzzle pulled with a shy smile, even though they never made eye contact. Drat.... Why was socializing so hard?

"I must say, I've never met any of your kind with rings that colour. I am most interested in them. In fact, I am rather offended and surprised that there is something that I do not know. It truly is an oddity for me. Would you care to explain how you acquired them, if you know the answer to that?"
Storm's a' brewin', again, Faux could practically anticipate the thunder.
"You really are an idiot, acting so superior to everyone else by showing how much you 'know', when really you just like the sound of your own voice. Let me help you out here. My rings? Well, like most shinies, I was born this way. Dumbass."
There it is. Before Faux could manage a huff and fully turn around to stand next to these Chars that have somewhat adopted them into their space... seemingly solely for the sake of being a similar species, Spike moves. As they turn around, there's a bag of what seems to be... candy, sliding towards the trio's feet. Candy??? They could only stare at the shiny treats in little plastic wrapping. Arceus... It was so familiar yet a horribly selected recollection to be soiling by the current situation.

"Here. Since Mr. Smartpants missed some food I thought you guys might like it instead. Since there was nothing of worth left, obviously he didn't want them. You guys take 'em."
The faux-Charmeleon's eyes just kept locked on the candy, recognizing the swirls on it well. They were their favorite kind, in fact. They honestly had no other words to grasp at that would sound appropriate at the moment. Not while they were now starting to get swamped with emotion like they did last night. Alone... in probably the room next to this, hell if they knew. A pool of wetness formed and fogged their eyes, their demeanor otherwise remaining serene. They finally managed to dislodge the word-ball from their throat, not even sure if it'd make it worse but it honestly didn't matter at this rate. What would happen would happen.
"... Thank you...."

((Hmm, skip. There's not a lot for Neloth to be doing at the moment; he's just waiting for them all. I will offer this line though, to Yoru: "One of my apprentices spoke to me like that once ... he never did it again."))

Yoru couldn't help but smirk at the single sentence threat the Alakazam offered in reply to his defiance, that one line being the least he had ever heard the blowhard speak. 'Must have struck a nerve,' Yoru though to himself, snickering inside his head. Despite knowing he shouldn't think lightly of the beast he could at least pretend he didn't care, so he shrugged and went back to the normal pokemon in the room. The ones who weren't bat shit crazy. The Charmeleon was having way too much fun with some ring she had found and the bigger fire lizard was indulging her antics while still keeping an eye on their host. Smart guy.

When he looked back at the other kid, the grey looking Char, she was starting to well up with tears and a flood of panic seized Yoru's chest. Suddenly looking very stressed and backing away the Umbreon's eyes darted around as if looking for an escape from the tears he knew where about to fall. Gulping loudly he eyed the kid until she looked up at him again with those big wet eyes and a small smile. "... Thank you...." His panic at once deflated and now he just shifted uncomfortably as his mind tried to come back from its escape attempt. "Uh....you're welcome?" he offered awkwardly, craning his neck to not look directly at the Charmeleon but still observing her from the corner of his eye. "I uh...yeah." Not knowing what else to say the Umbreon went back to his searching, waiting until the moment their 'master' called for their departure.

(Sorry Cat dear, just say that Mar noticed her, noticed the tension between the others and was like 'hey let's go by the window and eat candy!')

They could almost taste the candy. They could barely smell the light scent of peppermint escaping the bag right in front of them. The feeling was overwhelming but their eyes had their water.

"Uh... you're welcome? ... I uh... yeah."
Oh no. They made him uncomfortable. They bit their scaly bottom lip with one of their fangs.

"I'm... grateful. ... S-Sorry." they scuttled backwards with the bag of candy in their claws. The Charmander stood as tall as their shoulders, and they didn't actually notice the little one until then. They only gave 'em a small, friendly glimpse. The smaller one looked around a bit awkwardly before piping up.

"Hey, let's go over by the window and eat some!" Mara said somewhat cheerfully. They managed to give them a small shifting smile, before turning on their heel with the candy in tow.

[OoC: Lawd, I wanted to make some backstory for this but I just can't think of a good way to do it. lol]

Neloth, satisfied that his threat had given the group something to think about next time they considered insulting him, retreated to the opposite side of the room. He watched Spike in the corner of his eye, scowling. What he'd said about his former apprentice had been true, of course; Neloth had 'accidentally' turned him inside out after he threatened to expose his experiments, and he'd happily do the same to the irritable Umbreon if he opened his oversized mouth again. Patience was what he needed; if he was going to highlight to this group just how dangerous he could be when angered, he'd need plenty of opportunities to show it.

He wandered over to one of the desks, lifting up a leather satchel from beside a trash can. It floated behind him as he began to empty the drawers, looking for anything useful. He cast a glance behind him at the others, puffing out an annoyed sigh. There they were gushing over candies that were no doubt spoiled now and some sort of ring-like accessory when he had clearly ordered them to look for something useful. Honestly. Dealing with morons really was tiresome.

"If you're quite finished doing the opposite of what I asked, I am almost ready to proceed." From out of the drawer floated a torch, with a couple of spare batteries, and a coil of spare wire. They dropped into the satchel, and Neloth rejoined the others with it drifting obediently behind him. "Place whatever you want to keep into the bag. Be aware that I will be tossing out the mundane," he shot a glare at the little Charmander's new tail ring, "items at the first opportunity I get."

"Well?! We have six more floors to go - get a move on! I want this done by midday!"

((I hate doing this but I honestly can't think of more than a few lines for Yoru beyond him begrudgingly following Neloth while muttering under his breath lol. Please skip for now and say he is doing just that, I should have a better response next time.))

Mara beamed at the gray-speckled Charmeleon as they scampered to the empty windowpanes, eager to try some of these candies. Most of the places they had gone to look for food were all looted, and only garbage remained. She did remember the taste of the dark, soft stuff that melted in your mouth, and that was delicious. Maybe this candy was like that? The young lizard grinned at the promise.
Bouncing a bit, she held out her claws as the Charmeleon dropped some into them. Palming the others, she roughly tore at the plastic, eagerly scarfing at the sweet inside. She rolled the disc-feeling candy around in her mouth, testing it. Her large eyes grew even larger as the taste of peppermint coated her tongue. "W-lloahll!" She garbled through a full mouth, before a large grin overtook her. She looked up at her newfound friend and started giggling. "Ohll Mollltresh, thish ish thla besht!" Popping up onto the low windowsill, her tail flaring as she whipped around. "I'm Maylra! You caln call mle Marl thoulgh. What'sh yourll nayme, frieynd?"

_____

Ashes offered a grin to the Umbreon at his side after watching them give the mound of candy to the younger ones. The awkward exchange was amusing to watch, but he hadn't a doubt in his mind- this small fox was a rare find. Unlike the floating maniac across the room. The Charizard couldn't help but sigh as a headache began to pulse in his forehead. The idle threats were tired and boring. This psycho talked like he was the only one whose killed mercilessly. He needed a wake up call.
A pang of sadness gripped his heart for a moment as he thought back on the cruelty he had dished out over the years. Screaming, burning humans and pokemon alike, desperately trying to put themselves out...or out of sheer terror and agony, ran blindly until they collapsed in silence and the pop of crackling flesh. Mangled, shredded bodies, bright red blood spattering his scaly coat.
It couldn't be helped, he thought, trying to ease his guilty conscience. Alive or not...
His black and green gaze turned to the chattering child, sitting on the windowsill. Her vibrant face, her exaggerated movements and bright flames...

"If you're quite finished doing the opposite of what I asked, I am almost ready to proceed."
Clenching his teeth as the annoying old fox brought him out of his thoughts, his head turned to him in strained patience. How was he supposed to know what was useful or not? Most of what he knew of humans he learned after the outbreak- so how was he to know what strange devices or parts were going to be right or not for him? Either way, it gave him a small amount of happiness to help as little as possible, just to see the fox get irate.

Neloth floated towards them, eyeing his sister in annoyance. "Place whatever you want to keep into the bag. Be aware that I will be tossing out the mundane," he shot a glare at the little Charmander's new tail ring, "items at the first opportunity I get." Ashes' protectiveness was flaring in his chest. Nasty words were about to spit from his mouth when he caught a glimpse of his sibling. Her mouth was set and her eyes were heavily lidded.
Uh-oh.

Without a word, she hopped off the ledge. With her tail high, she strolled to the bag, her eyes always on the floating vulpine. Staring deadpan up at him, she lifted her small claws over the bag, holding it there for emphasis, before releasing what was in her grip.
Small, shiny remains of plastic flitted down into the bag, her defiant gaze fiery and unyielding.
"You'rell nolt my dayld." She growled flatly over the hard candy, before returning to his side, her arms crossed, her tail waving back and forth in annoyance and the glitter of the gold band gleaming with her flames.
Ashes had to hold back a chortle. The balls on this one.
She truly had their clans' blood in her.

With a small grin on his face, he picked up a few items he had found up into his jaws, craned his neck and dropped them into the bag. A small, crushed cellphone and a half-empty ink cartridge fell in with a light thunk. He let his haunches rest, sitting down as he pulled back.
"For the both of us." He said, gazing down at him.

Anxiety continued to flip their stomach around in every which way. The contents of their stomach suddenly felt like rocks and they quickly questioned whether they'd be able to even stomach this candy. The fake Charmeleon walks up to the window along with the chittery younger evolution of their disguise, and all Faux does for the moment is stand. Without any hesitation, the small one hops up onto the sill. Their back faces the destruction just outside as if it were like most any other day. The amount of serenity and bravery this small lizard had astounded Faux. Considering the fact they had gotten weepy over a bag of candies. Oh, speaking of which....

Faux grabs a handful of candies from the bag, the musty candy dust on it suddenly bursting into the air. It smelled exactly like they had thought - peppermint. The scent of it hit them like a blast of wind, and their eyes closed for a moment. The sound of them crinkling and dropping into the other's paw was a familiar hello, and the shininess of the plastic outside excellently advertised what was inside. Ashes would have loved to have had some of these. The Smeargle stared at the single candy they held between two ivory claws, not even realizing Mara gobbled all of them into her mouth at once.

"W-lloahll!"
The exclamation brought their blurred vision back to clarity, and the Charmeleon nearly jolted. But, wow, the look on the younger ones face was something that immediately filled them with a happy warmth. There were practically stars in their eyes. Y'know, maybe this sort of innocence would be their saving grace.
"Ohll Mollltresh, thish ish thla besht!"
Oh good Celebi, did they stuff all those candies in their mouth at once? Faux cracked a smile on their scaled face, larger than any that they had for the past two days. It pushed up against the corners of their eyes. Oh, how they wish their tongue could say words easily. They'd probably laugh a little and say 'Yeah, they're awesome. They're my favorite kind of candy.' If only they could. Maya looked at them now, grinning from ear to ear. The bracelet around her tail caught the light right as she spoke.

"I'm Maylra! You caln call mle Marl thoulgh. What'sh yourll nayme, frieynd?"
Faux started unwrapping the candy, losing eye contact but the smile didn't completely faded away yet. The plastic wrapper crinkled in their claws when their hand clamped around it.
"I'm Faux. Nice to meet you, Mar." their voice sounded more melodic than intentional, but they guessed it was the sentimental emotions they tried to ignore for the moment. They placed the candy in their mouth, the hardness of it on their mouth was different in this form - they couldn't quite move their tongue right to lick it. Eventually they found a comfortable place at the roof of their mouth, and the taste started to seep into their mouth. Ah... the peppermint scratched an itch inside of them that couldn't be satisfied without it. Their eyes closed, enjoying the memories that played silently behind their eyes in their own personal movie theater. The orange sunset starting to turn red, the feel of the grass -oh, and they could almost feel it - brushing between their toes. The smell of cold air, dry tree leaves and berries replaced the overwhelming taste of the peppermint, just for a second. Oh, how nice it felt to be there.

"If you're quite finished doing the opposite of what I asked, I am almost ready to proceed."
Suddenly, reality swept back onto the beach to ruin their little paradise they set up. Well for what it was worth, short lived as it was, the urge to cry went away. Faux opened their eyes, still pacifying on the peppermint candy. It didn't occur that Neloth was talking to them personally. But they set their eyes on him, watching him turn towards Mara and them.
"Place whatever you want to keep into the bag. Be aware that I will be tossing out the mundane items at the first opportunity I get."

... Mundane? As far as the Charmeleon was concerned, they had been collecting quite necessary items. Sure, candies aren't really food but... they're sustenance. Mara seemed to get their fiery aura about them at that comment, and Faux could feel the heat coming off their scales. Oh... was he talking about their lack of searching? Well, he seemed like the type to not like lollygagging. Faux only watched as the fire lizard padded up to the bag and dropped the wrappers in with a steely defiance that was slightly terrifying for a child their age. Then again... that was only one of the few children younger than them that they had ever been around.

"You'rell nolt my dayld." They seethed out before standing beside their... older adult figure, not so sure what he was. Jeez... at least they had that big dragon to help protect them, because a stunt like that? They were honestly unsure if Neloth would have the nerve to even lay a hand on a child like that. Though, he was only a few feet away from where Faux was. The Charmeleon idly sucked on the candy for a second, but then started up on searching again. Boy... what was up with this old fart Alakazam? Was this the long lost grumpy grandfather figure that they were meant to be involved with at some point of their lives? Wow, they never thought they'd actually have to deal with crotchety old people. Either way, they continued clawing through boxes of stuff, coming up fruitless for the while they searched.

Neloth eyed the youth as she defiantly marched towards the bag, his whiskers twitching in irritation. Children really were a nuisance; nothing more than an extra body to haul about; an additional mouth to feed. If it wouldn't incur the wrath of the big Charizard he'd quite happily drop that brat out of an open window. Not that he couldn't easily deal with the Fire-type, but still. He could antagonise them all he wanted later when his goal was met; right now, he needed extra hands.

"You'rell nolt my dayld," she mumbled, her mouth full to bursting with candy as she dropped a few flakes of plastic into the bag. Neloth said nothing, his sharp glare snapping up to Mara's brother as he placed a couple of items of his own into the bag. "For the both of us."

"Hmph!" Neloth grumped, snapping the bag closed. He drifted back towards the stairwell, muttering, "Children. Nothing more than extra baggage if you ask me." His large ears twitched as he neared the steps, as the typical sounds of undead occupation echoing down the walls - snarls, growls, loud thumps ... looked as though the next floor wasn't going to be so simple.

At least this way he could see which of these idiots were worth keeping. If they lived, they passed.

"Somebody hold this," he ordered, tossing the bag down on the floor behind him. "It sounds as though we have some company waiting for us on the next floor. We can try to slip past them - I'm given to understand that the undead rely more on their sense of hearing than their sight - or we can attempt to take them out. I, personally, would rather remove the threat, but we are a team now, yes?" He eyed them all snidely, twirling his whisker in his finger. "We must work together, hm? What say you, friends?"

"You'rell nolt my dayld,"

That...that had to be the best line he had heard all day. Yoru couldn't help but bark out a laugh at the moxie the kid just showed to a higher evolved and higher leveled Poke than her. Normally he wasn't very fond of kids, they drove him nuts and made him hella uncomfortable, but damn this kid had some sass. Maybe he could stick around for a bit, see what else was going to happen. And as if to throw some lemon juice on that burn the kid's larger companion dropped into the bag some really random shit and smiled. These two were a hoot.

"Hmph!" Yoru couldn't help the pleased grin that spread across his face at Neloth's annoyance, equally as happy to not be on the receiving end of it for once. "Children. Nothing more than extra baggage if you ask me." Normally Yoru would agree but it was worth keeping, what did she call herself? Mara? Yeah. She was worth keeping around if this wasn't some one time fluke. But his grin was slowly falling as he followed their guide to the next stairwell, the sounds of seriously bad shit banging around on the next floor becoming more and more obvious. This was going to suck.

"Somebody hold this," Neloth ordered, dropping his oh so precious bag on the floor. "It sounds as though we have some company waiting for us on the next floor. We can try to slip past them - I'm given to understand that the undead rely more on their sense of hearing than their sight - or we can attempt to take them out. I, personally, would rather remove the threat, but we are a team now, yes?" Yoru looked at the bag, then at Neloth, then back at the bag, and once more to the Alakazam. "You're shitting me, right?" he asked with no lack of sarcasm. "If you want me to fight I can't be burdened by your crap that's almost as large as me. And who knows what other "important" trash you've got in there that might weigh me down. Not happening." "We must work together, hm? What say you, friends?" Mother fucker.

"Somebody hold this," Neloth ordered, dropping his bag on the floor. "It sounds as though we have some company waiting for us on the next floor. We can try to slip past them - I'm given to understand that the undead rely more on their sense of hearing than their sight - or we can attempt to take them out. I, personally, would rather remove the threat, but we are a team now, yes?"
Yoru looked at the bag, then at Neloth, then back at the bag, and once more to the Alakazam. "You're shitting me, right?" he asked with no lack of sarcasm. "If you want me to fight I can't be burdened by your crap that's almost as large as me. And who knows what other "important" trash you've got in there that might weigh me down. Not happening."
"We must work together, hm? What say you, friends?"

Ashes cracked his neck as he reluctantly moved ahead of the smaller ones. "Put the bag by the door and stay behind us." He said softly to his sibling. "Mar, you know the drill. Once we're up there, jump on. We don't need any injuries." His emerald gaze stayed locked on the ceiling as he listened intently, counting the number of footsteps her heard above. "I'll go in first and drive them back with fire."

The Charmander grumbled but did as he said. She couldn't win an argument when he had on his battle face. Besides, it was a good plan, but..."How are you gonna even sneak up on them if your big butt can't get through the door?" She stated matter-of-factly. Ashes' brows furrowed as annoyance swept across his face. "Uh...first of all, I got this. Second of all, I don't have a big butt. I'm just broadly built." Mara couldn't help but make a face. "Yeah. Your broadly built butt."

Ashes grimaced at the doorway as he scrunched his wings together uncomfortably and wedged himself in. This time, he pushed all of his weight above the stairwell to maximize his movement.
Inching his way up, the only thing that could be heard from him was a quiet scratching as his scaled wings protested against the gray concrete. Hesitating at the closed door, he peeked out from the already damaged frame, sagging with the weight.

There were more dark figures in the room than he liked in such an enclosed space. From the look of them, there didn't seem to be any particularly large ones though, and that fared well for window tossing.

"Hope you're all ready..." He whispered around his shoulder before taking a deep breath and slamming his weight into the door. An explosion of a flamethrower lit up the room as he barreled in, the weak wooden door splinters underneath his claws.

(sorry if this is lacking. i feel so garbagey right now. OTL)

Faux fell quiet as the gargling of fluids, probably in the mouth of undead Pokemon, became apparent on the floor above them. Their heart was in their throat at this point. No... not so soon, they couldn't encounter undead so soon. Good Arceus... maybe they could transform their way out of this? Transform into a Joltik, cling to the skin of one of the Pokemon, and then when the fighting was over they could just come up the stairs like nothing happened? Oh... oh Lugia, no, they couldn't fight. It was out of the question.

The other's babbled and Faux barely listened through it, only catching a few words the Alakazam said as their stomach seemed to lose gravity and upset their entire digestive system. Well, it would be their only chance. That, or be left behind and not surrounded by their new survivor friends. No, transformation was the only option. None of them were paying attention, either. It was good timing. Without a word or even a sound really, Faux hides behind a few towering boxes, body shape molding into an amorphous blob of blue and grey and progressively shrinking until they were a tiny, flee-sized creature. Faux poked out from behind the boxes, rushing to grab onto Mara's tailring as the group started sneaking up the stairs, snuggling tightly against the metal on the underside of the ring to avoid the light of the tail flame.
Afterall, sneaking around was what they did best. They weren't designed for the fighting life.

---

[OoC: Sorry, short post is short. Trying to just throw something out there to further plot direction with Faux.]

Neloth drifted backwards, crossing his legs contently and holding out one hand. His spoons, which had been dancing around each other nearby, zoomed into his grasp. He felt that now was the time to make himself quite comfortable while he watched and waited to see if his little party of misfits could actually clear the floor for him. He found that this was when he most appreciated a few 'assistants' to deal with all the dirty, dangerous work while he took a break and planned out their next move. They really were convenient.

"...Well?" he demanded down at Spike, having happily ignored his little hissy fit earlier. He'd learn soon enough to just shut up and do as he was told. They all did. "What are you waiting for? Get in there and help them!"

Ashes had practically busted the door down and was wasting no time in setting the entire room ablaze. Neloth's whiskers twitched in irritation as he raised an arm to shield his face from the heat. "Will you be careful?! We're not going to get past this floor at all if it's on fire! To be honest, I was going to suggest a slightly more strategic approach, but I suppose that's how you ruffians deal with things. As long as you don't burn the whole place to the ground, it'll do."

"Just hurry it up, will you? And do let me know when they're all dead so we can move on. I won't wait all day!"

"...Well?"

"What are you waiting for? Get in there and help them!" Yoru eyed the Alakazam for a moment before looking back to where the Charizard had gone, watching as he struggled yet again to get up the stairs before shattering the door frame to charge whatever was up there. "Well now that he's out of the way maybe I can." Yoru sassed back, huffing indignantly as he walked by and slunk up the stairs, keeping low and to the shadow while the fire type burned everything around him. It was better not to get in the way of that heat but if he kept going like that he was likely to set the whole damn building ablaze.

Even as Neloth bitched for the Charizard to be more careful with his attacks Yoru stood silent in the darkness. He waited for a few moments for the right opportunity, calculating where he could get the most advantage on an attack without getting burned, and lit up when he saw it. Just as a Meowth screeched from the fire eating at its flesh Yoru pounced with an Assurance, doubling the damage and ending its miserable existence as a Shadow Ball took out two more that tried to rush him. Smirking to himself the Umbreon slunk back into the shadows to await his next strike with glee, ebony fur melting into the darkness as glowing red rings pulsed slowly before faded into nothing.