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Abe yelped in surprise and scrambled up the ladder a bit faster. The tentacle whipped around his leg instead of his waist.
"Flicker!"
The scyther busted out in a flash of light, and an instant later the tentacle around his leg was severed. Flicker let out his warcry and dashed towards the tentacruel.
"Watch out, I think think this species has venom! Go for the orbs on its head, but be extra careful!"
Abe ran through the scenarios in his head. None of them were good. Type difference put Flicker at a disadvantage, but Porygon2 had barely gotten a chance to recharge from its Cyberspace adventure. If he came out of this one victorious, it would be by an extreme stroke of luck.
Which, judging from everything happening, he was running low on.
If I'm going to make it out of here in one piece, I need some help!
Flicker dodged a couple of tentacle swipes, but Abe could already tell the Mime fight had worn him down. He was moving slower.
At about that time, Abe confirmed the venom. His hand suddenly stopped mid-movement, and he had to strain to get it to clutch the ladder rung. He looked up to the exit. So near, yet so very, very far away.
As Abe stared up the ladder, he did something he hadn't done in twenty years. He prayed.
Dammit, someone, please help me!

Alexandra Tourmaline heard the bikes coming and shuddered where she sat. Rex walked over and nuzzled up against her. Her twitching fingers found the nape of his neck and scratched as she tried to think.

Bikes were coming Bikes that could mean anything They could mean that the Exterminant was here to help They could mean the Reverend had sent a clean-up crew it had happened before She had been a part of one Traps set for different people Leaving behind sick and wounded Someone needs to kill the infirm so she had done it yep She had and it had been part of her training and she had almost cracked and then... and then... the needles had happened and sent it all away. She had learned to kill without feeling without needing to feel It was wonderful not to have to feel because every knife stroke and every gunshot is just like a little puff-life dissolved into the All, incandescent and fireworks of breath cascading into her brain and just listen to the Reverend listen to the Reverend She had been so good so good to the purpose to preparing the Journey and then something had happened something gone wrong and they had left her here with just "Kill this girl" and not enough food and she couldn't understand and she was going to KILL THE REVEREND

With an unholy shriek, Alexandra tore out of the post office, leaving behind the flowers, the flowers, easily outrunning Rex in her madness. Jacob had heard her coming, but the woman moved with demonic speed, and she knew, she knew in her heart of hearts that this had to be one of those sent to clean her up. She ripped his rifle out of his hands and slammed her head against his before he even registered the gun was no longer with him. Alexandra swung the massive weapon into his gut and he could hear and feel a rib crack from the impact. He stumbled back a few steps, arms in front of him and dazed, but not before dropping a pokéball from his belt.

Golden hair drifted in the wind behind a face hidden by blackness, and two hands covered by thin, gossamer gloves thrust towards Alexandra without even having to think. In an instant, the air around the group had gotten tangibly drier and a wall of ice had sprung up around Alexandra. Bella, the jinx that had stopped her, began readying another attack, but Jacob stopped her with a drunken "No!" With a look of contempt and disgust, the psychic-type glared at Alexandra and watched her haughtily while the drug-crazed fiend beat uselessly and soundlessly against her ice prison. Her master let his head fall back to the ground and nursed it with his eyes closed.

"Ugh... Lexi, righ'? Who the hell is this?"

With a whine of confusion, Rex stepped hesitantly out of the building, head swinging from Alexandra, to Bella, to Lexi, to Jacob, to Gerard, and back again. What he planned on doing was uncertain, but he started to growl at the ice-type.

((Alexandra Tourmaline is now available as a playable character. If this sounds like something any of you would like to do, submit to me a short character profile (short because you already have some of her history) by next Saturday. Highest current AP count will be taken into consideration. Please check the "Temp Characters" post for details... whenever I get them put up.))

---

Ulysses' furious counter-stroke took the entire group by surprise. The leader was thrown down with his bike in a puff of red, and the stuttering motorcycle dragged him on the ground for a few seconds while he screamed incomprehensibly. The instant Junior appeared on his target's shoulder, those in the area that were paying attention had the curious sensation of hearing "Oh" from one location and "...s**t" translated twenty feet above that location. Two activated pokéballs fell free and released their contents before their master's neck was broken with a crack lost in the crunching noise of his motorcycle landing.

Under normal circumstances, Gloria's victim would have most assuredly fired directly into her unprotected face, but two things prevented this: first, even amongst outlaws, it had long been recognized as taboo to engage a pokémon in combat, both because it was a foolish thing for a human being to do and because it was like fighting any other wild animal - your own inhumanity surfaces to match your opponent's. Second, few people have the presence of mind to fire directly into a river of fire; he was charred and his throat was mangled in seconds. Gloria's only punishment came in landing on the bike as it fell; the uncontrolled machine struck her feet before her innate quickness got her out of the way, so that she sported a mild limp.

Finally, there was Djinn's assault. It was far less effective, and the houndoom was very much aware of its natural resistance to the gengar's attacks. In the face of Djinn's frightening illusion, Kronos braced himself and loosed a wild roar that seemed to drown all other sound in the area. In a feral attempt at a coup de grâce, the canine ended his roar by biting at the balloonish pokémon, visible tendrils of dark ether seeping from his jaws as they latched onto Djinn's throat; the houndoom wrenched his head in what to most things would be a neck-breaking twist, and threw the creature down.

As the pokémon from the cyclist who had met his doom in the air materialized into a graveler and a scyther, the remaining cyclist turned sharply inward on a path for Jacob, clearly planning on taking him away. The man had a crazed, terrified, but greedy look in his eyes as he went in, and he opened unsteady fire with a pistol at Ulysses in desperation. The scyther and graveler had just a moment to take in the situation before the bug threw itself at the downed gengar to double-team it and began to slice down furiously at its chest. The living rock turned towards Gloria and pushed itself forward, forming a sphere of stone that quickly built speed and powered towards her.

That was when another noise began to build, from the south and east. It was... another cyclist. This one appeared with a hat that had no intention of attending to the air around it and a determined look in his eyes - Jeremiah had made his entrance.

---

Sarah listened to the two her were talking to her, but at the same time, her mind was elsewhere. In the Exterminant, with their farce of a religion, she had been promised wholeness. She had been promised that on the Journey, no one would be alone. Everyone would feel complete, and warm. There would be no suffering, no sense of loss. And then... and then she had disobeyed, and nothing had changed. Again. Once more, she had intentionally thrown herself against a religion, to test its reality, and it had betrayed her.

"I believe..." she started, and then looked towards Juno, who was bleeding so badly, and had a gruff, creepy old man to look after her. "I believe that I'm not as insane as you think, for one." A task. A task gave her something to hold onto. And Paul gave her something to hate that she could see. She walked boldly over to the pair, not a trace of ill intent in her mind, and roughly moved Paul out of the way. From her pockets and bags came a dizzying array of medical equipment. "Turn around and don't look. You, too!" she snapped at Zoidberg. "I'm not going to hurt you," she said to Juno. "And ask Fox-bait over there to make sure I'm not lying- he should be able to do it if he's worth anything." She threw a glance at the alakazam.

With deft, surprisingly gentle fingers, Sarah sought out the deepest wounds and began applying potions to them. Potions - one of the tremendous miracles resultant of pokélogical research. Like radiation, every human being maintained a small supply of ether. Potions, originally prescribed only for tending pokémon wounds, had turned out surprisingly effective on most human wounds. Useless against microbes, but unparalleled in mending physical cuts.

As she worked, she talked, a determined, self-involved expression unbreakable on her features. "I believe in myself, now. There is no God, there are no gods; not so far as I've witnessed. And believe me, I've witnessed a lot. If there is some entity, some something that I had to call a God, I would name that entity... me." Her eyes softened as her hands moved along Juno's body, disinfecting the shallower wounds, fixing what work Paul had done whether or not it had been done right, and bandaging anything that didn't need potion. "Because I am the only one who can end my own problems. And you are the only one who can end yours. So." She stood, done with her task, and put a pistol to Juno's head, cocking it even before she had fluidly drawn it from her pocket. "Fix this problem." She flipped the gun around, and held it out to the girl. "This will fix any you have with me," she said significantly, making her meaning clear, "or him."

She dropped the gun, and without another word, a glance back, or any kind of haste began walking back to Glenville.

---

((Will get to everyone else later tonight. Sorry for delays; school and such, you know. AP updated tomorrow... um... oh, right! Don't forget to check an update in the Temp Characters post in the next half hour or so. Below are the "stats" for Alexandra.))

(Alexandra Tourmaline, young-un extra (20). Pokémon: Giddy the sentret (Rex's fate to be revealed). Famished and frail, but possessed of uncommon abilities when on psychedelic drugs. Long, wild brown hair; 5' 7"; 102 lbs. Painfully submissive, but also determined when not under the influence.)

((This is the song that my Shaula and my sig are referencing.))

Gerard responded by stepping closer to Lexi, tapping his first pokeball as he came. Justice emerged, following Gerard to stand by her as the houndour approached the food.

Trusting the larvitar to defend her, Gerard went over to Thatcher and helped him to his feet, supporting his weight. He looked warily at the woman in the ice cage, but made no move to aggravate or antagonize her. He wanted to see what the case was before he did anything.

((That, by the way, is an amazing song, as is the associated one, "We Are All Connected." Everyone here should definitely check them both out.))

If Lexi could have seen into Alexandra's mind, she would have understood the difference between the attack on the girl and the attack on Jacob. The former had been a task - driven by fanatical devotion, yes, but not embracing the deep, soundless, primordial thrum of terror and hatred that prompted her second assault. This second furor... was cracking the ice of Bella's prison.

"Welp," Jacob said, heaving himself into a sitting position and grimacing as he felt his ribcage, "she's not the first. Ah, damn, that'll smart. Hey, Gerard. 'dja mind going to my bike? 's got a potion in the sidecar. Damn, those things're magical... good thing no good researchers left to find something bad about 'em." He couldn't afford a broken rib, here. Too much left to do. These kids were his responsibility, now. "So how'd you two meet?" he asked Lexi to make conversation, indicating Alexandra.

The woman stopped beating on the prison when she saw Lexi's lips move and saw the apparent concern on her face. When Jacob saw, he asked Bella to kindly remove the sound barrier she had set up, so the two could communicate if needed. Alexandra was twitching violently again as the drugs began to be processed and finally lose some of their potency. She was confused. What... why did Lexi care? Why wasn't Jacob killing her? Who was the other child? And... and there was food. When she saw the berry offered to Rex, tears began leaking from the corner of one eye. Food. Food was good, after so long.

Rex came slowly, but willingly, checking with his smiling and nodding mistress for nearly every step. When he finally reached Lexi, he took the berry from her gently and lay down to eat it, his tail wagging slowly. "You should- you should go with her, Rex," she said suddenly. In her state, it was not surprising how quickly she had gone from one emotion to another. The dog looked up at her, perking up quickly from the food source. He whined once, but Alexandra shook her head with a sad smile. "I've treated you wrong - you deserve her." She unhooked her pokéball from her belt and tossed it over the wall to Lexi.

Shaula, -5 AP: first-stage pokémon acquisition.

---

Marcus's grin dissolved at the sight of Vuk's charge. There was... no way. Some crotchety old man did not have a pokémon that powerful. Impossible. But... no matter. He knew how to handle this; he had no intention whatsoever of giving up at this point. "Y'know, I've heard that those jolteon creatures are pretty fast - but can they dodge bullets?" With that, he shouted, "Split!"

At that word, the rapidash and two ponyta each jumped - but this was no ordinary jump. These were horses known for their ability to leap incredible heights and distances, all due to their hooves, which would not shatter upon impact like a lesser being's would. From standing, they were not quite as impressive as they might have been otherwise, but the bandito's mount still cleared the car by six feet as it leapt over the heads of his victims. Twisting around in his saddle, Marcus loosed two shots, both at Vuk. He knew his goal needed to be to kill Andrej, but he had seen pokémon upon the deaths of their masters before. He wanted to be alive to get paid after this.

The two ponyta each leapt off towards either side and landed some thirty feet away, then immediately turned and started charging the car, their harder-than-diamond hooves cracking the dry ground behind them. One was on a beeline for Bogdan - the other, seeing Thomas in the way, went for the next best thing - Ptica, perched on the side of the vehicle.

---

Neither David nor Solomon asked a question, once Elian had given her order. They had not known what kind of emotional duress she was in, but the foretelling had a psychic signature like no other; it was impossible for them not to feel it, once near her. They both closed their eyes and settled into a stance, before Aislin "saw" a concentrated series of communicative beams careen through the compound, some three hundred yards away, to those closest to Abraham's escape point. A few messages were sent back and forth to ascertain the situation, and then one, forcefully sent, was fully audible to Aislin.

"Call off the Deep. Capture Abraham Renwald. Make him presentable to the Oracle. Bring him to the Reverend. Do NOT harm him."

Their commands given, the duo turned back to Elian. "He will be safe, Oracle. We will meet him soon before the Reverend. Do you know of what significance he is, for you to need him safe? I will tell you that he caused us some trouble a few hours ago, and is likely not a trustworthy person. You will be safe, and while I do not question your wisdom, what is your reasoning? Come, let us walk."

---

In the sewers, the tentacruel was hurting from slashes to its main body, but it had by this time captured Flicker in its tentacles and was ready to tear him apart. As the scyther began shrieking in agony, it was suddenly dropped into the filthy water. The tentacles went limp, releasing him, and the beast sank into the water.

Not long afterwards, a small beam of light reached its way down to Abe, who was still clutching the ladder with a death-grip. A team of people in lab coats, accompanied by the fuming interrogator, collected Abe and Flicker, returned the pokémon to its pokéball, and carried Abe back up the ladder to the compound main. In a blur, he was stripped, injected with a serum, cleaned, clothed in a black, unadorned robe, and handed over to the mr. mime that had first seen him. Feeling compelled by an unseen force of will, Abe had little choice but to follow.

In a very few minutes, he was waiting in front of a largely unremarkable wooden door, whose only decoration was the mew sigil tattooed onto many of the Exterminant's members. The mime stayed with him, and they waited. The smell was gone; the filth was gone; and, Abe noticed, his pokéballs were gone. It was perhaps nerve-wracking, but he knew that without his intimate knowledge of the porygon2 system, there was no progress they could make, especially if the creature/construct kept itself inert.

After a relatively short wait, the quartet that included Elian was seen walking towards him, from elsewhere in the complex. Though he didn't know it, these were his saviors - and did know that somehow, he needed to save her.

"Oracle," David intoned so only Elian and Aislin could hear, "this is the one you saved."

Paul allowed the Bishop to push by him. It was better not to resist her. Despite her claims, Paul didn't feel he could trust her. Zoidberg picked up on this wave, and though Paul and Zoidberg both turned away, Paul was not so easily fooled into inactivity. Though his rifle was painted and thus less than ideal for the idea he had, his handgun still had metallic, unpainted portions (something Paul was glad he had been too lazy to get around to now). He drew the handgun while facing away, under a charade of examining it. Then Amlund drew a pistol, and Paul heard it very clearly; the mirror did no good in this instance. He whirled, preparing to get on target and open fire - but the handgun was backwards, left in the teenager's possession. That made things easier and harder. Paul wasn't really sure the girl could even fire the handgun. Moreover, he wasn't sure if he wanted her to have it. If he needed to detain or restrain her, that gun would make it infinitely more difficult. Furthermore, if she ever began suspicious or paranoid, it gave her the power to kill Paul without ever attempting to remove any of his weapons from his person - perhaps at night or some such thing. This infinitely added to the challenge.

That was unimportant, though. The girl wanted answers to her questions, answers Paul wasn't entirely sure if he could give. How honest should he be? How could he explain his magical appearance? Who could he claim he was assisting, and why would he claim it? Offering a facade of government authority might work. On the other hand, if she discovered he was lying, well... The easiest way to make this lie was by omission, something she'd never detect. Paul's poker face was superb.

"I'm with the Minutemen, name's Paul McCulloch," Paul explained. "Special division." Still true. "I happened to be in the area, and it looked like you needed help." Both still honest, more or less. "I received some word about something going on with children, too, and the Pack. I don't know if you're involved with that, but if so then I think that perhaps it would behoove me to keep you protected. What are you here for?" That might do it. Hopefully she wouldn't ask any questions about how Paul knew what he knew, since Paul didn't want to have to admit any conjecture.

Abe eyed the approachers tiredly. The adrenaline had receded and he was shivering due to both his ice water adventure and the after-effects of the adrenaline surge. He dimly noted that it was a woman and 3 other...things...and didn't take much more notice past that. Not until they were close enough that he could recognize her anyways.
"Oh...it's you." Tired as he was, it was hard to sound joyous. The whole idea of finding her in the first place was in order to escape, saving both of their lives. Now, though, escape was hardly an option. It was easy enough to cloak his disappointment with the thought that he didn't get to vamoose.
Really, though, he was more upset that he'd failed this poor soul.
He was too tired to worry about spending the rest of his life shackled to these wackos and helping them develop Porygon2 however the hell they wanted...so he focused on current mysteries instead. "Why are you here? And what's behind that door?"

Aislin's ears and tail twitched as the psychic messages were sent back and forth, the Pokemon's gem glowing faintly as she picked up certain messages that floated past. Once the beams in front of the Pokemon faded, Aislin looked up to Elian, rubbing lightly against her leg to gain her friend's attention.

"They listened." Aislin mentally whispered, Elian kneeling down to stroke Aislin's fur gently before the two psychic Pokemon reaffirmed Aislin's statement. The woman had watched the pair take their stances, and felt their either grow and move around them. It was strange, being around other Pokemon with such powerful abilities, but it was helpful in cases like this, at least they didn't have to run to save the poor man now, it was tough enough being blind and walking.

"Thank you, both of you." Elian started as she stood up straight, nodding at David and Solomon's suggestion that they start their walk towards Abe. Elian honestly didn't know how to answer their question at first, should she lie and say that she knew of his signifigance, to appear more like an oracle? Or should she explain that her visions merely foretell important events that revolve around her? Could that honestly get her in trouble?

Elian hoped not.

"It is important that he is kept safe. I'm sure his trouble was caused out of fear, and confusion. Whatever his purpose may be is not entirely clear, but my visions have never proven to be useless or unimportant. If I have seen his suffering, then he needs to be protected." Elian explained, hoping the answer would suffice, for now. She was sure that this "Reverend" character would have more than enough probing questions for her anyway, and Elian prayed that she could also get away with vague answers, considering she hardly knew the answer to anything herself.

~

The walk wasn't long, but it did give Elian a good idea of the grand scale of the compound. Once they reached the poor, shivering man named Abe Renwald, Elian couldn't help but feel her heart ache at the sight of such a person. What had they put him through? Hearing David confirm the man's identity, Elian nodded to the two Pokemon, then turned back to Abe, unsure of what to say.

"Can we please get a chair, and a blanket?" Elian suddenly whispered to David, hoping the Pokemon would act quickly so the fatigued individual in front of her could avoid standing much longer. With a quiet sigh, Elian gave a comforting smile to Abe and moved forward, raising her hands to rub along his arms, hopefully causing enough friction so the man could stop freezing.

"I'm here because you were in trouble. Unless you're asking as to why I'm here in the compound, then that answer is simply, I'm their oracle." Elian explained, trying to keep the mood light as she flashed him a smile. It wasn't a lie, but Elian couldn't say "I'm here to learn as much as I can then get the hell out of here", that would have just ruined everything right there.

Promptly, a chair and a blanket was brought, and Elian gestured for Abe to sit, casting her eyes to the plain, lightly decorated door that sat close by.

"I'm not sure what's behind the door, but that's not important right now. Are you okay? Do you need anything?" Elian had no idea about his Pokemon or research, and simply felt content in wrapping the man in a blanket then kneeling in front of him to cast her pale, blind eyes over his body. At least nothing appeared missing, they hadn't gotten into torture through stealing fingers or ears, but the poor man was practically suffering from Pneumonia! Aislin also tried to help, rubbing herself against the man's legs once he had sat, purring loudly as if the sound would comfort him.

"My name is Elian, by the way, but I think you should just call me Oracle... No one here has used my name since I arrived, and it might be dangerous to call me anything else." Elian spoke jokingly, but she was rather serious. She had no idea how far these people would go to simply keep her title intact, and she didn't want Abe to be the one to find out.