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Tavish nodded to the two men, and slowly withdrew his hand from his coat, placing it out in the open. They noticed...whoever these people are, they're not fooling around.. His expression returned to a neutral.

Their behavior so far was perfectly acceptable. Perhaps I'm getting too paranoid? "Heh, nice tah meet yae. Ah didnae think anyone still cared 'boot mah fossils taday...nice tah see some enthusiasts!" He walked over to the car, motioning Trouble to follow.

It wouldn't be too much trouble to dislodge the car, and with a nudge of his head, Trouble was able to push the car off of the hillock and back onto stable ground. He kept himself between the men and Trouble as the pokemon did the job. They've been polite so far...but there's a fine line between trust and stupidity.

(Is that better regarding the paragraph arrangement?)

((Normally, iD would have her turn, but since this post may involve Terrian's actual thoughts, I think it's more appropriate I do it.

Also: Yes, Ω, that is much better ^.^ ))

Dr. Terrian watched as the electric hell was unleashed on his raichu. He flexed his arms very slightly as the attack began, somewhat perturbed. It was a good move. It was a powerful move. The edge of the attack even hit Mist, though only partially.

"Hey, Terrian!" At the sound of Aaron's voice, the doctor made a motion that for all the world looked like he would whip his head to the source of the noise, but stopped, not even halfway there. It happened immediately as the ghost released his devastating blast.

"My name is Alex," he answered quietly. The hyper beam sent the now-partially-scorched rat flying through the air. An upwards flick of Terrian's head, and the thing woke up mid-flight to land, grimacing and growling as deeply as a rat can, sparks flying from its singed cheeks and tail. Latent paralysis meant the landing hadn't been perfect, and continued to mean that the first of the shadow balls, weak from the number released, hit him directly and knocked him off-balance. With a surge, Synapse bolted himself straight in the air, such that the remainder of the volley of dark energy missed and began dissipating as they spread out in a circle, one headed straight for Roger, though slowly and weakly. Aerial again, he targeted Djinn and screamed his battle cry, summoning a bolt of lightning four inches thick from about twenty feet above the ghost. Electric ether worked in some ways similarly to regular electricity, but in some ways not. It would be attracted to the closest conductor - Djinn - but it obviously did require clouds. This attack, rather than conducting electricity directly from the rat to its target, took advantage of the ionic imbalance already present in the earth itself and fed a massive quantity of ether into a spot above the victim, then for the most part, did little more than release it to nature. If the bolt didn't hit Djinn straight on, the ether-heavy concussive blast would certainly send him flying.

"I always have answers," Terrian responded to Stetson, this time not turning his head.

Upon landing, the 'chu immediately began charging Roger, enraged by the successful attacks. He leaped while still a few feet away, spun and flipped, and leveled a balled forepaw at the magnet's eye. Throughout both attacks, the only observable movement from Terrian was a smirk and a snort.

(Arthuritis592 +1 AP: Tactics 110)

---

Erin's efforts were rewarded, in that she successfully blinded her opponent, but she was easily thrown to the ground by the whipping of its head. Another ether-heavy shriek sounded out, while the other two fell in heavy avalanches to Ian's well-aimed shots. Ryan was not so lucky - the time he had taken to communicate with Erin and Ian earned a rock to his knee. Normally, it would have bruised. Normally, it would have only been aimed at a pokémon. Here, it knocked the knee out of join, ripping his patella around to the side and making the leg impossible to stand on, with the kneecap trying to make the knee hinge sideways, instead of up and down. Had he been more careful in his dodge, he may have avoided it.

((Here, I [iD] would like to remind everyone that the proper way to do combat is to declare an attack, not a hit. The defending player should be reasonable enough to know when something should hit, and when it should not; auto-hitting is only allowed if the attack is ignored for a post or if one of the GM's is moderating.))

---

The man at whom Paul had leveled his gun seemed absolutely torn - more than physically, too. The other one was very dead. Any plundering would reveal no pokéballs, identification, and a ham sandwich that had been sloppily-made and crammed into a pocket. In addition, one bike was mangled, but the other seemed at the very least rideable. Each carried about three gallons of gas.

"I'm... I'm... Oh, sh*t," he whispered, almost shaking his head before thinking better of it. "Look, can you please just... I don't know, take all my weapons, strip me down if you think I'm hiding more, get... I don't know... and... sh*t!" he cried out, starting to sob. The pain was nigh unbearable, and it was clear he was in a sort of emotional quandary. He continued to try to throw out similar compromises, always ending half-way through as he realized how foolish they were, and scattering the whole exchange with swearwords.

---

As soon as the Jeep finished rolling its way down the mound, a flood of earth and sand erupted directly onto Trouble and a pair of sandslashes, their great, quilled bodies showering dirt, leapt out of the mound, each swiping at him in a series of quick claw strikes, driving the great beast backwards with the strength of their burly claws. The children would be protected by Trouble's bulky head and thick mane, though they would at least be scattered as the arcanine's eyes were sprayed with sand. At the same time, Rory and Bill both very swiftly and competently cocked and aimed their rifles at Tavish's gut. "Only reason you ain't dead is the Reverend wants to jaw about your machine. You comin' along whole, or holed, Dirk?"

((Because the interrupt rule is new, I'm alerting everyone that a time like this is a possibility for an interrupt. Please do not attempt to abuse this power, though; we strike swiftly and fiercely ^.^ ))

((That was awesome, Ω. Once again, though, you have managed to receive an AP award and immediately spend it! ^_^ Not OP, though, so just a minor cost - I liked that.))

The arcanine had taken quite a beating from the heavy blasts of earth leveled at it, but he was able to hold his ground. Just as the badger-porcupine ground-types were about to coordinate a brutally graceful beating of the ground beneath them into an earthquake, Deadeye fired with the accuracy that was his namesake and forced them both into a growling retreat. Trouble was able to clear his eyes, mostly, but would still have some difficulty seeing properly. In response to the new elemental threat, one sandslash began burrowing with unnatural speed, spewing dirt, rock, and silt behind him while the other turned during his retreat, curled up, and fired a volley of quills in a broad spray behind him to cover the first's actions. They were clearly familiar with one another in combat and well-trained.

Not among those known for compassion, at the first sign of combative movement from Tavish, Rory fired. The slug knocked the aged man back and compressed his chest, such that catching the omanyte (+1 AP) was not so graceful as he may have wished, but the follow-up slug from Bill, aimed at his head, crashed into the thick shell. Type weakness to the metal projectile meant the omanyte gave a cry of pain and was knocked into Dirk's chest, especially at the short distance, but it was far, far better than the alternative. His gun was out before a third shot was fired (-1 AP), and the burly men facing him gave a derisive snort. "Yer outta yer mind, old man; a turtle, a toy gun, and escargot ain't enough t' keep yerself alive." Bill shot again at the omanyte almost before he was done speaking, driving Tavish back another few steps. If not for Houdini's characteristic nigh-impenetrable defenses, he would have been in critical condition; as it was, he was likely able to take a little more punishment before giving out.

(Ω +1 AP: my pokémon is a buckler; your argument bullet is invalid)

To her credit, Juno didn't flinch at the sound of gunshots. She had spent more time than any child should at the shooting range and had gotten used to the sound of a gun firing. It was odd how one was different out of the three, but she supposed the dragonite owner had his own weapon.

The young girl slipped the backpack off and set it beside the boulder she and Toby were hiding behind. "Check Ramsden's bag and see if he has a gun in there or something. You need a weapon." She fiddled with her own bag and pulled out her personal knife. "If he's got nothing, take this." She passed it to him before taking a deep breath. I really don't want to do this... "I'm gonna check on what's going on. We have to know."

Part of her really wanted to hide behind the boulder and not see what was going on. It wasn't fair that they got put into this situation. If we don't check on what's going on, we'll be sitting targets. They had to be prepared for whatever may happen, and that would only occur if the children actually knew what was presently happening. Remember Uncle's lessons - survival is everything. She'd been taught to defend herself and to aim to kill (if she had to shoot). She had been to more funerals than was probably wise for a child. She'd seen soldiers with bandages and bloody injuries after a battle. Being in one though was completely different. No amount of talking could have prepared her for this.

She peeked over the boulder and paled. Two of the three onix were down for the count. Thank you dragon dude. The third was badly injured. In the immediate sense, both she and Toby were safe. "Oh Jesus..." Ramsden was about 50 feet away from them. And by God, he looked horrible. Juno couldn't help but stare at his leg. His knee... It was slanted. Sideways. How is he even dealing with that pain? "T-two of the onix aren't moving. Probably dead. Third's injured. R-Ramsden's injured." He's going to die. Toby didn't need to hear those words. If he didn't want to look, she wasn't going to force him. I don't want to look. But we need to know.

In a few minutes, she was probably going to witness his death. He wouldn't be able to run away. His ammo probably wouldn't be enough to kill the last onix. I don't want Ryan to die. Stupid man. As angry as she was at him, she still didn't want him to die.

She didn't notice when the tears started falling down her face. Even if she had, she would have refused to acknowledge them. This is not the time to get distracted. The tears still wouldn't stop falling and she roughly wiped her eyes with her arm. She didn't look away from the battle. She couldn't do that now. I can't do a damn thing for him. He'll die if that guy doesn't help. "Looks like we're not going to have to worry about leaving this hiding spot," she said. She tried to sound calm but she had the feeling that her voice didn't come out as smooth as she'd hoped. Ramsden...please don't die.

Juno really didn't want to look away from what she thought would be the last time she saw Ramsden alive, but a tug at her arm forced her to look at Toby. His touch knocked her out of her spiraling depression if only for a moment. Now that she was paying him attention, she saw that he didn't look well at all. "What." The teenage boy's words smacked her in the face and she internally berated herself for forgetting their plan of action. She wiped her eyes again. "You're right. Sorry." The blonde had no pokemon of her own to help Ramsden and there was no way the two kids could drag Ramsden to safety faster than the onix could slither up to them. I'm sorry Ryan. In order for the kids to live, they'd have to leave Ramsden and hope their mysterious ally would protect the sailor.

She hastily put on her back pack again and the two darted straight for the trees. Juno didn't look back - whatever happened in that short amount of time was not her problem. Maybe it's better like this. At least this way she wouldn't have to witness a third death if it happened. Perhaps it was her own selfish desire, but watching someone die wasn't a memory she needed to have. The two earlier murders were already going to feature in her nightmares.

Once she and Toby got to the trees, she flopped down against a tree trunk and faced away from the fight. I need control. She tried to do some breathing exercises to calm her emotions. Sadly, it wasn't really working. She looked over at Toby to see how he was doing. It looked like he was in the same state of mind as she was. Damnit.

Aaron Cummings, Ground/Battlefield

My name is Alex

Aaron grimaced as he returned to his feet for the third time. His palms were scraped and from the stinging sensation he was able to determine that they were beginning to well with blood. After his first attempt at rising, there had been a huge change in air pressure and heat that had sent him flying. He had only made into a crouching position when the second electric shock wave occurred, toppling him again. Maybe I didn't skirt the battle as well as I had thought, he mused. He began to walk, much more carefully this time, towards the direction that Terrian answered from. It was strange, Aaron was normally very skilled at locating the position of someone who spoke nearby. He was so accurate that, most of the time, he could even turn his head to face the speaker directly. This skill was extremely useful while dealing with the everyday traveler, as it generally helped them feel more at ease while speaking with a person who cannot see.

"Alex," he spoke as he neared the origin of the voice, "You said we were important. You said we were supposed to be protected. That, we were not to trust you and you had to fight us."

With each word, Aaron's confusion and anger rose, his rant budding into full bloom. His accusations attacking the man with the ease of a hitmonchan throwing punches at a practice dummy. He was tired of deception, this needless violence.

"Yet, without you, we might have never joined together. From what Ulysses and the others described, you even defended them from the ones who apparently are trying to kidnap us. You d-- Ahh!!"

The ether-infused screech from Synapse, while terrible for normal people, placed Aaron in a temporary prison of agony. He grasped his ears in sympathy, blood wetting small points of red against the pale delicate organ. His ears were still ringing when he began to speak again. The disturbance disallowed him to judge his volume and he continued his speech on the verge of yelling.

"You didn't outright attack us and seem to be legitimately concerned for our safety. If you really are Alex Terrian, friend of Ulysses, then why? Who could have so much sway over you that you would turn your back on an old friend? What is the real reason that you attacked us? No more excuses! We know you aren't completely under its control because you openly admitted your regret and said that this fight was 'silly'. You said that this battle is important somehow and I believe it has something to do with me and the other younger people here. I believe you--or the ones controlling you--need us alive."

At this point, he reached into one of the inner pockets of his overcoat and pulled out a curved object. It was painfully clear what it was as he made a slight gesture and a curved blade slid open from the handle. He gripped the knife with his right hand and held the blade up to his throat approximately two or three inches below his left ear. He could feel his pulse throb against the cool steel, the blade almost penetrating his skin.

"I don't want you to back off your raichu. That would be asking you to go against something you were explicitly ordered to do. I want answers, and you're going to give them to me; whether you tell us all or only me, I will know the truth."

He smiled sadly as the reality of his actions began to sink in; he was completely fine with fulfilling his promise to take his life.

"If you don't, I will slice this blade into my jugular and carotid blood vessels. It won't take long for me to bleed out. I suspect that whoever or whomever is controlling you would not be very pleased if one of the chosen ones were to die on your watch. It's your choice. You have until the count of ten to decide. One... Two..."

((EDIT: I corrected an annoying number of syntax and sentence flow issues))

When the two of them ran to the treeline, Toby tripped on some rock or root rather quickly in his haste, and ended up doing a sort of odd all-fours scramble for the last few feet... He groaned and dusted the dirt off of himself as best he could - it was a purely reflexive motion, as he didn't care at all how he looked right now. He was still shaking, even as he told himself over and over in his head that they were perfectly safe, that they were both alright and that's what counts-

The air bristled with energy, and a split second later contracted in a boom that hurt both their inner ears. The ground lurched even as far away as they were hiding, disrupting their balance, and there was a flash of light that was too rich an orange, yet at the same time too muted to be a traditional explosion. For a few seconds Toby's head was overwhelmed by an ethereal wave, his mind racing without making any coherent thoughts... he then blinked away the dimming ruby light and realized with a shock how lucky they were. The boulder they had been hiding behind may have absorbed a glancing blow from a distracted onix, but against an explosion like that, they would have had no hope. The ground in a wide radius around the blast center had cracked and buckled regardless of obstacle, and the boulder would have done nothing to stop the snap of heat. If she had insisted on watching, or if we hadn't been fast enough...

He was silently debating whether they would have been merely flash-fried or irradiated beyond cure when he realized he was holding tightly onto Juno, and she to him. His best guess was that he had lost balance in the blast and grabbed onto her for support... he realized how much he was shaking, and as such it was hard to tell how badly she was as well. In any other setting he would probably have backpedaled, muttering some sort of rambling apology for personal space. Right now, though, he made no effort to move. He would rationalize it later by telling himself his legs wouldn't've been able to support himself anyway.