Season 2, Episode 6: Far, Far Away

[etranger]

Aether Paradise is a manmade island that normally floats on the seas of Alola.

'Normally'.

It's currently neither on the seas, or in Alola. Surrounding the pristine white buildings of the Paradise are an overcast sky and a ruined landscape - this is the world of the Ultra Ruins. A small team of trainers in hazard suits is flying in on a variety of Pokemon, looking around the out-of-place Paradise.

As the leader dismounts from her Hydreigon, she allows the small Pokemon she's carrying in her arms to float freely as the other two Trainers with her return their Braviary and Mandibuzz before releasing a Sawk and a Throh.

The strange bottle clipped to the side of her suit bounces against her hip as she walks up to the front door of the Paradise and knocks.

"Hello? Is there anyone in here?"

Comments

[blue_ice]

Kaiba is going to need another vacation after this.

Being so close to the center of the blast hadn't done much for his health. He'd been one of the last to wake up deep in the heart of the building, wherever the heck they were. He's carefully rationed out healing supplies to his team, and now he's finally making his way to the door when he hears a shout that sends a chill down his spine.

Zahra. He slams into the door to the main atrium, comes across his 'friend' surrounded by their Pokémon, sighs, and kneels beside them to check their vitals. And then there's a knock on the door, to which he curses.

"This had better not be more hostiles." Someone else can get the door.

[etranger]

Just to be sure, Mako tries the doorknob.

...huh. Unlocked. She peers in through the open door carefully, calling out.

"Hello? Does anyone need assistance? We're a rescue team, looking for President Lusamine?"

[improvking]

...HM.

Ok. So: looking-like-the-enemy had seemed slightly less risky than being even-somewhat-unarmored in the vicinity of a berserk Zahra. The Ring-Spirit is NOT remotely confident enough in their 'friendship' to believe that Zahra would both recognize him and care enough for that to stop them. Sure, Zahra may have been demolishing the other, actual-Blackwatch-members' armor easily enough, but. Armor is armor, unarmored is unarmored.

Only Zahra's screaming had just now cut off, and super-abruptly, soooo... hopefully they're unconscious. Somehow. Finally. At least unconscious enough that the Ring-Spirit can risk switching out some of his stolen Blackwatch Pokearmor for an attempt at identify self as not, in fact, legit-Blackwatch,,

So Mako's greeted by somebody in full Blackwatch Pokearmor Appearing from who-knows-where (the armor had clearly been BLATANTLY insufficient, of course he'd also been hiding behind shit) hurriedly removing his helmet, revealing long white hair (which immediately forms a pair of horn/antenna-things?? why) "Infiltrated, your side, ah. ...Everything's gone to hell, so assistance is. probably needed, yeah."

He doesn't look freaked out. He's fine. Totally fine.

[etranger]

Okay. Okay. You know what? Mako's just going to roll with this.

"Sure. Ah...Hoopa, can you start setting up evacuation points?"

The small Pokemon floating at her side salutes and giggles before producing brass hoops out of nowhere.

"You can go through Hoopa's portals to reach our base, there are medics standing by. My subordinates can help with coordinating the evacuation, but I'm kind of under a time crunch here, so could you possibly lead me to President Lusamine?"

[blue_ice]

Kaiba watches the proceedings with a suspicious eye, as usual. The spirit's lucky he hadn't run into Kaiba during the invasion---that wouldn't have ended well. The stranger is familiar with Aether and its leadership, which is even weirder.

He gently scoops Zahra up to carry them through the portal and shakes his head, voice rough with disuse. "I don't know where she is. The president was in the base when it...moved, or whatever, but I searched when I woke up and found nothing."

[improvking]

The Spirit's eyes flick between his helmet and the unconscious Zahra a couple times, before he tosses the helmet to Mako. "These things have radios. No idea if anybody else with one survived that, but might still be useful. S'not like I need it..."

He peels off a few other pieces of the armor (dropping them unceremoniously) as he moves to join Kaiba. "The fuck set them off? Your double show up again?" He might not remember any of them much, but it still feels uncharacteristic of Zahra to just... explode. Explode and then keep on exploding,,

He isn't sure if he's worried exactly, but something is Very Wrong and - "Where's their Pyramid-thing?" They're always wearing it, what happened. That's gotta be tied to whatever went Very Wrong.

...He has an uneasy feeling there's way more Very Wrong here than he really wants to deal with. He decides to ignore that.

[inadvertentdadfigure]

The other door screeched open, considering it had no power and from the upper levels, a pair of armored hands ripped the door open. For a moment, there was silence as Tony pulled himself out of the lower levels, having come up through the lower levels, followed by Faba who looked exhausted, Peni and SP//dr who clambered up after him.

"I checked the bottom rungs with Faba and Peni and no sign of Lucy and oh I didn't know we had guests," said Tony, his armor retracting. "We have a rescue team now?"

"Oh thank god," groaned Faba, looking at the Ultra Recon Team with gratitude as he accepted a clean canteen of water from one of the medical people who bundled him in a refractive blanket and ushered him through one of Hoopa's rings.

Looking at the others, he asked, "What'd I miss?"

[lucky_peni]

"I'm guessing we missed a bit," said Peni, taking a few parts from SP//dr's arms and sending the mecha on through a ring with a reassuring pat on the arm. "I'll go on ahead Tony-dad. I'm sure I'm gonna be just in the way and someone's gotta keep Faba company. Hey, hey Seto, c'mon let's hustle! Zahra's gotta start getting heavy sometime!"

[improvking]

The Ring-Spirit realizes that uh. ...Zahra. is still wearing their Pyramid-thing's chain. Just no Pyramid-thing. What. happened...

...

The Ring-Spirit already has Ryou's complexion, but now somehow he's managing to pale more. That can't be healthy.

[etranger]

...Lusamine isn't here, huh. Well. That's.

Ominous.

Mako will just. Help organize.

[blue_ice]

"All right, then. I'm coming."

Seto responds to Peni's prodding with a snort and lugs Zahra forward, though not before he notices the spirit's staring. He looks down and...ah.

"The puzzle..."

Noa. He swallows hard and quickens his pace before anyone can see that glimmer of inconvenient emotion. Let them rest, and then he's figuring out what he has to tear apart to reassemble that puzzle.

[etranger]

Pause to consider.

"Mr. Stark! Is there anything particularly critical that needs to be evacuated?"

[inadvertentdadfigure]

"We need to get downstairs, get Alice's Arc out of storage." said Tony. "It's locked up and it'd better stay locked up. I can fly it out of there but I need another sealed box to put another box into just in case."

[etranger]

"Hoopa! You got everything set up?"

The Pokemon nods, giggling again, before floating over.

"Lead the way, Mr. Stark."

[inadvertentdadfigure]

Tony offered a shoulder for Mako to take before flying them down the chute and into the secure vault. "Fortunately there's still emergency power," he said, opening the vault and eyeballing the dangerous people-eater weapon in the box.

"I hate that thing, it gives me the heebies. Do kids still say heebies? I'm gonna toss it into the box. Friday, set repulsors to magnetize."

[etranger]

"Wiggins is old fashioned, and heebies is about a generation before that. I think we're currently at chicken skin?"

Pause.

"...so, uh, what was in that other open box? Because I'm guessing it wasn't a postit note."

The Post-it in question just says 'needed it back! phym'.

[inadvertentdadfigure]

"That would be her little kid's people-eater weapon. I seriously hope she doesn't bring it to breakfast at Guzma's table." said Tony with a groan as he magnetized the box and pulled it free from the broken moorings to drag it along the ground. "Got a box I can shove this into? I'm not opening it."

[etranger]

"They actually eat people?"

As Mako asks that, the box moves from an impact from inside.

"...forget I asked."

[inadvertentdadfigure]

"YEE-EP! Which is why I want this box locked down in your most secure facility." said Tony.

[etranger]

"Right. Hoopa, ring to the Inner Vault, please."

Hoopa nods, a little uneasy, and sends the box through.

[inadvertentdadfigure]

"And that takes care of that. Let's get back up top before anyone does anything dumb. And then you can tell me where the heck we are." said Tony with a deep sigh.