DIE, DIE, DIE

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Xeno finally arrived into the looming stretch of greenery that is known as Pecha Forest. By himself, Xeno felt much more at home than when he was with Bui and Cirrus. Although, there was a small feeling eating at him as if he wanted to be with them. Xeno shook his head. Come on, we've got this by ourselves. We can handle this. Stretching out his arms, Xeno ventured into the forest, unaware of what dangers might befall him.

(Currently on hold for EV)

~ADMIN EDIT~
~POST MERGE~

(Energy: 19-5=14)

Taking a deep breath, Xeno plunged into the deep undergrowth that was Pecha forest. "Okay, finally. We get a bit of alone time," giving a sigh and closing his eyes, he took in the scent of the growth around him. "Man, wish this could happen all the time honestly." Feeling a bit peppy, he started off towards what might possibly be his next destination. "Things have been pretty hectic lately, 'eh? I mean, don't get me wrong, I appreciated it all, meeting Bui and Cirrus, I guess you could say that's the most fun I've had in a long long time, but I do still appreciate it being just us two, how it's basically always been.

After he thought he had gone a sufficient enough distance, Xeno decided it was a good time to take a break, he stumbled down towards a tree and sat down. "I guess we could just take a small nap while we wait for the other guys." Giving a yawn, Xeno rolled over onto the ground, curled up, he slept quietly.

(TY)

Xeno could only suffer. Suffer because of his actions, because of the fact that he decided it was a good idea to try and trust people for once. Was this was Bui wanted also? Did he want to hurt him also? Xeno couldn't stand the thought and, he really couldn't do anything worse than what he was currently doing. He then made up his mind. A nagging thought at the back of his head. He hated everyone. He just wanted to go away, live his life alone. Contradicting himself, he couldn't bear to leave his necklace because of the value it had to him. However, at the same time, contradicting himself, the thought of death scared him now. He didn't want to know what was beyond the dark abyss that he dreamed about. "T-Take... it..." Xeno could barely say through his sobbing and pain. He nudged his necklace out towards Riven, unsure of whether he would actually live after this entire ordeal.

Krikka worked with great care on her little piece of art, carving every mark with precision and delicacy. Or at least, she was as delicate as she could be, given the circumstances. Despite the time-sensitivity of the situation, she still worked rather slowly so as to ensure the quality of the marks. Every mark brought her closer to finishing the rune while releasing blood into the buizel's fur, all the while bringing the sadist ever-increasing satisfaction. The sounds of pain coming from her victim were like music to her ears, bringing her bliss where most would find sorrow or discomfort. Bringing pain to someone else always made her feel powerful, and she quite enjoyed that. She wanted to one day be capable of paining even the strong, but for now, she was satisfied with simply preying on the weak.

Before the umbreon could finish her rune, poor little Xeno's will finally caved; the buizel gave in and submitted his necklace in exchange for his life. Krikka paused the strokes of her "brush" for a moment, staring at the necklace, almost surprised that it was suddenly over. Well, perhaps not quite; she still had a rune to finish, after all. She rushed through the final few marks to complete the "K" rune of the unown, trying to hold true to her word and end the torment with the submission of the necklace. "Well," she began, dropping the bloodied thorn into her bag, "A deal's a deal." With that, she was finished mutilating the helpless buizel's body, having gotten what she wanted. She reached her left paw out under the necklace and lifted it over Xeno's head, removing it from his being with a gentleness that her prior actions had lacked. She immediately draped the string of the necklace around her own neck, allowing it to fall over the black bandanna she already wore.

She liked the look of it on her.

"That friend of yours should be back soon, probably with help. You've survived and stayed awake this long, so I doubt you'll die before they get to you. You'll live, if nothing else," Krikka spoke calmly, as if trying to reassure the buizel she'd previously cared only to harm. She'd already harmed him and satisfied herself, so there really wasn't much more reason to continue going out of her way to do more damage. Besides, she doubted there was much more she could do without outright killing him, especially before his friend returned. "By the way, my name isn't Riven, if you haven't guessed. It's Krikka," she added on mostly to make it clear why she'd written a "K" on the buizel's face instead of an "R." She knew giving up her real name wasn't the smartest decision in the world, but she wanted her work to be understood, at least by the one who bore it.

With nothing more to say, the blue-ringed umbreon turned to leave in a direction that was nearly opposite of where the togepi had run off to. However, she stopped almost immediately, feeling a desire to stay. She didn't want to stay simply to torment whoever showed up to save Xeno, nor to torture him more. Actually, she wanted to stay to ensure his safety. After all, she'd implied he would not die assuming he complied, and Krikka was not fond of breaking her own rules. Plus, she disliked the wastefulness of killing in the first place, and allowing someone to die from injuries inflicted by her seemed about the same as directly killing them. Besides, if her victim died, he wouldn't be able to live and torment himself over his own weakness! Or... maybe...

...Did she care? Did she perhaps simply not want to kill a pathetic, innocent weakling after already doing so much to damage him? In truth, she wasn't entirely sure, always having struggled to understand and accept her own emotions. But one thing she knew was that, assuming this was the case, she did not want to stick around and humor her own suppressed morality. Even if she didn't actually care, she didn't even want to look like she cared. Due to these conflicting thoughts, she was torn over whether to stay or leave, causing her to simply stand in place for the moment, staring down at the newly acquired necklace dangling in front of her chest.

[Energy: 0+1=1]

Bui suddenly felt as if he had hit is second wind. Or maybe, at this point, his third. He had been doing quite a lot of running recently—much more than was usual for him. He knew he was pushing himself more than he probably had ever done before, and that he would probably pay for it later. Pay for it, but not regret it.

The distance between where he had left and were he was going wasn't all that great, but it seemed much more significant a distance when Bui felt he needed to be at his destination prior to even leaving for it. He saw where the thicker forest breached to show the abundance of light exposed onto the forest floor in the clearing. He passed through the brush and into the clearing. After a few more steps, he paused to take in the scene in front of him.

Xeno laid against near a tree, clearly hurting. He knew that Xeno had been poisoned—Cirrus had said that much—but there was serious physical damage too. This had all happened between Cirrus leaving to find me and now. Bui turned to look at the other Pokemon in the clearing. Quadruped, black fur, blue rings. Bui thought he could remember maybe seeming a Pokemon of similar appearance before, in passing, but he was terribly unfamiliar with the specifics of other Pokemon species. Bui then noticed the necklace the stranger was wearing. He glanced back at Xeno and noticed his necklace was missing. Bui then noticed the mark cut into Xeno's face. Bui couldn't read, and he didn't know the symbol, but he knew well enough it wasn't the shape of a typical cut. This was very much intentional, deliberate, done to leave a message.

Bui cut across the clearing, heading directly for Xeno. He dropped his bag next to his friend and reached in and retrieved one of his two Pecha Berries. He placed it in Xeno's hand and said just loudly enough for Xeno to hear "It's supposed to cure poison." Bui then stood straight up and turned to face the stranger. He started to walk towards her. Bui didn't know how capable a fighter this Pokemon was, or what the species was capable of. Bui knew he wasn't really an effective fighter—he had one offensive move Anything else he tried would be improvised attacks, brute force; and he wasn't that strong.

Bui kept walking towards his foe, closing distance step by step. He wanted to make it clear he wasn't afraid of whoever he was facing. Bui didn't have the firmest grasp on social interactions, never knowing the right thing to say or do. However, he was easily able to work out what was happening here, and had a some ideas on what might be going through this Pokemon's head. This Pokemon had marked Xeno—deliberate marks indicate ownership—dominance. An effective way to assert dominance was through fear; Bui knew that well enough—he had seen parents use it to keep their kids in line and cops try to use it to scare him away from shops. But those were threats of groundings, or in the cops' case, threatening to "tell my parents." This Pokemon was doing the same thing, but through something more than just threats.

Bui stopped walking just a few foot shy of the other Pokemon—dangerously close proximity if his opponent decided to make an attack. But Bui had to come this close—to make sure that Xeno's attacker knew that he wouldn't be intimidated so easily.

((Your move, Russia Sova.))

Before Krikka could make a decision for herself on what next to do, the cavalry had arrived to save the day.  However, this... "cavalry" was a bit underwhelming, consisting of nothing more than another buizel.  At first, she wondered if perhaps it was just some random passerby, but this second buizel certainly seemed to know the victim.  Still, where had the little togepi gone?  She'd been looking forward to seeing the little creature's face upon realizing she was the villain, not just a random stranger helping some sick guy.  Alas, this paltry audience would have to be enough to entertain the sadistic criminal.  With this in mind, it bothered her a bit that the newcomer seemed to be entirely ignoring her in favor of being all goody-good and helping his friend.  It seemed the rather underwhelming savior was at least well-equipped, coming prepared with a pecha berry, though it was questionable if poor Xeno would even be able to eat it on his own.

After a bit of a wait, the disgusting show of heroism ended and the newcomer finally started paying some attention to the true star of the show!  Unlike his friend, this buizel didn't seem cowardly and pathetic.  However, the umbreon had had her fun, and while getting a two-for-one torture deal sounded great, she wasn't particularly interested in sticking around too much longer and risking having more "help" show up.  Still, she decided to at least entertain the buizel's little display of bravery, as she felt it deserved acknowledgment.  She smirked at the bolt little hero and gave a quiet chuckle as she thought about how to... thank him for being so entertaining as to waltz right up to her like he was actually capable of doing anything.

"That's cute.  Fortunately for you, I really doubt you're worth my time.  Now, I think you're just gonna let me walk away, wondering why I chose to mutilate him and not you... because past this little front, you're a coward just like him, aren't you?" Krikka spoke in a cocky and cheery manner, perhaps eerily so, spinning around in preparation to walk off as she finished.  If the two buizel were close, then they probably had similar personalities and this one was likely just acting brave to protect his friend.  If this proved true, her guess was that he really would just let her go, and he'd emotionally tear himself apart over it... especially considering she'd stolen Xeno's personal treasure.  Oh, the thought of it was far more appealing than beating him half to death; physical damage would heal with time, but something so heavy on the emotional side could quite possibly stick around for his entire life.  If the umbreon was right, then she would have ruined two lives in one day!

Of course, there was also the possibility of the buizel defying her expectations and actually attacking her, proving not only to be truly brave - or stupid - but also to hold more concern for his own pride than the safety of his friend.  After all, Xeno was still poisoned, and even if he managed to eat the berry, that wouldn't fix his wounds.  He still needed treatment if his well-being was to be ensured, which Krikka presumed would take precedence over herself on this other buizel's list of priorities.  Still, if it turned out she was wrong, then perhaps she would start considering this fool to be worth her time after all.  And if that happened to be the case, she was prepared for the inevitable lashing out, ready to turn back around and deliver a firm, ironclad smack to his side with her tail.

Either way, from Krikka's perspective, this situation could only possibly end well.  She couldn't wait to see what her newest toy would do.

(Game on.)

Now that he was standing here, right in front of his new found enemy, ready to take or try to evade any attack his opponent attempted, Bui was momentarily surprised when no attack came. Instead of attack, the Pokemon spoke instead.

After the brief surprise came anger—or rather, more anger; Bui was already quite upset. Then a moment of realization, after analyzing the words. She's trying to test me, to see if this is just an act. Bui gave a quick glance back to his companion, noted nothing had changed, and that Cirrus never reentered the clearing. Xeno needed help, but Bui knew nothing in the ways of medicine. He couldn't help on that front. Bui figured the least he could do was get Xeno's necklace back. It was all he could do.

Bui made sure to fix his eyes back on stranger, making eye contact to reassure to her that he was not Xeno. Bui was tensed and ready for a fight, but he didn't attack. Instead, like the stranger, he opted to speak. "You think wrong. I'm not letting you walk away with that necklace," Bui said with a steady voice. He wouldn't ask or demand it back—that would be a waste of breath, and show weakness or desperation.

There were only a few ways he'd be getting the necklace back. The first was the stranger backing down and returning it—Bui assumed that wouldn't happen. The second was beating the stranger in a fight—probably more likely, albeit Bui wasn't sure by how much. Then there was the third option; but Bui would need his bag for that, and he had left that by Xeno, and he couldn't just walk away from this now.

Bui stayed tensed, prepared to evade, but did not yet attack. Although he doubted the chances, there was the slim possibility this could be resolved through words. Almost certainly impossible, but technically possible.

((*Moves his pawn from A2 to A4*))

Krikka had expected the buizel to either back down or attack, so when he did something between the two, it was a bit surprising.  She stopped and glanced back at him as he spoke, beginning to grow just the slightest bit interested in this new prospect.  She waited to see if her new friend was going to actually do something or just pester her, but alas, it seemed to be the latter so far.  All he was doing was talking.  Did he expect her to just miraculously decide to surrender all at his request?  If demonstration of boldness was supposed to intimidate her into giving her rightfully stolen trinket back, it wasn't working.  "Hmmm..." she raised her left paw to her chin as she pretended to consider the buizel's words despite already knowing her own response.

"Nope."

She then turned back away and began a slow strut in the opposite direction of the little wannabe-hero, wanting to see if he actually had what it took to stop her.  "If you think this necklace is somehow gonna make its way over to you, I hope you're prepared to make it happen.  Otherwise, cya," she tucked the necklace underneath her bandanna as she spoke, just to make it a bit more difficult to simply swipe from her.  If this guy actually intended to attempt to get the piece of jewelry back, it would not be so simple as grabbing it and running.  What would he do, being forced to choose between attacking and simply watching the necklace leave forever?  The umbreon was fine with either one, though now that she knew his motivation, she was guessing he would attack.  He was acting in such a manner not for his own ego nor simple vengeance, but to retrieve his friend's valuable.

Krikka was still on the fence about if this venture was worth her time, especially since she was pretty sure she could simply run off if she wanted to, but she didn't really fancy looking like a coward even if her true reasoning was simply that she had better things to do than entertain the demanding attitude of some random dude.  Still, if all he was going to do was talk, she had no interest in sticking around to humor him, especially with the potential risk of more help coming.  Two pests had crawled out of the depths of the forest to come to Xeno's aid already, so it seemed like a very real possibility at this point that more would come.  So, alas, while sticking around to torment yet another buizel seemed like fun, Krikka knew it was in her best interest not to unless she couldn't avoid it.  Or, at least, unless she couldn't avoid it without fleeing.  She wasn't going to just run away unless she really had to.

(Pawn B7 to B6)

Bui was not surprised that she had refused to return what she had stolen. He was, however, caught off guard by the stranger's disregard and sudden attempt at a departure. Bui saw two options open to him at that moment. Or, actually, three options; but he wasn't going to let the stranger just walk away. Bui could try talking again—it wasn't doing much good so far, and he knew he wasn't a particularly good diplomat. He also doubted diplomacy was an actual option with this Pokemon. He could try to be intimidating, but he doubted he had the appearance to back up anything he could come up with.

I could say something provocative. Bui thought, a few potentially potent phrases coming to mind, but he doubted many would trigger any significant reaction from his adversary. The other option is to attack. Which, if I was going to do, this would be the most optimal time. A subtle ringing from behind Bui started, a faint glowing accompanied it. Sonic Boom—his only offensive attack. Bui opted to split the difference between his options.

"Coward!" Bui shouted the words as he spun in place, launching his Sonic Boom attack towards his opponents hind legs.

((Shame I don't have an aggressive chess move to match. R3a.))

With her large ears, Krikka heard the ringing rather easily and spun around to see what the buizel was trying to do.  She faced him just in time to see the blast of force coming at her, but she didn't even blink.  Her body began to emanate an eerie, black energy before expelling a pulse of the darkness out just before the sonic boom would have blown her off her paws.  The two shock waves collided to stop each other, creating quite the spectacle of dark energy twirling among the winds for a moment before dissipating.  The umbreon had a cocky smirk with just a hint of excitement on her face despite having just been insulted and attacked, as this buizel was proving to live up to all her expectations.  As fun as tormenting some helpless little ball of anxiety was, she liked having more... competent prey once in a while.  Balance was important, after all.

"And here I was thinking you wouldn't be any fun.  Congratulations for exceeding my expectations," she spoke with a faux-compliment, smugness quite literally emanating from her being as the visible dark energy continued seeping out of her.  It was a manifestation of her own inner negativity, and while perhaps some would find such an attack to be appealing, she adored it.  After all, she had plenty of negativity to go around.  "My name is Krikka.  There, now you don't have to call me silly things like "Coward" while you plead for your life," she spoke antagonistically, fearlessly giving out her name despite the potential risk that came with it.  Before awaiting a response from her foe, another pulse of darkness emanated from the umbreon's body.  She didn't really care to get to know him, as long as he knew the name of the one who was about to break his body so he knew who to give credit to.

Sure, maybe giving out her name so willingly wasn't the smartest thing in the world, but Krikka figured everyone would know her name eventually anyway if she managed to be a successful outlaw.  Besides, it wasn't like knowing her name was going to help the guilds and police catch her.  She would be able to evade them regardless of circumstance, as she was a gifted genius, her intellect rivaled only by her own ego!  She wanted not just these two buizel, but the whole world the whole world to know her name, and if she couldn't get them to adore her, she would make them fear her.  Besides, she'd already given her name to Xeno just to make sure he knew what he'd been branded with, so there wasn't much point in trying to be secretive now.  Despite how fun lying was, Krikka didn't care much for ambiguity if there was no reason for it.

(There's only more aggression to come.  You posted in the wrong neighborhood.  E7 to E5.)

Bui was hoping his attack would catch his target off guard—make them stumble at least. But the attack was negated before it ever reached its target. The words struck home, at least, Bui thought. But that response wasn't quite what I was hoping for. Bui didn't know who he was dealing with and he admittedly wasn't particularly skilled in reading people. He was kind of banking on this Pokemon—Krikka, she called herself—was just some sort of sociopath taking advantage of an obviously weak Pokemon. He was hoping his attack would break Krikka's false bravado. But now, it was clear, there was no falsehood to be found in the way the Pokemon was acting.

Bui was beginning to realize that he shouldn't make decisions based on hopes and speculations. Caught up in his thoughts on analysis on the escalated situation, Bui didn't realize he was under attack until the moment the pulse actually hit him. The attack hit Bui harder than he had anticipated. It wasn't as fast as his Sonic Boom and didn't impact with force like his own attack did; and yet here he found himself momentarily stunned by the darkness's effect. It was at this point that Bui became acutely aware of just how much he had underestimated his opponent. Krikka's attacks hit harder than his own, they could disrupt him, and based on what had happened to Xeno, she could poison him.

The brief advantage Bui had was gone, and in seconds the tables had turned.

((I'm still going to win the chess match, though. Nf3.))

Krikka had expected the buizel to avoid her first offensive attack, but it seemed he would not be as worthy an opponent as she'd hoped.  It was a bit disappointing, yet at the same time, this meant he would be helpless to resist her onslaught.  Just because she had avoided a fight with Xeno didn't mean she knew not how to fight, and her willingness to simply leave was by no means cowardice.  She intended to make both these things painfully clear to her new friend, even if it killed him.  The buizel seemed stunned after only one blow, which was a bit underwhelming after the big, stoic front he had put up.  This just meant he wouldn't be able to avoid the next one.

The umbreon took but a mere moment to consider her options for how to proceed before deciding to get in close and show a bit of variety, just to prove she didn't need to fight from a distance to win.  Her tail took on a metallic sheen as she rushed toward the stunned weasel, aiming to deliver a hard blow to his belly and knock the wind out of him.  With the strength - or lack thereof - that he had demonstrated so far, it seemed unlikely that he would be capable of avoiding this attack, let alone counterattacking.  The poor little idiot must have had no idea what he was getting himself into, assuming he was up against a cowardly scoundrel.  After all, Krikka had purposely targeted someone weak and chosen to discreetly wear him down instead of simply attacking and mugging him upfront, and she'd then decided to simply leave rather than confront the witness.  She was mostly concerned about what seemed the most fun, but from an outside perspective, that likely appeared to be the behavior of someone not confident in their own combat ability.  Krikka was nothing if not confident in herself.

While the umbreon moved in to attack, she paid close attention to her opponent for any apparent weaknesses or any trinkets of note that she could take after she finished beating on him.  Despite the short time frame she had to register these things, it was oddly easy, as if her mind was capable of doing everything at once.  Ever since her trip to the land of "cursed" treasure, she had been like this.  Her mind worked faster and more efficiently than ever before, presumably because of the odd... sparkly dust... stuff she had come in contact with.  She hadn't gotten much chance to use this newfound advantage thus far, but she failed to see how it could possibly be considered a curse.  She could learn and think at an accelerated rate with no apparent downside, and now she had a good opportunity to test it out.

(I beg to differ.  Bxa3.)

Bui knew the second attack was coming before it was made abundantly obvious by Krikka's metallic change to her tail. He knew It was coming the moment he hesitated after the first hit. He managed to take a short step back and turn by about forty-five degrees before the impact. This granted Bui the benefit of protecting his stomach—to a degree—and knocking him away from his assailant. This, however, was in no way an evasive maneuver, and it annoyed him that it took as much conscious effort as it did to make such a small movement.

Now Bui lay a short distance from the umbreon, winded—albeit not so cripplingly as he would have been had he not reacted at all. He was losing, and any grounds he had, any advantages he might have had open to him, were now slipping away. If I don't do something now, to at least get even ground, I'm going to end up in the same situation as Xeno. Or worse... Bui figured Xeno hadn't resisted Krikka a considerable amount—certainty not as much as Bui just had with the attack and the insult. He was starting to get a grasp of Krikka's character; and while he wasn't willing to put all his faith in his own observations of character at this point, after being vitally wrong a few times now, he was still pretty confident that Krikka would do as much, if not more damage to him than she had done to Xeno.

In the same motion, Bui stood and fired off another Sonic Boom. targeting the ground between him and his opponent, with a bias towards the enemy, rather than attacking her directly. The rational was that Sonic Boom wasn't all to powerful. It was destructive, yes. It hurt, yes. But it wouldn't hurt enough to stop an advance, and he was more sure than not that Krikka might just cancel it out before it hit. Bui's goal here was to prevent Krikka's forward progress, to stop her from immediately advancing on him, and buy him some seconds to gain some distance between them. The moment after the attack, Bui backed up as quickly as he could without stumbling or provoking further pain from his still-aching side and stomach. All the action was making it difficult for him to regain control of his breathing. He stood still again, dividing his focus on regaining proper breathing patterns and preparing to dodge the next inevitable attack.

((Rude. I really liked that Rook. Nxa3.))

Knowing he couldn't avoid the attack fast enough, the buizel opted instead to mitigate damage from the blow.  A smart move, but not nearly enough to negate the attack as he clearly felt the impact still, looking rather pathetic as he was swatted to the ground.  Despite her initial reservation at the idea of sticking around and fighting, she was beginning to be thankful her new plaything had given her a reason to do so.  She began a slow and confident toward the buizel to continue beating on him, figuring he wouldn't be getting back up if he was anything close to his friend.  However, to her surprise, this one seemed a bit more resilient as he not only managed to get back up but also fired off another sonic boom at the same time.  The black energy around the umbreon's body began to flare up again with her tail losing its metallic sheen as she prepared to counter the attack, but it instead collided with the ground in front of her, kicking up grass and dirt in a rather unexpected turn of events.  She simply lifted her left paw in front of her face and turned to the side slightly to protect against the mixture of wind and debris, finding it rather underwhelming for an attack.  However, it was something unexpected, which admittedly made her respect this buizel as seemingly being a bit more competent than his dying counterpart.

Realizing her opponent wasn't entirely hopeless didn't even dent Krikka's confidence, and in fact, it simply increased her interest in him.  Specifically, it made her wish to see him on the ground, pleading for his life even more.  Her body began to sweat profusely as she took a moment to consider her next action, though this was no ordinary sweat and, in fact, had a key role in her battle strategy.  She released another shockwave of dark aura from herself in the direction of her opponent, though this time, she expected him to actually avoid it as he'd demonstrated the ability to actually use his brain and react semi-properly to attacks.  Thus, this dark pulse was simply a distraction, with its true intention being to force the buizel to move so he couldn't avoid the next attack.  Of course, if he wasn't able to avoid it, even better, but it seemed a bit unlikely now that he knew what to expect.

Wasting no time, the umbreon immediately spun around in a rather forceful motion, flinging her tail forward and sending the liquid oozing from her pores out in a wide spray in the general direction of the buizel.  This sweat was special in that it was toxic; it was a specific skill of umbreon which she had picked up as a method of delivering her poison.  She had yet to use it to poison someone from a distance and thus was unsure if it would be effective, but this seemed like as good a time to find out as any.  At the very least, she doubted her new toy would be able to avoid or protect against the toxic liquid while having to focus on avoiding another attack at the same time.  And once he was poisoned, all the avoidance and stalling in the world wouldn't save him...

(He had it coming, just like my bishop.  And Xeno.  And Bui.  Pawn d6.)

Another wave of dark energy surged forth from the umbreon. Bui hopped backward—stumbled a bit, but kept on his feet—increasing the distance between himself and his attacker, and just out of range from his attacker's attack. Or, rather, from his attacker's distraction. He noticed the spray as it was losing momentum and falling to the ground. It was a wide spread, and it would be heavier on one side and lighter as it went, as there was less liquid to be thrown as the swing went.

Bui saw the spray fall in front of and to his side, but he couldn't tell if it actually made contact with him. He didn't feel it, but there was plenty of reason he wouldn't notice such a thing. For one, he was sufficiently distracted by the Dark Pulse, his efforts to dodge the obvious attack, and his maintenance of his own breathing—which he was getting under control now, but the sudden movements weren't easy on him. Additionally, he had his water veil, which kept his fur moist constantly. It would protect him from burns, but not poison—which is what he guessed the spray was—and made it hard to tell if a few drops of something made contact with him or not.

His benefits were becoming disadvantages now, too. Bui had to reassess his position, and think up a new strategy. If I keep backing up I'll be against a tree, Krikka will close in, I'll be trapped. If I've been hit by that spray, then I'm poisoned—I can cure that if I can get to my bag. I can't get to my bag without going closer to Krikka. If I haven't been poisoned then she'll eventually notice and try again. Bui stated the facts to himself. I will inevitably be poisoned. I need to get to my bag, even if I'm not poisoned. I need to get some advantage. I've got to do something she can't predict.


Bui fired off his third Sonic Boom, directly at his opponent this time. Without hesitation, he followed his own attack, closing the distance he had just gained. Regardless of whether the Sonic Boom hit or not, Bui didn't really care. It was a distraction; if it hit, all the better. But that wasn't Bui's true attack. He was going to try to tackle and pin his foe—an improvised attack, but hopefully it was just as unexpected as it was unconventional. After he was on Krikka, he didn't really have a plan. He hoped it would be harder for Krikka to hit her target when her target was on her back.

((And Krikka. Pawn e4.))

As expected, the buizel managed to avoid being hit this time around, proving he did, in fact, have a brain. Also as expected, he had difficulties with avoiding the second attack, though whether the poison had worked or not remained to be seen. Either way, Krikka was still confident she would win; from what she'd gathered so far, she could easily overpower this foe even if he wasn't poisoned. Sure, he had the ability to actually think and wasn't a total coward, both traits his friend had lacked, but he wasn't the only one with such qualities. Krikka was confident she could outdo him in these categories as well, so he didn't stand a chance.

In a bit of a disappointing counterattack, the buizel simply tried another sonic boom, as if the result would be any different this time. He didn't seem to have much diversity in attacks. The glow aura around Krikka's body flared up once more as another pulse of negativity formed, being sent forward and colliding with the blast of wind to the same end as the first time this had happened. It was predictable, but a bit disappointing. To her surprise, however, as the mixture of wind and darkness dissipated in front of her, she saw the buizel coming straight for her. She prepared to release another dark pulse to deter him, but she'd already used this aura of hers quite a fair amount and it was beginning to get difficult to keep it up. "What-" she just barely managed to get out a single, confused word before being tackled and knocked to the ground, having failed to build up enough negative energy for another pulse.

Krikka had admittedly not expected the weakling to be so bold as to come in close range and put himself in danger of another iron-tailed slap, though his... attack was a bit underwhelming. Not only had he not hurt her in any noteworthy way, but if he hadn't been poisoned before, that had certainly changed. The umbreon's fur was still soaked in toxic sweat, after all, and her target was now practically cuddling with her. She simply stared at the buizel with a blank expression, not sure how to react to this situation. She wasn't exactly afraid of the position she was in, but how was she supposed to respond to some dude being all up on her?

"Sorry, but you're not my type," she commented mockingly at the buizel's actions, deciding to have a little fun and tease him. She knew his intention was just to tackle her, of course, but she wanted to see if she could fluster him. Either way, she still intended to break him. The dark aura being coming from her body began to radiate around her as she finished speaking, this time a bit differently than before. She got the feeling she would regret doing this and probably wouldn't be able to gather up another dark pulse for a while, but she wanted the glorified rattata off of her.

After a short buildup, she released another shock wave of pure negativity from her body. This one was more powerful than the others, encompassing the whole radius around her, as she was making no effort to restrain herself to conserve energy nor to refine the blast in order to aim in any particular direction. It didn't have quite the reach of her usual pulses, primarily because the energy would taper off more quickly, but considering the little leech had decided it was a good idea to pretty much tackle-hug her, she doubted that would be a problem.

(Krikka has a lot coming, but it has to catch her first. Bd7.)

That worked? Bui thought, finding himself atop his opponent. He noted the dampness of the umbreon's fur—almost certainly the poison she had used on Xeno earlier. Well, this was inevitable. Bui found himself just looking at the umbreon, who in turn was staring back. I'm... I should be doing something right now. I didn't think this through. I should— Bui's thoughts were interrupted at Krikka's sudden comment.

It was Bui's turn to be confused. "Type? What—" He was interrupted when the dark pulse knocked him off Krikka and onto the ground a couple of feet away. "Ugh!" The attack hit hard, hitting the ground added to the effect, and making so much contact gave the poison more than a fighting chance to hurt him. I... I don't know what I'm supposed to do now. One attack. Poisoned. She's stronger. Bui stood, wobbled, fired off a Sonic Boom in Krikka's direction, and stumbled to all fours.

Bui didn't look up to see if he had hit or not. He was hurt, and it was going to get worse, but he wasn't yet in the worst condition. He would be soon, though, if he didn't somehow find a way to mitigate damage. He figured he knew one way he might be able to do so; but the thought made him feel worse than the poison did. On the ground, on all fours, not looking up, but quickly glancing toward Xeno and back to the ground. Sorry, Xeno.


"You win."

((I can move Bishops too. Bb5.))