Cognizance

First topic message reminder :

The Ruined Chamber.

The royal pain in the ass that was the climb to this room was finally over. Getting out of the house would probably be just as difficult, but that was in the future. For now, all that mattered was that they had made it to their destination, and the hour of enlightenment was finally upon them. They would see what manner of god lived among the ghosts, and they would convince it to fight for Giratina, the idol of impurity. With the might of this recruit, perhaps the dark prince would somehow reign victorious over the other two legends he'd challenged. Whether it was a good thing or not, Krikka was going to see to it that Giratina got his new buddy. She didn't really care much if it was a good or bad idea, nor was she particularly worried about the immediate risks associated with summoning a supposed god.

Actually, she didn't care about any of this. Giratina's apparent goals actually mirrored her own, but that didn't mean she had any allegiance to the giant space worm. She was here mostly for fun and to oppose her special snowflake of a sister, and of course, to do something big and prove to the two behind her that she could back up her words. She wasn't here out of any allegiance in this "holy war," nor did she care in particular about the outcome or how she may influence it. Still, she knew an awful lot about the religious concepts surrounding her circumstances. Thanks to her insufferable father, her childhood had been filled with teachings of the legends and their stories. Unlike Ivirar, she was far from interested in these concepts, and she had always adamantly refused to worship any being, but the information she'd picked up was admittedly a bit useful for context here.

She wondered if Solus and Goro knew anything at all about what Giratina supposedly was, or even about this war. They had yet to say anything, so she assumed they had no idea why they were actually here; they probably didn't even think she was serious about summoning a god... Well, a certain froslass had probably made it clear enough that her promise was true, but she still wondered if the others grasped the concepts at play. As she approached the center of the room, she began to speak, her voice soft and entranced in her own words.

"He was a powerful being and one of the original children of Arceus, equal to the governors of time and space... but he was violent... spiteful. He was not a kind god, but a reaper. For that, he was banished to a reality opposite to ours, cursed to watch the world go on in his absence." Amid her monologue, she lifted her head toward the ceiling to take in the beautiful chandelier of glimmering candles. She spun with an elegance that betrayed her battered state and looked upon the floatzel following her, then flicked her head toward the center of the room, directing him to dump the... sacrificial elements. The "items of combat."

The stabby things.

Continuing in the circular motion as she surveyed the rest of the large room, Krikka continued in her seemingly pointless speech. "That's a quote from a scripture I read when I was younger, more or less. You two ever read the good book of Arceus or any of that mythos junk?" she paused but picked up again before allowing a response, "If you haven't, keep it that way. Would not recommend." Perhaps she was a bit biased, but Krikka truly hated the books she had been made to read, the religious schooling she'd been put through by her zealous father... It felt good to be doing something that went against his philosophies.

"Except the parts about Giratina. I always liked that he didn't blindly follow "God's will." That's why he was punished, or so the story goes... You know, I haven't thought about it until now, but I wouldn't say he's evil for wanting freedom... and revenge. I would too." Her movements finally stopped with the door forward in the center of her gaze. Would they go on? For now, that didn't matter. The moment would be spent performing the ritual to summon the enigmatic creature they'd come so far to see. It all felt so weird to her, getting involved in such a theological affair. It wasn't something she would ever have imagined doing in her younger days. Now that she was finally here, moments away from truly stepping into this tangled mess of the "divine," she was growing conscious of her situation, of what she was doing. It was mere moments ago that her mind had been pinned under the weight of the day's stress, but now she felt... fine. Now things were going her way, after all, and she was starting to really think about things.

"I wouldn't worship him, but I do like the story of the one who defied God."

Krikka didn't exactly expect her lackeys to speak up with their own suggestions here, but perhaps she should have. They were both very headstrong, which was one of their best qualities as much as it was a headache at times. Plus, their suggestions were... not bad, actually. Krikka had doubts about asking a god for something as simple as a bed and a ride, but when it agreed and showed what its idea of "a bed" was... she quickly changed her mind. World's most comortable bed indeed!

Of course, she wasn't planning to share it... but maybe she would allow Solus to lay at the foot of it as a reward for having such a good idea. However, as she circled the large bed and looked over it in awe, she began to realize a problem. Yes, it was wonderful and all, but...

"How are we supposed to get this out of here?"

She was quick to voice her concern, showing no hesitation despite the fact that she was speaking to someone surely infinitely more powerful than her. This bed looked amazing, and if it was as good as this little creature claimed then she definitely wanted to keep it. She would ensure this even if she - or more accurately, Solus and Goro - had to widen every doorway and push it through manually... but she wanted to at least try to do it the easy way first. "Don't get me wrong, it looks like a wonderful bed, but it's also... big? And we're not? I don't think it'll even fit through most of the doors in this place," she elaborated, "...Aaand I can't help but notice you can sorta teleport things... apparently very easily..."

She knew she couldn't make demands to this creature, but that wouldn't stop her from trying to reason with it, perhaps pressure it a little... The only thing she cared about was how much she could get out of a situation, and she definitely didn't want to just walk away from such an opportunity because she was afraid of offending someone stronger than her. Her greed and lust took priority over her sense of self-preservation in most situations.

Besides, the little thing had already offered to help them get out of here, so if it was planning on teleporting them out with its magic ring powers, then surely bringing the bed with them wouldn't be a big thing to request.

In a different state—a better state—Solus might have been more suspicious of the Pokemon who had just summoned a bed from nothing, and would treat the entire situation with far more caution. But as he was now Solus didn’t really care. He was too busy maintaining focus on the conversation and restraining himself from approaching the bed and passing out upon contact. The bed was a beautiful sight to behold, especially after the grand misadventures that the group had trekked through to get here. The thought of moving the massive thing had not even occurred to Solus before Krikka had mentioned it.

It slowly, very slowly, dawned on the floatzel that if Kirkka couldn’t convince this thing to assist them in transporting the bed, that the umbreon would simply make Goro and himself move it for her, back through the terrible house. This was a punishment that Solus wasn’t certain he could endure—especially not in his current state of mind or body. Krikka may allow them to rest before trying to lug the behemoth of a bed through the house, but that still wasn’t ideal in the slightest. Solus suddenly began to regret his request.

In an attempt to help his leader’s attempt at persuasion, Solus mustered up his best attempt at a sincere, pleading expression—something he had done many times before he had met Krikka, as a buizel, to attempt to get things from shopkeepers or to get out of trouble. It had worked fairly often back then, and as far as Solus was aware, there was no reason it wouldn’t work now. Although, his addled mind may have been neglecting certain details; such as the fact that he was a floatzel now, not a buizel. Or the fact that he looked like something or several things had attempted to kill him—which was true, and might actually help in fact, depending on the mark. That was the other thing he wasn’t considering: the mark. The Pokemon he was trying to trick.

Except this wasn’t a trick, really. This was a genuine attempt to garner pity. Solus really wanted that bed, needed that wonderful object of respite. He also really, really, really didn’t want to have to drag it through the hellscape that was the interior of this accursed house.

Goro felt an uncomfortable shiver pass through him when the mystery pokemon invaded his personal space next. What was it with the freaks around here and this godawful house? Even Nevi expressed some amount of attachment to the big spooky death trap, and for the most part, she'd been a very tolerable person. He offered no rebuttal to the chatterbox pokemon, merely backing up a cautious step as the god thing passed through a ring portal before appearing in front of them all.

Which seemed to be a good idea, because apparently this fucking creature could spawn furniture on top of vanishing things and teleporting around. The croagunk crossed his arms as he inspected the giant bed from a distance. As tempting as a good rest sounded at the moment, there was no way in hell he was going to snuggle up in a bed with Krikka and Solus. Doubtless, the umbreon would hog the thing all to herself anyway - Goro didn't feel too attached, considering there was no way it would fit in his shack.

Besides, it sounded like she was trying to get them teleported right out of here alongside her trophy bed. It was about time, honestly. Goro eyed the hovering pokemon in front of him with tentative, begrudging hope written on his face.

"Weeeeelll it seems to me like you have two eyes and a brain!" the hoopa laughed. The bed was indeed very heavy and large, it most certainly would have been a pain to drag through this haunted hellscape. It was an intentional pick, one that Hoopa was quite proud of. The big toothy grin never faded as he looked down on the simple pokemon.

Several hoops floated around him with a twirl, as if to show off a little. The mythical pokemon's sly smile failed to waver even when it gazed upon the sad desperate look of the floatzal. There was no room for pity in the heart of this particular pokemon. "I most certainly can teleport things around, very easily in fact. From place to place and dimension to dimension!"

"BUT! I can't just help you move it about for free now, can I?" Yes, he absolutely could. "I'll help you move your bed...but first, you've got to do something for me that I'm sure all three of you would have a blast doing anyways. What do you say? I teleport you along with your bed all the way out in exchange for this tiiiinsy little favor...or you have the joys of carrying it."

Krikka's hopeful expression and facade of innocent patronism slowly faded as she heard the creature speak. She was beginning to realize that this guy wasn't nearly as much of a pawn as she'd hoped, and he was putting up a facade of his own; or she was pretty sure he was, at any rate. This meant she had wasted her time and effort trying so hard to be convincing and charming to someone it wasn't actually doing anything at all to, someone who had probably already made up his mind about all of this beforehand... but on the bright side, now she could drop her own act.

"Alright y'little con artist, clearly you know what you want. What is it?" she asked bluntly, though she didn't seem annoyed so much as... relieved, if anything.

Sure, she had arguably embarrassed herself trying to play a player, and she doubted this "teensy little favor" would be anywhere near as easy or appealing as the god was trying to make it sound, but she was still relieved because now she knew where she stood and didn't have to grovel. She didn't have to appeal to the little devil because he wanted something from them; he was being just as manipulative and deceptive as she was. It wasn't as if she could challenge him in any meaningful way since he was a god, so she would just have to accept her own lack of ability to force this situation to go her way without a fight. This meant working with the little god if she wanted this bed.

No problem; she had two lackeys to help her, and she was pretty sure both of them were about as interested in the deal she was trying to strike as she was... or at least, parts of it. How hard could this task possibly be, anyway?

Attempt to persuade failed, Solus returned to a neutral, if not a bit disappointed expression. The odd Pokemon could easily and effortlessly aid them if it wanted to, but it was obvious it had no reason or intention of doing so without some incentive, which it of course requested. Something about the way it was speaking made Solus think that whatever it had planned for them was either going to be cryptic and strange or outright dangerous in some way. It said they’d “have a blast” doing it, with an emphasis on “blast,” which at beast sarcasm and at worst foreshadowing of literal explosives. Either way, Solus was pretty sure he didn’t want to do whatever it was this thing wanted them to do.

On the other hand, he didn’t want to move this bed himself, either. Krikka had clearly grown tired with the cheeky mannerism of the stranger, skipping over pleasantries, dropping all facades and getting right to the point. Solus found himself completely torn. He was positive he didn’t want to drag this bed around, and he was fairly certain he didn’t want to do whatever the hell this devious deity had planned for them either. Unfortunately for him, he was going to have to do one or the other.

On the upside, it wasn’t his decision to make; that was Krikka’s problem. All he had to do was worry about what comes after that decision. Solus glanced back to see how Goro was doing. Solus found the croagunk's expressions difficult to read, so he assumed Goro was just perpetually angry. Come to think of it, He was pretty sure he had never actually seen Goro express any form of emotion that wasn’t negative in some way. Also come to think of it, thinking was a bit easier now. It’s like the static was coming in waves, and at this very moment it was weaker—keeping up with the conversation between Krikka and the god of furniture wasn’t so difficult.

Solus began to twirl the two thorns again.

"Fuckin' hell," Goro hissed under his breath. In most situations, it may have been a quiet exclamation, but since it slipped out during the in-between of Krikka's reply and the god-thing's followup, it echoed in the silence of the chamber for all to hear. It wasn't even a conscious objection; Goro was just fed up, and that was how it manifested.

They'd gone through hell to get here and he put up with shit every step of the way. Krikka's bumbling leadership, Solus being annoying, every weird and awful ghost, that psychic pokemon that nearly blew his brains in, Krikka's stupid temper tantrum where she beat the shit out of Solus and smacked the shit out of him, Nevi in general, his own naive actions blowing up in his face, Krikka being Krikka, and Solus briefly being this strange combination of... unnerving and believable - he'd tolerated all of it. He'd done what he signed up to do with what he considered to be a remarkable amount of patience.

But now, at what was supposed to be the end of it all, there was more? Not even on account of what they originally came here to do, but because Krikka wanted this big shiny stupid prize to be more convenient for her. The croagunk exhaled roughly and crossed his arms tightly, fingers digging into his arms. He didn't protest, but only because he already saw what kind of treatment that warranted from Krikka in response, and he knew he wouldn't be able to take that fight for quite some time.

The deal was accepted, the contract was sealed. A big and bright smile beamed across the legendary's expression as it leaned forward onto the hoop around its waist. Hoopa's boisterous voice echoed through the room even despite the croagunk's obvious displeasure, "Kill yourselves!"

Their arms raised excitedly as they clapped twice in rapid succession. A large round hoop appeared just over each participant's head. They lingered only for a second before they slammed downward, forcing each pokemon into the hoops before they can react. To each one, the scene around them changed. All three were still together, but the room seemed...very different. It looked a lot cleaner than before, as if it was more properly kept together than the dusty and dreary look before. Pristine golden candles bathed the room as the tile below shined with a clean and beautiful pattern.

Hoopa was gone, but the rings at the party's feet remained. What was most noteworthy, however, was the near mirror image the three of them were presented with. An umbreon, a croagunk, and a floatzal stood across from them, looking very much as confused as the party may be...

Notice!
You've been transported to an alternate dimension for this thread and this thread only. You have been tasked with stalling or defeating counterparts of your character that are completely free and open for you to interpret and control. This can range from total opposites to alternative paths your characters may have ended up on. You are not required to win or lose, so you are free to choose just how powerful the counterpart is. You're free to kill them, maim them, and do whatever you like with them. You are also free for other NPCs to show up, but they're alternative versions.

The only requirements are as follows:

• Attempts to leave this dungeon will result in a hoop appearing before the character and forcing them back to the center. This can be used for combat purposes if you wish. This will also occur for your counterparts.
  
• When you're done, you're free to have your character be ported out and back to their own dimension. They don't all have to leave at the same time, so if one person wants to leave the thread early they are perfectly allowed to.
  
• The counterparts' current goal is to kill hoopa and were succeeding until you showed up. Your job is to defeat or stall them. Again, it's up to you on how successful you are and there's no requirement on being so. Either way, Hoopa honors the deal and ports you directly outside the dungeon with The World's Most Comfortable Bed As Claimed By Hoopa.
  
• Hoopa (including the alternate dimension) will no longer be posting. They've both left and it's just you and your counterparts. This means you no longer need me to continue the thread.
  
• Have fun.
  

For just a moment, Krikka thought perhaps she had actually provoked the little god. "Kill yourselves," it said, which seemed like a more creative way to say "Fuck off." Given this context, she was worried when she noticed the ring suddenly manifest over her. She froze in surprise before trying to move out of the way, but it dropped fast and consumed her. Assuming it to be some kind of attack meant to assist her in the act of dying, she shut her eyes and braced herself... but no pain came. After a moment, she opened her eyes and relaxed a bit, only to be faced with...

...

An... umbreon? This umbreon looked an awful lot like... well.. herself, and even had matching friends. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously as she took a cautious step back and tried to assess the situation. The other umbreon seemed about as surprised, but apparently pieced things together faster than her and spoke up.

"Oh- hello! This is a surprise. I don't know what Hoopa was trying to do, but it seems he's brought us allies! What good fortune!" the umbreon across the room spoke in a joyous tone, stepping forward confidently with a warm smile on her face.

Krikka's eyes widened upon hearing the voice. It sounded... just like her; or more specifically, like her when she pretended to be nice. A bit late to the realization of what was going on, she was overcome with a strange mix of panic and rage she was not accustomed to. "Oh fuck no!" she exclaimed, "WHERE ARE YOU, YOU LITTLE PURPLE BITCH!?" She looked around frantically for the god so that she could tell it to undo whatever it had just done, beds be damned.

Solus didn’t even react to the appearance of the rings that engulfed him and his… Allies, for lack of a better term. After a moment of disorientation, Solus took in his new surroundings. Or rather, same surrounds, just different. In front of him stood a floatzel, and was suddenly afraid for a moment, stumbling back away from the Pokemon before him. It took him a few moments to realise that what he thought he saw was not what he was really seeing. That was not his father before him, but himself; his reflection. He had forget briefly that he had evolved. After another moment he noticed that there was a similar reflection for Krikka and Goro, who he now realized were standing beside him. Then, glancing back at what he had first rationalized as his and his group’s reflections, he was once again taken aback; the Pokemon before him weren’t reflections at all. They were, however, mirror images.

Solus was bewildered. This had to be some kind of trick, created by the devious god-apparent that had vanished from the scene after making those hoops. Solus wasn’t sure if they and the appearance of the room around them was simply an illusion or something more. The three Pokemon looked real enough, and so very similar to the ones opposing them—himself included. Except not quite. They weren’t perfect mirrors, on closer inspection. The longer he watched them, glancing between the ones next to him and the ones across from him, the more he saw differences between each pair.

He just barely recognizing Krikka—or rather, Krikka’s look-alike, speaking, followed by what he was sure was Krikka herself. He didn’t quite catch the first one’s words though; he had become transfixed by his own doppelganger. This one bothered him the most. At first it was simply the fact that it looked like his reflection but failed to mimic his movements—like an uncanny, three-dimensional portrait. But as he stared, he found more differences. There were no scars or bruises, no bite marks, scratches, splinters—the floatzel looked completely unscathed, as if on his journey through this house—and through life—he had met little to no resistance or hardships. While he kept fidgeting with the two golden thorns in his grasp, the other floatzel simply stood there, almost motionless, in a defencive stance as if he was expecting a fight. The other floatzel’s expression was almost, but not quite neutral—there was a clear note of surprise and a hint of confusion in his face—in his eyes; likely from the sudden appearance of a much more damaged replica of himself suddenly appearing.

The floatzel’s eyes met Solus’s. They told him two very important things. The first was that these Pokemon weren’t just illusions or some kind of trick—they were very real, very alive. The second thing was that this lookalike may have actually been Solus at one point, but it certainly wasn’t now. There was a characteristic that he found himself struggling to discern—like they had some sort of light in them that Solus himself knew he lacked, something he thought maybe he had lost—or perhaps it was something he had never had.

He hated this other floatzel. He didn’t take his eyes off him—his look turned into a glare. He stopped fidgeting with the golden spikes, cletching his fists around them. He spoke low, in a bitter tone. ”Yes. Agreed. Fuck no to this.”

The sensation of the god-thing setting his rings on Goro was scary and alien enough, but getting deposited in front of a bunch of lookalikes was even more trippy. He boggled at the other croagunk only briefly before focusing on the entire group of dupes, and only then did the weirdo's parting words register with Goro. Kill yourselves, he'd said, and then they'd get that bed of Krikka's so helpfully warped wherever the hell she wanted it.

As he stared across at his own bewildered face, suddenly Krikka's claims of the creature being a god seemed... a lot more legitimate. At least it had the good grace to keep things simple. Even if it was twisted as all hell. He supposed even gods had to get their kicks somehow.

"You two can sit in the corner and fucking watch then," Goro snapped at the two pokemon next to him. Their immediate protests irritated him, Krikka's especially, and his temper at been at its limits to start with. This was part of the deal that she struck, yet she balked at the idea of murder now? Fine. "I'll do it, and then we can be done, finally." he spat. He could do with the experience of brutalizing some Krikka and Solus lookalikes - it would do wonders for his mood.

The other croagunk seemed to read something in Goro's posture or his words. His counterpart took that moment to step forward, positioning himself ever-so-slightly in front of the umbreon at his side. It was then that Goro actually focused on him, as he'd made himself an obstacle. "Nah. Call it a hunch, but something tells me they ain't friends." his twin offered in response to his umbreon, his voice bright, smooth and secure. It wasn't until his smirk sharpened that Goro realized his mirror had been grinning all-the-while. "Hoopa's little tricks, maybe!" he laughed, somehow joyous and mocking at the same time.

Unbeknownst to Goro, his own visage curled into a loathing, repugnant snarl, his own voice ringing in his ears. The nerve of this guy.

The duplicate-Krikka's warm, inviting aura faded to concern and surprise as she and her companions were met with immediate... disapproval, for lack of a better word. Her eyes flickered between the other umbreon and the two Goros before she spoke, "But wait, Hoopa isn't known for illusions. They must be real, which means they can be reasoned-"

"SHUT UP!" Krikka exclaimed, silencing her double and causing her to shrink away submissively.

The behavior was disgusting, and Krikka found herself struggling to comprehend how any version of her could end up like this. She seemed so much more sincere in her happiness, so oddly knowledgeable on this "Hoopa" that she assumed to be the god they were dealing with... and such a pushover. Krikka may have been able to swallow everything else, but she didn't like the implication that she had the capacity to be so pathetic. The fur along her spine raised in a show of aggression as a darkly energy manifested around her. "Kill yourselves, he said. You'll get a fluffy bed, he said..." she spoke aloud to herself with a bitter tone as she glared straight through the alternate Goro, "Well, anything to shut this bitch up."

And with that, a pulse of darkness tore through the room from Krikka to the mock-Goro. Her goal was just to get him out of the way so she could get to her real target, but it seemed that target was interested in speeding up the process by jumping in front of the attack. Krikka's disgust was only reinforced upon seeing such a selfless display from her counterpart, but there was at least one silver lining: the other umbreon was still standing after taking the hit. So, maybe her alternate self was awful... but at least she wasn't too weak.

"Stop! Don't you see!? This is what Hoopa wants!" the umbreon across the room exclaimed, still trying to play peacekeeper even after the first blow had been dealt.

Krikka was unfazed. From where she was standing, what Hoopa wanted didn't matter; this was what she wanted, bar just being released from this circus act. There was something about this warped version of herself, brimming with positivity and lacking most everything she prided herself in, that upset her in a way she couldn't quite pinpoint. Part of it was disgust, and part was jealousy... but it felt so much more personal than that. She didn't want to know that this thing existed, let alone interact with it. In her mind, the solution was clear: if she couldn't get away from the mockary, the next best option was to bloody it.

She looked to Solus, then to Goro, just to check that they were all in agreement.

Goro was eager to get the whole thing over with. So too, of course, was Krikka, launching the first attack as always. Solus wasn’t as interested in wiping out his reflection—at least not yet. He instinctively hated the guy, yeah, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to kill him. He generally didn’t want to kill anyone.

The other Goro—well, he seemed on first impression to be fairly similar to the one he was currently stuck with, but at least the new one had some sense of humor. The other Krikka was about as far from his version as one could possibly get, he was pretty sure.

Solus sighed when Krikka’s counter stated the obvious. He relaxed just a bit, weakening his grip on the thorns in his paws. He tossed one in the air.

”I assure you she knows that,” Solus stated matter-of-factly as he caught the thorn. ”I really don’t like you,” he pointed the thorn at the Krikka who just took a Dark Pulse direct. ”Or you,” he moved on to the other Goro. ”And I’m really certain I hate you,” he pointed at his own double. ”And, actually, now that I’m thinking about it, I hate these two, too. Fuck it, I hate everyone in this room. But also, I’m really tired, and I’ve got the worst headache, and the sudden change in scenery isn’t really helping, and—”

”Is there a point you’re getting at?” Solus’s lookalike interrupted, clearly annoyed by his counterpart’s rambling. Solus scowled.

”Yeah, shut the fuck up. The whole lot of you just shut up, thanks. I’m pretty sure half of us want to kill the other half, but I just want to take a nap. Now,” he pointed the other golden thorn at Krikka. ”If she decides that the only course of action from here is to fight each other to the death then I guess we’re doing that, because I promise you she’ll make it happen. But I just want to make it clear to everyone involved that I want no part of any of this.”

Solus was hoping Krikka wouldn’t be too upset about the fact that he wasn’t interested in helping her beat up her more annoying self. He imagined she wouldn’t get too upset; after all, he did state that he would do it if she really wanted him to—something he would try to do, but not very hard. He was injured and exhausted—and he already knew that he was the weakest of the trio, so it was safe to assume the other versions of the two were roughly as strong. He wasn’t sure about the other him, but he looked healthier, at least, so that left him at an inherent disadvantage.

Ultimately, his begrudged loyalty would win out over his general disinterest in fighting anymore, so his next actions were, as always, up to Krikka.

The other floatzel in the room looked a bit surprised by his mirror’s words. His attention turned to Krikka—not his Krikka—to see how she would respond to what had just been said.

That was a better reaction, Goro thought, absently watching Krikka blast herself with a dark pulse. The other umbreon took it relatively easily, and he scowled. As chipper and softhearted as she seemed, it looked like she wasn't a total pushover. This at least meant the other two counterparts weren't made of paper either, and that meant they were in for a fight. At least Solus wasn't partaking—he could share with Krikka.

He caught the umbreon's look and scowled at her. Did she seriously need to make sure he wanted a part of this? He stepped away from her in stark contrast to how his counterpart had stepped in front of his own leader moments before, shifting from foot to foot in anticipation while Solus took half a year to admit he was too bitch-made to participate.

"That frees up yours," the poison-type muttered once the weasel finished, and it really wasn't a question; more of a dawning realization tinged with a lot of pleasantly surprised dark glee. "I don't see any reason to keep pussyfooting around. You're not quitting, are you?" he aimed that last part at his own reflection.

The other Goro raised an eyebrow at him, picking up on his counterpart's indiscriminate hostility. "I'm down," he agreed wryly. "I don't think Hoopa would drop them here if we could talk sense into 'em. The kindest thing we can do is beat it into them, and then maybe he'll swoop back in to pick up his misfit little toys," the other croagunk elaborated, speaking to his leader again, like he was asking for fucking permission in a roundabout way. "Then we can get back to what's important here—him. If he doesn't... well, they all seem pretty twisted anyways. It's not like we can just let them go raise hell wherever they like. I don't want the ugly one giving me a bad name."

"Fuck you," Goro told himself.

His twin snorted.

Well, Goro certainly seemed eager to fight, which figured since that seemed to be pretty much the only thing he was interested in doing. Solus... not so much, but he was more around for entertainment anyway. Krikka doubted he would be needed, and he was so beat up that she quite frankly didn't trust him not to die if he participated. For this reason, she wasn't going to try and force him to fight, even though he himself admitted she could... but she felt the need to show some disapproval just so he didn't make her look bad by proxy. She gave him another glance before stepping forward and speaking, "Does your Solus wanna be a bitch too? Maybe they can go play hide and seek while the adults... talk."

The duplicate-Krikka gave a cock of her head with a confused and slightly worried look. "Solus...?" she muttered, looking over to the floatzel on her side of the room, then giving a glance to the other one.

Krikka returned the confused look with one of her own, though more judgmental. "What? You name yours something different?" she questioned, failing to consider that the other "Solus" may be just as different as her own double.

"I didn't make him change his name, especially to something like that! That's horrible!" Krikka's mirror self responded, now with more confidence in her words.

She cared too much. Krikka could tell her copy didn't want to fight and didn't have the kind of violence in her that she would need to win. Her warm personality was both disgusting and a detriment to her.