Idiots Afoot

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His head was high, his eyes were closed, and each step was taken in sheer confidence. The grass around him reached higher than he stood, but the path he followed made sure he had an easy walk. His loud mouth could be heard for practical miles with how little he cared about being silent, "I promise you Em, you're gonna LOVE it here! It's WAAAAAY better than the library. It wasn't even that hard to get to."

The zorua opened his eyes to the world ahead of him, a few rolling hills in the distance caught his eye. A single tree stood upon it, but it looked as if the plant fell long ago. It was such a simple piece of nature, but the prospect of investigating it excited him. With an excited wiggle of his body, he leapt forward and dash towards it. The wind in his fur felt absolutely amazing; This was so much different from boring ol' Grassveil and Shadowhue!

He slowed briefly before he jumped up on top of the log of the elderly fallen tree. He looked on at the expansive flat lands before him as energy that rivaled the static charge that floated in the air around him coursed through his veins. Was this what his father felt like when he went into dungeons? Probably not considering he looked like an alcoholic deadbeat last time Chance saw him, but there had to be a reason why the glaceon became an explorer in the first place right?

"Wooooow, Em come look at this!" he encouraged his sister. He waited to hear the sound of her paws scratching against the bark to hop up alongside him, but he heard nothing. "Em?" His stupidly wide grin faded into curiosity as he turned around to look at his sister for the first time in literal hours. There was no sister in sight. A concerned shout escaped his mouth briefly before he started to look around more fervently, "Em? Emmelyn? Emmy?" he called out for his sister in vain as he turned in circles. He half expected her to simply materialize behind him and ask him to stop shouting, but nothing came.

"C'mon Em this isn't funny!" he shouted, his tone slightly offended that she dared to hide from him. He sprang towards one end of the log and peered into the inside of the hollow innards, effectively looking inside completely upside down. "Em?" She wasn't there. His heart sank. He lifted his head back up while his hind-legs failed to support him. He sat upon the log with lowered ears. "Where did you go?" he asked in a much quieter tone. Did...did she stay back at Grassveil?


Lost, hungry, and most of all desperate. He decided that it would have been fun to visit the one place that seemed friendly to electric types such as himself, but instead he simply became lost for days. The jolteon struggled to hunt in these parts, unable to familiarize himself with the prey and enact proper strategies on top of being unable to find any edible items to fill his stomach.

Fortunately, however, he was given a stroke of luck. As he trudged miserably through the tall grass of the electric field, the shrill sound of someone yelling caught his attention. His bitten ear twitched before his head swiveled in the direction of the source. Yes...it was definitely somebody. Somebody small from the sounds of it. His stomach growled. It was time for the circle of life to continue its cycle.

The electric type lowered his body to the ground and quickly-yet quietly skulked forwards. His yellow color blended in with the golden grass that rose out of the ground higher than he stood. He headed towards the sound of the voice, up a hill and closer until he came across a small clearing at the top of the hill that held the log and stump of a fallen tree. He could see the form of a small zorua at the top of the log who looked a little depressed about something.

Erebus smirked, food. Easy food. Finally, he could get his stomach to leave him alone. He took a step forward, however, hesitated. He could run forth and pounce on the fox the old fashion way...or he could use his new abilities as a Jolteon to his advantage. He had not tried hunting with his powers, but it could not have possibly been any different from average combat. With how weak the zorua looked, he could not imagine it would take more than a single Thunder to deal with it.

The Jolteon's body began to crackle with electricity as he steadily stepped out from the grass, his eyes focused on the dark type. He was behind the zorua, so it did not yet see him. There was no way it could smell him from there either. His plan was simple: get as close as he can to the Zorua. If the prey showed any sign of noticing him, then he could unleash the charge onto them and claim his dinner...

It was a little hard to see past the fog of his own tears, but at the very least he begun to calm down. The zorua could not resist the occasional sniffle and still found himself practically glued to Sova's side. He listened closely while the adults talked. The feline wanted him to tell the glaceon how great of a job they were doing, but...that just confused him. "B-But I don't wanna be sat o-" he caught himself. He shouldn't have spoken. His jaws snapped shut with an audible "click" as he realized the error of his misunderstanding. He felt immediate shame for it to boot as he crouched down near the Glaceon's paws in the hopes that he would become so small that they would forget he was here.

"...they're doing a good job and thank you." His response was robotic and without true feeling behind the words. It was just an attempt to appease the adults so that they would move on in the conversation. He didn't actually know what a "good job" entailed as a babysitter, but at the moment he assumed it meant some sort of protection.

...Yeah he didn't want to be here anymore. So what did he do to remedy this situation?

The little zorua crawled over the glaceon's paws and nosed his way between the cloak and the body of the glaceon's side in attempt to hide himself in the glaceon's apparel. It was a brief solution seeing as he would be uncovered as soon as Sova stood up, but it's not like running off into the tall grass was an option. Man...it's cold in here. His mother's hair was so much easier and warmer to hide in.

Darcy's smile shrunk, but at the same time, turned more genuine as the situation seemed to calm down. The Zorua still seemed to be pretty upset, but who wouldn't be, in his position? All things considered, he was calming down faster than Darcy would've figured he might. When he spoke, though, it was still pretty clear that Chance remained quite afraid, and would probably remain so for a while to come. His misunderstanding, under different circumstances, might have prompted a laugh from the Skitty (As it was, she had to restrain herself from laughing anyways). He might misconstrue her laughter as mean-spirited, and think she was making fun of him, and that kind of drama was something she'd love to avoid.

How she wished everyone would just cheer up! The worst of it was past, and that was all anyone could ask for... So what was the point of moping so much?

"Oh, I wouldn't mind, really," She said, chuckling back as the Glaceon responded to her. Truth be told, it'd be fun! She liked to imagine she was good with kids. After all, she'd dealt with all her siblings back home, before she'd gone to the guild, and she had a lot of siblings. Taking care of chance probably wouldn't be that big a deal in comparison!

If the opportunity ever came up, anyways. She wouldn't mind. But...Well, Sova was already an amazing guild member... She doubted he'd need any help from babysitters or people like her in general...

The Zorua spoke up in response to what the Skitty had said, stating both his appreciation, and that they were doing a good job. She didn't think it was very sincere, but she also didn't quite expect it to be. So long as it got his mind thinking about other things and not about the Jolteon, then that was a success in her book! Darcy smiled and nodded at him, before watching him retreat under the folds of Sova's cloak.

Well, things could certainly be worse...

~

Alki found herself sympathizing quite a bit with the Zorua. She watched him silently, if only to not have to watch Sova, and potentially make eye contact with the Glaceon. He was trembling still, sniffing and still seemed like he'd burst into tears yet again at the slightest provocation. She felt like that a lot. Was it bad? She hadn't almost died like he had... She felt quite a bit worse about herself at the thought. She was even more of a crybaby than what seemed like a literal baby, judging by the way he misunderstood things and the way he acted... He was Sova's kid. He couldn't be that old. Alki was probably older.

She watched silently as the Zorua crawled under the Glaceon's cloak to hide. She wished Darcy had a cloak. Or that Darcy was evolved so she could properly hide behind her. She wished she weren't there. She wished she were smarter and hadn't screwed up with Sova... She wished a lot of things. But at the moment, she mostly just wished that she was alone.

"...What now?" Alki asked nobody in particular, her voice quiet and subdued as she looked at the ground, making sure nobody could make eye contact with her, even if they wanted to.

Sova sighed absently as the little zorua crawled under his cloak to hide from the world. He didn't know how to respond, so he decided to do nothing and just let his child hide. If it made Chance feel better, it was fine, although he wasn't keen on sitting like this in the middle of a dangerous place for very long. Maybe it wasn't dangerous to him specifically, but it was probably more threatening to the pinklings, and absolutely lethal for Chance. If the jolteon attack hadn't been indication enough, this child clearly had no business being out here. Sova hoped Chance would learn his lesson from this and not do it again... but thinking back on himself as a child, he doubted that would happen.

The other two seemed to be taking the revelation well, at least; Darcy was overjoyed at the prospect of babysitting for some reason, while Alki... well, she was just kind of... sitting there... sulking. She did bring up a good question though... What now? "Well, you two are guild members and I can't tell you what to do," the glaceon began, making the distinct decision not to try and force anyone to be "safe" like he might have in the past, "But I should be getting him home." Chance did not count, because he was clearly too young to be trusted with his own well-being.

After a moment of deliberation, Sova decided to add on, "Feel free to tag along though. I wouldn't say no in the first place, but after you helped Chance, it's the least I can do." He had long since gotten over his rough introduction to Alki, and he'd never had a problem with Darcy in the first place, so he was fine letting them hang around him until he got his self-destructive kid out of here. Plus he had no meaningful way to repay them for protecting the child; sure, he had money, but he suddenly found himself needing that for Mirage and multiple children.

Admttedly, his offer wasn't entirely out of gratitude. He figured he would feel more at ease if the two were with him, that way he could keep an eye on them and make sure they stayed safe as well. Sure, they were technically guild members and he wanted to trust them to know how not to get themselves killed... but... well, they were also small innocent pink things.

Leave? Already? Chance found himself disappointed with this development. Still though, he understood. He nearly got himself killed. He could already imagine the mouthful he was going to hear when he got home. The zorua hid under the glaceon's cloak in silence, salty that the glaceon didn't have long fluffy hair like his mom. That way, he wouldn't look like he was trying to be a ghost moments after nearly becoming a real one.

He kept his mouth shut, as he had nothing to contribute to this conversation. That and he didn't want to risk making thing worse for himself.

----

Erebus awoke to...well, pain. He couldn't help but groan loudly in agony as he came back to consciousness. What the hell just hit him?? The jolteon slowly and gradually picked himself up, finding it difficult to stand on his own two feet after such a harsh hit. The jolteon's ear twitched at the sound of voices. He glanced over to the group to see his assailants just sitting around chatting with his prey hidden under a cloak.

An annoyed growl rumbled in his throat. Of course, just like that time with Skylar, he was the victim here. "What the hell??" he snarled, "That was a bit fuckin' over-kill asshole!" He really should have kept his mouth shut, but the single brain cell in his mind was still trying to recover from being absolutely destroyed so quickly.

Darcy's grin widened even further as the Glaceon invited both her and Darcy to travel with them back home. She hadn't quite expected their exploration of this new dungeon to be so short-lived, but... well, spending time with such a high ranking guild member... This wasn't an opportunity she got often at all! And if she could get some advice, or tips from him, then... well that was even better! He was far better than she could ever hope to be... but she had to try, didn't she? And not just for herself... Her parents were depending on her, and while she wanted to appease Alki's wishes and continue their break as a team, well... Where were her parents going to get money? It was surprising they'd been doing alright with how little Darcy had managed to send them recently... She'd have to talk to her...

"Thanks! I... We appreciate that a lot, right Alki?" She asked, turning back to her younger sibling, getting only a non-commital grunt of what she hoped was confirmation. She still seemed distracted. Honestly, Darcy had already put this whole fiasco behind her. Why worry more? It'd just stress out Chance, and it seemed unnecessary, now that everything had been dealt with... As long as he learned his lesson, there was nothing more to say!

That was when she'd heard a voice. The feral was up... that was bad, she supposed, but with Sova nearby, then... she didn't feel too worried. And --

Had it been the feral who'd spoken? If he could speak... And interact with them, and clearly think for himself... then... Hadn't he been able to tell that it was a kid? Darcy's eyes widened as she glared at the Jolteon. There had to be something wrong, right? Some... Some kind of misunderstanding?

~

Alki simply nodded as Darcy mentioned that they both appreciated it. Truthfully, she didn't. She'd rather just be left alone. But Darcy wouldn't agree, and Alki knew that her sister looked up to those high-ranking guild types. She wasn't about to get in the way of that. She'd just be silent and pretend she wasn't there, and hopefully it'd pass. She rubbed at her eyes, wishing she were home. Asleep. She just wanted to sleep...

She simply followed along Darcy, taking one last look at the clearing that they were about to leave behind. She was thankful she had too... The Jolteon was moving. Honestly, she'd kinda forgotten he was there. He'd just kinda... gotten beat up? It'd been kind of impressive, seeing Sova move like that, especially after what she'd done to him... But now, here was the stupid, child-eating feral, and...

He spoke? He was kind of a loud-mouth too, by the looks of it, but that didn't matter at all... He was talking, and he'd tried to eat a kid. He clearly had a somewhat functioning brain, so he wasn't...  he wasn't a feral. He was an attempted murderer... This was incredible! She'd found someone she seemed to hate more than herself...

Alki's ears curved downwards as her eyes narrowed. Now she wanted to beat up the Jolteon, but knowing her, she'd probably lose... "O-Overkill? Y-You tried t-to k-kill a kid... Y-You d-don't even feel bad about it! I-If I were you, I-I'd be happy I didn't die... W-Well..." Alki paused, staring the jolteon in the eye. "H-Honestly, i-if I were you, I'd just g-go off myself, and do the world a favor..." Why did pokemon like him exist? Now she wanted to leave even more... Although she wouldn't mind if Sova decided to beat him into the ground again... He seemed to deserve it.

[EV suggested we break post order here so here I go]

The voice of his attempted murderer caused him to shiver. His body tensed up and locked into place as he pushed himself against his father's icy body. He had a whole new reason to shiver, but he preferred this and feeling safe over facing the spiky boy outside.

As he did so, however, the body he leaned against was suddenly...gone. The zorua flopped over into the dirt as the dust kicked up by the glaceon was practically kicked into his face. The zorua was quick to pop back onto his paws, but too afraid and uncertain to move anywhere. He could only look around with wide and fearful eyes, terrified now that daddy wasn't directly next to him anymore while the jolteon was still around.

----

Erebus could hardly believe the audacity of the pink puffball. His eyes widened in shock while his ears shot straight up in alarm. They pinned themselves back as he bared his teeth. Electricity crackled around him before a blast of electricity was shot Alki's way. He would find that half of his attack was interrupted as a force suddenly slammed into him. He cried out in fear, surprise, and pain.

He immediately regretted his decision to attack the jigglypuff, however, in his eyes, he was still the victim here.

Sova was happy to see Darcy's agreement, but this happiness didn't last long. When he heard the unfamiliar voice, he turned to see the jolteon now standing again, and his eyes narrowed. He could feel Senya's presence in the back of his mind again, clawing and practically begging to be let loose. He was growing lightheaded now from the tug-of-war for control going on in his mind; sure, the two were "good" now, but that didn't mean he trusted Senya, especially considering who was around. The jolteon's words, though... they were making Sova think that perhaps he deserved Senya. He was clearly lucid enough to know what was happening around him, and yet he had still attempted to eat a child...

The wrong child, Senya's menacing voice rang through Sova's mind as Alki began to speak. The jigglypuff surprised both of them with her words, literally telling the attacker to go kill himself, and Sova could feel a distinct sense of... interest from Senya. She has the right idea, the voice of the darker personality agreed.

Then, before Sova could even react, he felt... something strange. It was almost like something hitting him in the chest, but it didn't hurt, and his body didn't move. He felt like he was moving, but his body remained in place as he was... knocked out of it? The next thing he knew, he was the one stuck in the back of his own mind, stuck watching as Senya took control of the situation.

And Senya. Was. Upset. It was rare that he was truly bothered on such a sincere, emotional level by things, but this jolteon... he wanted to kill him. Alki was right in thinking the world would be better off without this blemish on it. And now the jolteon was about to attack her for speaking the truth about his existence. Well, Senya wasn't going to sit back and watch it happen, no matter what Sova thought about his intervention. In a flash, he was on top of the jolteon, slamming him into the ground and pinning him forcefully. The weak static aura and spikey fur did little to hurt the glaceon, especially compared to the screaming agony the ribbon around his neck was inducing on him. Apparently he had overexerted himself in his rush to reach the cretin, but he didn't care.

Without the slightest bit of hesitation, he reared up and lifted his functioning front leg over the jolteon. He could feel Sova's panic, but ignored it. "You wanna be the victim here... Wish granted," he spoke condescendingly, his low scratchy voice in sharp contrast with Sova's.

No, look who's around-

But he didn't care. He slammed his paw down on the jolteon's leg with as much force as he could muster, sending a surge of pain through his own leg that told him he was pushing his limits. His body suddenly lit ablaze with glowing red markings under his cloak as the ribbon around his neck caught up with the situation. Senya had noticed that these marks only seemed to appear when he was in control, perhaps because the ribbon recognized him as a proper user of its... perks. Not that it mattered to him. He could make someone suffer with or without its help, and he didn't care in the slightest what it wanted to make him look like.

A sadistic grin crept onto his face as he hovered over the jolteon, tail swishing from side to side idly while he briefly contemplated how far he wanted to go. It wasn't a hard decision to make. Despite the pain already shooting through him, he pressed down on the jolteon's leg, harder and harder, waiting to hear the sweet music of a snap.

Darcy felt a small whimper rise in her throat, as her sister's words wash over her. Why had she said that...? Surely there was just a small misunderstanding, somewhere here... She pawed at the ground, choosing instead to focus on that in the brief calm before the storm. Some misunderstanding! The truth was obvious, even to her, but she didn't want to acknowledge it. Alki had gone overboard! Sure, he'd done something quite wrong, but he could think for himself, presumably he had feelings, and... Some sort of moral compass. Somewhere! Right? Didn't everyone...?

But despite that... He'd chosen to ignore all the virtues gifted to him via his sentience. Everyone had some idea of what was right and what was wrong, she was sure, but he'd chosen to ignore them. And try to kill someone innocent! Kill and eat...

Her thoughts were interrupted by the soft crackle of electricity, followed by the loud explosion of an attacking move. Everything happened so fast... Darcy's eyes shot up to follow the events, but there was so much going on, and she was still trying to convince herself that nothing was wrong, that the Jolteon had merely made... a mistake? Could she really call it that?

The electricity shot towards her smaller sibling, but before Darcy could react, or do anything to protect Alki, the jigglypuff had blinked out of sight. The Skitty would've made absolutely sure she was ok, if not for the loud sounds of another crash coming from the Jolteon. And now Sova was there... And he was angry... Justifiably so...

There was nothing for her to do. Her assistance was hardly required, and even if it had been, she wasn't sure whether she could provide it. The jolteon's actions made her sick, and her sister's surprising venom in her words just confused her... The Jolteon was the least of her concerns now. Now it was the children that Sova had left unattended...

"Chance... Alki... Stay close to me, will ya?" She called out softly, making her voice as happy as she possibly could. Come to think of it... Chance was young, wasn't he? Maybe he shouldn't be watching this... She tuned back in to what Sova was doing. He'd pinned the would-be killer down, and was pressing his own leg down on the Jolteon's. Was he... trying to break it?

Maybe Chance shouldn't be watching this... Nor should Alki, for that matter! She turned back to Chance, hoping to catch the younger pokemon's attention. But how? "Hey, Chance, wanna play a game?" She blurted out, the first thing to come to mind. Was it stupid? Yes. Completely non-sensical? Yes to that too... But it was the only thing she could think of, and she'd much rather the Zorua's attention be on her than on his father for the time being...

~

Alki fell silent. She didn't have anything more to say. She wasn't going to pump her words with false bravado, or some stupid claim that she was somehow better than him. She was just as bad, but in her own, special little way... Just ask Sova's leg. But... She wasn't going to take it back. What she'd said was true! And she didn't feel bad saying it, not at all... Not even with Darcy right there, listening to her. She kept glaring at the Jolteon, however, a small, satisfied smirk on her face. She'd told him the truth, and he clearly didn't like it. His ears were bending back, and he began to snarl, and -

Hadn't he been violent before?

Alki blinked as the smirk disappeared from her face, replaced by one of fear. He was going to attack her! She should probably move... Alki teleported away to the other side of the clearing just as the electricity began to shoot towards her. She was fine... She sat down, turning back to face the Jolteon again, should she try to assault her again, but she shouldn't have worried. Sova had that covered...

He was on him fast, actually... Really fast... And was his voice different? Alki paused and tilted her head, simply observing the Glaceon. The Jolteon was weak compared to Sova. She wasn't worried for a second about the fight actually getting out of hand, and instead she simply watched the senior guild-member do his thing...

Which seemed to be violence. His cloak had lifted up momentarily as he ceased his movement, and she could see, if only for a second, some sort of strange red markings. But just as quickly, the cloak settled down as he pinned down the child-eater, and the markings were out of sight. Perhaps they had just been her imagination...

He was smiling. Sova was smiling as he put more and more pressure on the Jolteon's leg. Alki was aware that Chance was there, and she was aware that perhaps it was, as the Jolteon put it earlier, over kill. She still stood by what she said, but... Well, maybe not in front of Chance? Or maybe her, for that matter... How hard was he pressing...?

She cleared her throat, nervously stepping forward as the dizziness from her teleport subsided. "S-Sova, w-what about Chance?" She managed to stammer, her eyes focused on the pressure his leg was exerting on the Jolteon. "N-Not... Hnnngh..." She began, but quickly stopping. It wasn't her place to say this stuff... Was it...

The jolteon was pinned. He couldn't break free. No matter how much he struggled and squirmed, he just wasn't strong enough. His fur sparked and crackled with electricity as he attempted to shock his attacker off, but it was no use. The voice of the glaceon sparked a different kind of energy within the jolteon. In an instant his goal switched from "Fight" over to "Flight." He kicked as his fur bristled, making sure to cause as much noise as he could in the chance that he could attract something to distract whatever monster he just poked with a very sharp stick.

A paw of his was pinned. The force increased and began to inflict pain every so slowly and gradually. He screeched and yelped, but once he gave up on pulling it out from under Sova, he switched tactics. The jolteon clamped his teeth down onto the Glaceon's paw as had as he could, only to feel sharp needles impale his tongue and mouth. He was quick to release and regret his choice, his yelping doing nothing other than accurately expressing just how much pain he was in.

The electricity intensified as the pressure increased. Erebus was thoroughly terrified of this glaceon. His mind raced to think of something-anything- to put a stop to this. By the time he remembered something vital, the sound of a snap sent him into a howling wave of pain. It was a struggle, but he just barely managed to recompose himself as the sheer adrenaline and panic seemed to numb the impact of the pain. The electricity around him suddenly seemed to shut off as if a light switch was flipped.

His scream quickly changed. From the pitched cry it shifted a lower duller exhale that seemed...very out of place for this situation. His mouth-full of sharp icicles that might as well have been glass made it difficult, but the will to live trumped the desire to soothe the pain. This guy was going to kill him if he didn't do something.

So...he yawned.

----

Chance was frozen to the spot, staring in the direction of the glaceon and jolteon. His ears pinned back as he froze to the spot. If a gust of wind were to knock into him, it'd probably knock him over. Part of him wanted to curl up into a ball, but another part of him just didn't. The red glow of Sova wasn't there before, but it didn't really matter all that much to him. What mattered more was the screams of the jolteon.

As it increased in intensity, it almost seemed to go away in a way. It seemed to get farther and farther away as it went on. He wasn't quite aware of what was going on, but he suddenly noticed that he felt next to numb. Everything felt different in a way he couldn't quite describe, but at the very least he didn't feel afraid anymore...

"Hey, Chance, wanna play a game?" a voice rang out to him from beside him. His eyes strayed away from the scene to the little skitty next to him. He could still hear the jolteon's cries off to the side, but it didn't feel all that important anymore all of a sudden. His movements were slow and steady, completely different from the sharp and quick looks he gave just moments before.

"...What kind of game?" he calmly inquired.

[Disclaimer: if this wasn't already dark enough, it's about to get worse. Children, avert your eyes. The following post is not kosher. You have been warned.]

The voices around him meant nothing. To Sova, there would have been so many cues to stop... but not to Senya. No, he was much different, and he didn't care at all what he looked like or how far he went in his sadistic torture of this fool. The jolteon had attacked a child he was obligated to protect, and truth be told, he didn't like the guy's attitude to begin with. He rarely had regrets about anything, but hurting this pathetic child-murderer... was not something he had to think about. If this wasn't the standard definition of a moral decision, he had no interest in whatever was.

He could hear the one they called Alki trying to persuade "Sova" to stop. He knew that would have worked with Sova, but unfortunately for her, Sova was not calling the shots. The jolteon's feeble cries probably would have done something to dissuade Sova as well, but again, he was not Sova. The idea of indirectly hurting Chance by letting him bear witness to this? Sova would have cared, but Senya didn't. The only thing Senya cared about was doing what he had been made to do and hurting those who deserved to be hurt, and he had never once met anyone who deserved to be hurt more than this.

That was why, when the jolteon bit down on his leg, he didn't hesitate to freeze his fur into needles. It didn't take long for the other eeveelution to release him and continue howling in pain, leaving behind stains of blood which he assumed to be from the attacker. This only further encouraged him to press down harder, until finally, he was rewarded with the harsh sound of a snap. The tension in his body relaxed a bit, as if some itch had been scratched, a desire sated. This was what he was supposed to do.

Then the jolteon did something unexpected... His pained howls quieted... and he... yawned? Senya stared down at him, crooked smile shifting to a confused and unamused stare.

He's putting you to sleep.

Oh, right. Of course. That made sense. The jolteon was far too weak to fight back, so he had made the only possible intelligent decision and tried to incapacitate him through other means. Well, it was a good effort, but the glaceon already knew he had a way to deal with this. He... he...

...He waited for Sova's instructions, but none came. Sova liked to come prepared for any situations, and Senya knew his little bag of goodies had something to help with things like this, but he didn't know the specifics of what did what and Sova was refusing to guide him. Great, so this was Mr. Good-Boy's way of going on strike against him making people not live? It wasn't like he was actually trying to kill the jolteon! He wanted this guy to live so that he could suffer, which meant the exact opposite of killing him!

Well... if you won't help me, then I'll just have to stop holding out on him until you change your mind.

He could feel the drowsiness creeping in already; Sova was right, but the effect seemed to be a slow burn. This meant he could still take his time deciding what to do. "Oh, that's cute," he remarked as he poked his head into his bag, remaining calm and composed despite the looming disorientation warning him of what was to come. From how it felt, he still had time to play with his new toy, and he would get Sova to tell him how to counteract it even if he had to murder said toy.

When he pulled his head out of the bag, he revealed an iron thorn clasped between his teeth. He had planned for this to be slower and more enjoyable, but the timer put on his consciousness meant he had no time to waste. The fur on his body was already frozen, so he immediately spun and brought his tail down over the jolteon's face as hard as he could, aiming to daze him if not knock him back out. This was just to stop him from moving, not to end the encounter. No... he still had more plans.

Without waiting for a response from anyone, Senya sat down and carefully lined the jolteon's front paws up on top of each other. His precision in this task was unusual, but it seemed worth it under these circumstances. His vision was beginning to blur... The fun would be over soon, one way or another.

He held the jolteon's front legs in place to keep him from moving, then brought the thorn down to impale the electrified creature's paws together. Next, he would stamp the thorn straight into the ground and pin him there. Whether Sova helped him stay awake or not, he would make sure this waste of breath suffered.

Darcy's head hurt. There was so much noise, and not the good kind either... It wasn't like the din of the market during peak hours in grassveil, or the cacaphony of all her siblings playing together in the living room... There was no pleasantness to these sounds. Just screaming, and taunting, and suffering... "G-Game...?" She repeated, momentarily forgetting what had been her own suggestion. Sova was killing someone just a few metres away from her, and... What was she doing? Playing a game?

But what could she do? She was... Well... Weak. And the Jolteon did, in some manner, deserve it...

Darcy cleared her throat, shaking her head at herself. He didn't. He was horrible, for sure, but that's why laws and system and order existed. To make him less horrible, not... Do whatever this was to him. "G-Game, um... I... M-My siblings and I used to play this one game c-called... Um, t-two truths and a lie..." She said. Her mind was clearly elsewhere, and she winced everytime the Jolteon screamed. She didn't want to look. She was sure she'd heard a snap earlier, but... Well, she didn't want to confirm it.

She walked further behind the Zorua, so as to draw his eyes away from the... fight? It couldn't be called a fight... Draw his eyes away from that, and towards her. The problem, of course, was that now she was the one who had to be confronted with the sight, if only in her peripheral vision... "C-Chance, look at me, Ok?" She said, her eyes moving towards Sova. His fur was strangely colored, although she figured it was most likely the effect of some strange move she'd never seen before. Or an item, perhaps? Speaking of items, he was using one at the moment. A... thorn? What for? Soon after, he whacked his face with the back of his tail, and soon after began to line up the Jolteon's forepaws, one after the other...

What was the thorn for? Darcy racked her brain, trying to understand, until finally it hit her. The thorn was for the paws. Wasn't it? She whimpered, backing off as she lifted a paw to her mouth. What was Sova doing...? "H-Hey, C-Chance, just... k-keep lookin' at me, a-alright?" Darcy said in a soft, quiet tone that indicated that she was, perhaps, in more need of comforting than Chance was.

~

Alki had first row speaks to the spectacle before her, but she was far from interested in watching the show pan out. And that's what it felt like, a show. She was far from an actor in this play, and all she could do was watch as the Glaceon imposed himself more and more on the shitty excuse of a Pokemon. Honestly... She hadn't expected it to be this brutal. She wanted the jolteon to be put in his place, but this was too far... To say nothing about Chance's presence!

But what really sealed the deal for her was the thorn. The iron thorn shone in the soft sunlight, and it almost looked pretty to the jigglypuff, had it not been for the context. It took her a minute to understand why he had brought it out, but a smack to the jolteon's face and the precision with which he lined up the jolteon's paws, like a mechanic... She understood. This wasn't a precaution, and it went beyond petty revenge...

This was torture. Were all senior guild-members like this?

She didn't want to watch torture. She didn't want Chance to watch it either. Or Darcy, for that matter... But what could she do? She was weaker than the Jolteon, even but... Her eyes drifted to the Jolteon's paws. It was torture. She couldn't just let that happen... What would that say about her...?

She knew that one move. Thief. And... Well, if she could steal the thorn... No more torture! Right...?
It was the best she could hope for... Alki resolved herself to go through with this plan, before stepping forward. She focused on the thorn as she activated her hidden power... Ok. This would be easy! Just... Teleport. Teleport forward, beside the Glaceon, facing the Glaceon, almost entirely head on... She was dizzy, and moving as fast as she did made it even worse, but if she could just take it, for a second, and toss it away somewhere...

Would he want to torture her for this? Too late now... Alki used her hidden power with her left, dominant arm and wrapped it around one of the Glaceon's hind-legs, before pulling brusquely. She hoped to knock him off balance, knock him to the ground and steal the thorn while he was down, and while she wasn't exactly a powerhouse of strength... Well, it was better than trying to tackle him or something!

Simultaneously, she used her right arm to reach for the thorn in the Glaceon's mouth. She was small, and he was significantly taller than her, so she had to stand on her toes to even attempt to reach it should her surprise attack with hidden power not work. Honestly, this whole plan banked on the idea that she was fast enough, and... well, she was far from experienced. Sova could probably see this coming from a mile away, but... She couldn't just let this happen!

"Stop!" She cried out at the same time, her voice more forceful than it had ever been. Not that that meant much... She just wanted it all to stop. The screaming, the fighting, the torture... She just wanted to go home and hide under her blankets and never come back out after all this...

Senya was already growing disoriented from the drowsiness beckoning him to sleep, and he was rather careless to begin with, so he failed entirely to notice the jigglypuff springing into action. He felt a tug on his leg - a rather weak tug - and paused his assault on the jolteon to look back and see the shadow wrapped around him. He was entirely unfazed, but sufficiently distracted; by the time he noticed Alki reaching for his thorn in his mouth, it was too late to stop her, at least in his current state. Still, he was relatively unreactive to this turn of events, glancing down where the thorn had once been, then shooting a very unamused and unimpressed look the jigglypuff's way. Wasn't she the one who had just been advocating for the jolteon to die? Had she had a change of heart, or did she just consider a little torture to be worse than murder? Senya personally thought sparing his life was a mercy, and he felt it appropriate to teach the offender a lesson in the process of sparing him.

Well, now the glaceon had even less time to spare and a pest trying to stop him from stabbing things. He felt like he had... maybe another 30 seconds before he would pass out, if he reeeeally pushed himself. If he pulled out another thorn, the pest would just try to take it and waste more of his time. He looked back to the jolteon, then to Alki, then slowly raised his functioning front leg. The air around him cooled and ice began to form around his paw, first shaping into claws, then forming a long spike. He pointed his paw, and the spike, down toward the jolteon, still staring at Alki with the same unamused and tired look. He was very interested in seeing her try to take something that was attached to him.

Stop, you're going way too far. Alki and Darcy don't need to see something like this, and Chance-

I don't care about your fluffy friends, and your dumb kid isn't looking.

Sova's internal protests mattered not to him. Alki's protests mattered even less. The clear air of disapproval from everyone involved did absolutely nothing to dissuade him. Without hesitation or regret, he brought his ice-coated paw down on the jolteon's wrists. It would eventually melt, unlike a thorn, but it would still hurt... and ground him for a while.

The yawn was effective as far as he knew. He just had to last until it took effect. When the broken paw was moved even slightly, sending more shoots of pain through him. He had to resist letting loose electrical surges, seeing as that would risk delaying the Yawn's effect even more. With his mouthful of sharp ice, he couldn't even close his mouth without more pain. This made it difficult to quiet himself down. If there was anyone around to help, they surely would have heard it by now. He was on his own. Just like he always was.

Still, he couldn't stop his body from expressing his pain. His cries were cut off as a tail came down on his face. Blood dripped out the side of his forcefully closed mouth. He was effectively dazed. He could barely process what went on around him anymore. He saw shapes, colors, and even dark stars dot his vision. His head lazily moved to follow the motions his paws were being moved in, but he didn't quite understand what was going on. He couldn't move either.

Was that a spike? What was he going to do with a spike? Oh-now he doesn't have a spike anymore-nope. Spike's back, with 20% more and less chill at the same time. It was being held over his paw. Oh.

...

"...M'zorry..." he was barely able to mumble.

----

Darcy seemed to be about just as confused as he was, though there was something different to her. There was something different to Alki and Sova too. The skitty clarified on the game, two truths and a lie. It was a struggle to recognize what the skitty said exactly. All she received in response from him was a simple, "Oh."

Chance could feel his ear twitch as the loud noises made by the jolteon suddenly stopped. A voice spoke with the intent to give instructions to someone. The skitty next to him backed around the side of him before he heard a voice that practically begged to be looked at. Who was she talking to?

His head moved in the opposite way of what the skitty wanted. Instead of focusing on the Skitty, his sights moved to look around to find who Dracy spoke to. His attention was set on the movements of the jigglypuff near Sova with that jolteon pinned against the ground.

"What's he doin'...?" the zorua spoke.

Darcy's ears twitched as what seemed to be a scuffle going on between... The Jolteon was out... So that left Alki? Sova and Alki... Darcy stole a glance towards them, assuring herself that everything was alright, and... it seemed so. They were just staring at each other. Was it a stand off? At the very least, her sister didn't seem to be in any serious danger, and she was sure she'd hear if it escalated, so... Chance. She didn't want him seeing what was about to happen. She knew where this was headed. She never would have expected Sova to do something like this, but here they were...

Darcy watched nervously as the Zorua seemed to lose all interest in her proposed game, and instead turned his attention back to the scene behind him. It wasn't nearly as loud now, but it was eerie... It was almost silent, save for her sister... And... What was he doing? She'd heard the thorn get tossed away earlier, so...

Don't look. She wasn't going to look either. She needed Chance's attention back on her. She walked forward and gently nudged Chance. She forced a sickly smile onto her pale face as she shook. It was her best attempt at being happy at the moment "H-Hey, C-chance... W-W-Wanna... Um..." Distract him... What did kids like? "I-I know some swear words... W-Wanna hear them?"   Didn't kids from Grassveil like to swear? Wasn't... What the heck was she supposed to do?

A half laugh, half-cry escaped her after she'd made her offer to Chance. This was just a bad dream... She'd wake up. There was no way anyone could be so cruel to someone else... Especially not a guild member... Especially not someone like Sova... She felt a tear begin to run down her face. She couldn't stop it. Soon after, she felt more begin streaming down. Someone was dying... Someone was about to die, and she was hearing it, and...

There was nothing she could do to prevent it.
~

It worked! Alki couldn't believe her luck! He seemed, at the very least, distracted enough by her shadow for her plan to work. She didn't really need the thorn herself, she just needed it far enough away for him to be unable to use it. As soon as the jigglypuff had a hold of it, she quickly backed off, tossing it away. It wasn't a particularly powerful throw, but she didn't need a powerful throw. She watched as it sailed away, landing on the ground with a dull, barely audible thud. She'd done it. She'd done what she wanted to do.

...Was Sova mad at her now? Alki tore her eyes away from the thorn and back to the ice type. He was staring at her. It was intense in a way she couldn't really describe, he was just... staring. Like he was drilling holes into her, with just his eyes, the way he didn't blink, and... Did he hate her? Was that hate? Or something else entirely? She really wasn't able to tell... He looked away for a moment, to the Jolteon, then back to her. And he still was staring, with that same, dead look...

She registered movement. He was moving his front paw, slowly, deliberately, and he still was staring at her, all the while. She wasn't sure what to look at. A small whimper escaped her throat as  he acted. The air around her grew colder, and for a moment, she thought that it was just her imagination, or perhaps her fear? Either way, it wasn't. He was doing something, probably some ability innate to his species. The cold seemed to accumulate into ice, which formed into paws, and later into a spike.

Bigger than the thorn? A louder whimper escaped her, as the shadow which she'd used in her earlier scheme seemed to dissipate, slowly taking it's place behind her. Had she really done nothing? No, worse than nothing, she'd made it worse... It was obvious to her how he was going to use the spike. She was so close to it, she could touch the spike, if she wanted to, and she could feel the cold from the sadistic Glaceon and the electricity from the psychotic jolteon and it all felt so, so overwhelming, and...

"O-Oh, S-Sova, g-g-gosh, p-please s-stop..." She stammered out. Any pretense at toughness or at action seemed to vanish. She was powerless. He was stronger than her, better than her, but all she could do was plead, and watch as the icicle seemed to descend upon its target, almost in slow motion...

She felt sick...

Senya's paw hovered over the jolteon, the inanimate look on his face attuned to the jigglypuff. Frost began to creep out along the ground around him. He was a weapon, and he didn't want to be anything else.

Stop, please, he could hear the little voice in the back of his head plead.

He didn't care. Perhaps his only purpose was to protect Sova, but right now, he wanted some satisfaction for himself. Even someone as cruel as Senya had standards, and trying to murder and eat a child was outside the realm of his imagination entirely. He didn't want anyone like that to exist, but since it turned out someone like that did... well, for one thing, he didn't want to kill him. He wanted this disgrace to live and suffer. He wanted him to suffer as much as possible.

It's not about him! You're hurting everyone else here, not helping them!

Sova could beg, plead, and reason all he wanted. It didn't matter.

"O-Oh, S-Sova, g-g-gosh, p-please s-stop..." the puffball spoke, what little boldness she had previously demonstrated having suddenly shattered. It was... unsatisfying. Normally Senya loved to terrify and torment others, but he was just starting to respect this one a bit. Now she was being so... disappointing.

You're terrifying her.

"Hey... what are ya doing?"

Now that one caught him enough by surprise to make him pause. He slowly turned to see... the kid. Chance? Less emotive than he remembered...

Look what you're doing to him... to all of them... please...

His gaze trailed back to the skitty, whom he had thought was distracting Chance. He felt almost beckoned to look at her, guided by... something. She was crying? Why was everyone here so pathetic? Did they want the child murderer to live?

It's not about him! This is wrong, even if he deserves it! You've already done enough, even he's begging you to stop!

Of course, Sova was trying to get him to notice how much he was upsetting all the innocent children, as if that would change what he was doing. He didn't care how they felt. He only cared how the jolteon felt.

He surveyed the faces, the eyes trained on him, each with their own unique look of horror and all broadcasting what kind of monster they saw.

"...Pain is the only thing anyone truly understands."

His words were cold and distant. He looked back to the jolteon, lined up his icicle-coated paw, and brought it down over its target without the slightest hint of remorse or hesitation in his being.

The sound of ice shattering rang through the air.

I said no.

In an instant, Sova was back in control, just in time to redirect his leg enough to miss the jolteon. The ice spear stuck into the ground, then shattered under the immense pressure brought down on it. He felt pain shoot through him, causing him to shudder. The red marks coiling around his form began to vanish into the background of his blue fur. A look of rage suddenly came over him as he stared down at the jolteon, struggling to hold himself up.

"If you ever so much as touch another child... and I find out..." he began, leaning in toward the jolteon's face. His voice wavered with a mixture of emotion, pain and drowsiness. "I won't kill you. I'll pin your legs to the ground so you can't run... I'll break your ribs so you can't scream... I'll knock every tooth in your mouth down your throat so you can never hurt anyone again..."

He pulled himself away with a bit of a stumble, and stood tall. "And then I'll leave you there," he finished, turning to walk away and not bothering to look back as he spoke.

He started off toward Darcy, his stride calm and collected. "Get my lum... begh..."

All at once, his body went limp and he collapsed into unconsciousness.