bravenewworld | Event - Confrontation with the Enhanced

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Event - Confrontation with the Enhanced

With the revelation of the presence of the Enhanced, Union was able to quickly mobilize. As the strange conditions continued to worsen, the Trainers of Union once again set out to bring order to the chaos.

This time however, they do not walk entirely alone. A small, dedicated team remains behind in Union, sorting through the dossiers and information that Crystal and Rory have collected. Connected to those in the field via Warp Band network, hopefully they can identify the Enhanced and find a way to calm them before a tragedy occurs.

[OOC: There will be a thread for each active team based on the sign-ups. Any areas that did not have any sign-ups will not be present and will be addressed later. As per our usual standards, moderators and NPC helpers will progress the log at least once every 24 hours. The Union log will work somewhat differently from the battle logs in that the participants will be collecting information concerning the Enhanced; when enough information has been accumulated, they will be asked to tag into the battle threads to provide guidance and support to those out in the field.

Characters participating in the Union log will function as support staff for this event. They will have their own log interacting with Rory and Crystal and as characters in other logs encounter the Enhanced, they can use the observations made to try to find out more about the Enhanced in the field and help the people in the field determine an appropriate situation. Because of this, players in the Union thread may threadjack any ongoing log to relay information as needed.

The outcome of this event will depend very much on player decisions and the ability of the characters to respond to the threats at hand, so we would highly encourage you all to tag as regularly as possible. Thanks!]

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"I can't make heads or tails of how this got here," Isabela replies. "For all I know, this is just an illusion and we'll go falling through the stairs once we step on them."

She does go for the low-tech option to test that, though, and tosses a small coin from her pocket at the lower part of the staircase. In the meanwhile, she warps in her Zoroark (currently in the guise of her Ludicolo) to see if he had any insight as an illusionist.

The invitation continues. Haruka flicks her eyes toward her Honchkrow, who wheels to try and fly up the staircase. If there's an illusion, it might waver from a different angle.

She's more worried, though, about what else they might trigger if they step on the stairs. But what choice do they have? If their quarry's waiting up top - and, frankly, anyone who puts this much effort into interior decorating probably has a flair for the dramatic - there's only one way to proceed.

"It's not here for nothing," she points out, but she'll wait for the results of the illusion tests. Just give her a sign it's okay and she'll be heading on up.

Unless Michiru says to wait. Michiru is usually right about that.

This is quite an interesting reception. Is whoever it is trying to make their own home?

Michiru is no Analyst, but she's still going to take a moment to see if her usual Psychic intuition will work in this place.

Haruka's instincts are right, there was indeed tomfoolery afoot. The stairs leading to the west wing shimmered slightly at an angle, and, upon closer inspection, weren't actually there.

The coin that Isabela tossed hits something solid on the third stair, bounced, then, as it flew left of center, clipped through and fell to the ground, revealing the staircase to be far more narrow than it actually was.

"Just a bunch of nosy Nancies, aren'cha?"

The voice echoed through the ruins, a condescending lilt to the tenor's tone. The staircase splintered, illusionary pieces falling away, revealing more of a spiraling pathway up.

The interior decorator was inviting you into his home. It would be rude not to oblige.

Oh! There's the way.

[Merrill seems genuinely delighted about this, rather than dismayed. She probably should be, at least a little, but that's just how she is.]

Should we go and meet him, then?

"I had a feeling you'd be chipper about this," Isabela said. "I suppose you want to have a nice talk to the Enhanced here before we inevitably get in a big fight, right? See what he knows, that sort of thing?"

Isabela, for her part, takes the lead up the staircase, eye open for any further tricks. It is more or less her job, or tended to be. Her daggers, her Zoroark, and after a quick summoning her Aegislash are all at the ready.

Yuuna doesn't even bat an eyelash at Merrill's enthusiasm. She's come to expect it, and it's one of her most endearing qualities. She reaches over and gently squeezes the Dalish girl's shoulder before starting towards the stairs, following Isabela with Hitmonchan and Tyranitar in toe. She's ready and able to pull out more, and her hand rests on the hilt of her sword at that.

"Well, hopefully we'll be able to skip that whole...fight...thing. I mean, wouldn't it be great if we could just move right on to having tea and a chat? Merrill's got the right idea."

She turns and grins at her girlfriend, to show that she's genuine in the praise. She's starting to pick up on sarcasm better, after all, and she doesn't want to hurt her feelings.

"C'mon, let's check it out. It'd be rude to keep our host waiting."

"Optimistic, aren't we?"

That's not always necessarily a bad thing, not from Michiru's tone. But from the way Milotic is bristling at the voice, her Trainer might have trained her to be cautious.

And she'll follow along, keeping an eye on the group's rear.

Haruka doesn't have any comments to add; she and Yuuna have talked this over already, with the mutual understanding that they won't hold back if negotiations fail. So she just sticks close to Michiru, head up, every nerve on alert - and calling Honchkrow back to hover over the party while she's at it for extra coverage. He's actually inviting them up now. This guy is going to be a pain.

This was all turning out to be a bit strange, even for Helios. But his focus on the ruins and the etchings in the walls has been subdued since that voice spoke out to them. He's been quietly listening to the conversation going on ahead of him.

"It would be nice if there wasn't any fighting to be involved." Helios wasn't much for it, but when he had to he would. He was a pacifist at heart though. He wasn't very sure about all of this but there were a good few of them so it...might be okay?

"But if he's capable of illusions like that...I think we have our work cut out for us if we do fight."

[[BGM ]]

As they begin to ascend the staircase, the party will see that whoever they are dealing with has a flair for the dramatic, if that wasn't terribly obvious from the displays downstairs. The walls appear to be splattered with what was likely blood--whether it is actually real is sight unseen, but they are more than welcome to check.

The staircase is impossibly long, and likely is actually some kind of trick of the eye to make it feel like they are ascending toward their doom. For added measure, their interior designer friend has decided to keep them company, his voice echoing through the Ruins.

"They doubted me, you know, said that I was useless. That I couldn't do anything of any real worth. I was less than human to those disgusting organisms they called humans.

"They were afraid."

After what was likely an overly long staircase (that was certainly not a means to save money on animation), the party is led into a long hallway, the properties of the Ruins shifting and changing again where they stand. It would seem that this person has no idea how old, ruined architecture worked. Everything was pristine, albeit still a bit red.

The voice continued.

"They underestimated my true power, and for that I made them suffer! They called me a monster, and that was what I became! I became the thing of nightmares, ripping the very life out of them! I was death incarnate!

"They locked me away, and yet they could not contain me;" A chuckle, low and sadistic, that turned into a full-bodied laugh, which echoed through the hall. "And now they try to send heroes to silence me. I CANNOT BE TAMED!"

"You've been working on that speech for a while, yes?" Isabela asks to the air. She steps forward carefully, testing the floor to see what was solid and what was not - there could still be the same trick as on the stairs.

"And anyway, if you're looking for heroes or silence, whatever group I'm in is probably disqualified," she admits. "Why don't you step out, we'll have a nice chat, maybe some tea, and we can discuss these problems you're having with people we don't like either, eh?"

Oh...boy. A radio drama villain, giving a speech not even Haruka would deliver. She follows Isabela, her feet stepping in the same places as a precaution.

"Oh definitely. We're a chatty bunch, us. And not particularly heroic. Nice maybe, but not so much the heroes of legend."

Ahead she goes, making sure to be as noisy as she can.

"I've got snacks if you want to share, too. Bela's right. Let's chat about mutual pains in the butt."

And here we go. Haruka lets the others attempt to catch their host's attention, flicking her own eyes around the changes to the setting. What's at the end of the hall? More to the point, is there anywhere here the Enhanced in charge of this façade could be hiding?

"Take the left," she murmurs to Michiru. If they divide their attentions, maybe they can have the whole place covered and provide backup for the would-be negotiators. That should let them, in turn, focus on sweet-talking their new, ah, friend.

Her lips curve upward into the ghost of a smirk at that.

Whether or not the Enhanced actually heard their banter or has chosen to ignore it goes entirely unanswered. But one can assume that, yes, he has been working on it for a very long time, and that he doesn't care how smarmy Isabela and friends are.

The hallway itself is straight and somewhat narrow, with a number of doors, all of which are surprisingly nondescript considering the kind of loving detail this man put into the rest of his dramatics. Haruka will find that there is little room to really hide until they reach the end of the hallway, which filters into what appears to be a giant atrium, punctuated by a spectacularly tall, ornate glass dome roof.

Unsurprisingly, the interior designer sat toward the far wall, lounging in what looked to be a very garish, almost uncomfortable-looking chair. A Hypno stands to his left side, its pendulum swinging just slightly; fellow psychic types might feel that it's doing something, but it is unclear as to what.

"Ah yes, welcome. You did take your time, didn't you." He stood, looking over each one of them meaningfully. All told, for the parlor tricks he had been doing, he was rather unremarkable; his hair, which laid limply just below his chin, was beginning to thin and gray, his eyes small and his nose was just a bit too large for the rest of his features. But what he lacked in personal style, he certainly made up in flair.

"I suspect you heroes are here to take the great Gino down. Well," He grinned, eyes flashing. "We shall see about that, won't we?"

[Merrill walks along seemingly unfazed by the taunting speeches and bleeding walls. Thanks to a certain Spiritomb that seems very taken by the whole display, she's both seen and heard similar things in her dreams on a nearly nightly basis. And speaking of Eluvian, his ghostly body seems to be pulsing and whirling even more enthusiastically than normal the farther in they get.]

Oh, I like this one. It's a shame he wasn't the one to release me. Maybe after he kills you, I can make friends with him.

Quiet, Eluvian.

[By this point, Merrill's manner has gotten more stiff and guarded. In his excitement, Eluvian has been sending all sorts of evil thoughts into her head, and it's finally starting to wear on her. She grips her staff tightly as Gino addresses them, trying to keep her emotions in check.]

...Yes, I suppose we shall.

Yuuna enters the room, keeping a close eye on Eluvian just in case. The changes in Merrill's attitude aren't lost on her, and she mentally has Kintsu slip out of his usual spot and come up on her side, standing with Hitmonchan and Tyranitar. All outward attention is focused on Gino, however.

"Depends on if you and your buddy make us or not. Honestly, I'm here to check out the decor more than anything fight-y related."

She folds her arms and rests more weight on her right hip, trying to seem nonchalant as she chatters. "I mean, you're kinda adding a lot of color to the place. The ruins were so drab before."

This is more than mildly ridiculous. Then again, if anything they've heard is true, she could see why he's doing this.

Theatrical hijinks aside, she's still not about to let her guard down.

"It does take a certain level of finesse to pull that off." Surely not just anybody can splatter walls with blood - or paint.

Flattering the guy? Well, it looks like it'll be effective. Haruka's major concern at this point is the Hypno - thanks to her being one-third Psychic, its power feels like a tugging on her temples, but she's not sure what that power's being used for, which is troubling. Maintaining these illusions? Amplifying this guy's power? Until Haruka sees Hypno do anything but placidly swing the pendant she should be prepared for anything.

She's also not about to let this kind of shoddy actor have his way. Her posture adjusts, slightly assuming her onstage mannerisms. Better speak the guy's own language, even if she has no intention of sticking to his script in the long run. "Maybe you can give us some pointers," she offers. "Though I can't imagine you set all this up just to make it look pretty."

Get him talking. Keep him focused on himself. And then....hopefully....if discussion breaks down.....she'll have learned enough of his weaknesses to exploit.

Isabela also keeps an eye on the Hypno. Thankfully she's got the right Types out for dealing with psychics, but there was the guy himself to worry about as well, and it was hard to tell what was going on with him outside of his own delusion.

"To sum up what my friends are saying, we'll talk if you'll talk," she adds, biting her tongue before she makes a comment about how much he seems to enjoy it. Like Haruka, she's mentally preparing for a fight, but is willing to give the leveler heads on the team a chance first.

Wait, were they complimenting him?

W-well, why wouldn't they compliment him?! He's pretty much the best damn thing, obviously! These people understand his boundless potential, unlike the others he's dealt with. They were worms, after all, how could they understand the true beauty that was him?

"Hm hm," He chuckled, a smirk filling his face, "So I see that you have come to admire my visage. You have a good eye!" Looking to the side, he ran a hand through the front of his mousy-colored hair, looking toward Haruka. "Ah, but you misunderstand, I knew that you were coming."

The Hypno gave him a look.

"Nothing escapes me, I know you're here to take me down. Well, I would love to see you try! I will take your powers and turn them against you!" His tone became increasingly dark. "I'm not afraid of any of you. You should respect me. No, fear me."

A good eye indeed! Fufufufu...

[Eluvian likes this guy. He really likes this guy. Is it even possible for a Spiritomb with a god complex to have a crush on a human? Whatever's going on, he's certainly in a good mood, his body continuing to whirl and pulse excitedly. And by this point, Merrill's own body has started to glow in the same way.]

Eluvian...? What are you-

[Her question is cut off abruptly, however, as she is enveloped in a cocoon of purple light. There's a bright flash, and once the light recedes, Merrill herself resembles a Spiritomb just that much more. There are now green orbs spinning around her own body, and anyone who looks her in the eye will notice that the one on the right has taken on a spiral pattern.]

Let's join him, Merrill. This guy is a lot more interesting than those idiots back in Union.

No! You remember our bargain. You will assist me until the life leaves my body.

[Well, this sure is a thing. One thing is certain - Merrill is ready for a battle.]

Yuuna’s eyes flicker from Gino over to Merrill the instant she begins glowing, and she steps closer, her expression shifting from feigned amusement and interest in the Enhanced to wary concern for her girlfriend’s wellbeing. Kintsu shifts as well, a purplish haze enveloping the Ranger and interposing himself between Gino and herself in case the potential threat decides to take an affront to heroes showing concern for one another. While this goes on, Tyranitar steps forward at a mental nudge from his trainer. The enormous Pokemon inclines his head to Gino, ignoring the Hypno as Dark types are often prone to doing

“You alright, Merrill?” she asks with a wary smile, before realizing what’s likely happened. She’d evolved again, for good or ill. The question was more or less answered by the transformation in demeanor as well as flesh, so she redirects her attention half-back to Gino. Merrill’s still getting watched, for a variety of reasons ranging from Is she okay? to Damn she looks good when she’s all confident. All that would have to wait though, because the important thing was to either calm this weirdo down or keep him talking long enough to uncover a weakness.

“Well…Gino, right?” Yuuna says in a frank, matter of fact tone, “We’re really not here to take you down. We really don’t want you to be afraid of us, or to even really do anything to you. I do like the fashion sense, and the dialogue though. You’ve got a real flair for the dramatic, and you’d probably put on a pretty good show if you were inclined towards performing.”

She hooks a thumb to Haruka, singling her out of the entire group. This was stupid, it was probably going to backfire, but she’s willing to roll the dice and see just how this goes. If he’s really out to hurt people then yeah, they’ll have to put him down. But if it’s just respect and an audience he wants? Well…

“She’s a star actress, so if you were interested in doing theater or broadcast shows she could probably help. Hell, with performance skills like these you’d probably end up with thousands of adoring fans.”

Isabela senses that Yuuna's on to something there. "Oh yeah, can't beat the theater for theatrics. Never seen audiences or theaters like the kind you get in Union - you'd be huge there," she agrees.

Meanwhile, she's actually more concerned with Merrill, and kicking herself for not training up that Mawile she'd caught specifically to trump that damned Spiritomb. She might be able to finagle something with her current team, but...

...Merrill seems to be doing okay for now. Less in need of rescue and more possibly in need of backup. Without taking her eyes off Gino and his Hypno, Isabela quietly shuffles herself and her Pokémon to put Eluvian between herself, Yuuna, and Merrill.

[[OOC Note: As we move into combat, here are a few notes: If using an ability, please specify the typing associated with it. If no typing is specified, it will be assumed to be a Normal type attack. For attack actions, please limit to two actions per round (spread among your character and Pokémon. While not required, bolding Pokémon moves that are being used is appreciated.]]

No. No, they were mocking him. They laughed at him. They didn't take him seriously, didn't take his power seriously, and at that, the psychic pressure around the room became nearly crushing. "You think this is a joke, don't you?" His flamboyant, over-the-top tone gone, a crooked smile turned his lips. "I've killed men for lesser offenses."

His eyes taking on a silvery glow, he took out two Pokéballs, throwing them out with a flick of each wrist. A light flashed from each, a Banette and a Zoroark appearing from each. The Banette let out a blood-curdling Screech as the room began to meld and change around them, shapes beginning to appear as Gino's own form becomes a bit more fluid.

Any Analysts watching to this point might notice something strange. Did Gino's typing just change? Registering as Psychic up until this point, it becomes just as fluid as his form; Normal for a split second, then shifting to Dark. The room, too, seems to give a very different aura to those with an Analyst's eyes.

"I'll make you respect me."

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