Frontier Town Industrial Park

[canisaries]

Andre took a deep breath. It seemed they were all going through with this agreement. As much as he wanted to give nothing to the bastards, it couldn't be denied that they'd probably accomplish more in solving the shadow mystery with some help.

Odette had already decided to take the route of actively sucking up to Nolan. Andre could possibly follow with that - he hadn't said a thing the entire conversation and Nolan couldn't know what he thought - or could he? Had his reactions been too visible? Retroactively, it was hard to tell. Damn. He should have approached this like the vetting of one of his targets and consciously stayed on Nolan's good side as long as it was potentially useful. Although it was certainly harder without his aura sense. Well, of course it was. If he had his aura sense, he could just tell when Nolan was lying and determine whether the Covenant of Light was actually separate from the shadow business... as far as Nolan knew, anyway.

Whatever. There were others that clearly didn't trust Nolan, like Wes and Dave, and Nolan hadn't up and left when they gave him attitude. Surely there was a place in this plan for a little deer who gave the stinkeye. What it was, though, time would tell.

 

[Inkedust]

Bellatrix frowned. Just like that? Nolan accepting the deal at all was a surprise to her but no word among her peers of tabling the discussion until more of a consensus was formed among the larger group? The news would not go over very smoothly and she was more than happy to leave the task of explaining to the one who'd proposed the idea in the first place.

She supposed that the best that could be done now was to wait and see what would come of this but that didn't mean that she had to like it. She watched the others make their agreements, though she expected that this current deal was tenuous at best and wasn't going to last for very long. Not until they got to the bottom of it anyway.

For now, she kept quiet. She was more than ready to leave and never meet the inteleon again, though fully expected that she would cross paths again.

 

[HelloYellow17]

Wes glanced at Dave as he went off on a rant. Of course Nolan’s attitude was upsetting, and Wes hated the idea of working with someone so slimy (literally), but what other choice did they have? Hell, if it came down to it, he’d be more than happy to let those pompous human snobs do the dirty work of apprehending Shadows while he and his companions learned the important stuff.

Whatever happens, we just can’t let them get their hands on any kind of Shadow tech. That much was obvious, and the thought of it happening sent chills down Wes’s spine. These Covenant lunatics couldn’t be trusted, and they would be far too dangerous with something like that…

He followed Dave’s lead and prepared to go. “I’d say it was a pleasure doing business with you, but it wasn’t, really. But hey, thanks for your cooperation all the same.” He turned away and headed for the exit, then, with a smirk, tossed a few final words over his shoulder.

“Say hello to your Greninja buddy for us.”

 

[Jackie Cat]

“Small world. I work there and am pretty friendly with the manager. I’d be more than happy to act as a messenger myself, if need be.”

"Looks like there are enough shadows to go around. Non-humans just can't keep up."

"Very good," replied Nolan, evenly. "I hope to see us both benefit from this arrangement."

"You know what, [crazed ramblings of an ignorant lunatic]"

“Say hello to your Greninja buddy for us.”

Nolan's fist clenched and his jaw twitched, as if he were too furious to speak. First his face grew stormy as Dave ranted, then Wes' jab made his eyes pop, and then he looked as if he might be sick. But instead of retorting, he reached for his belongings, donned his black top hat, and smoothed his coat down once again, almost ritualistically.

"Until our next encounter, then," he said, thinly. "Fare you all well."

He gathered his things, pocketing the Lycanroc photo, and briskly walked out. No sooner did he round the corner of the foundry than he vanished entirely.

 

[Butterfree]

Nolan passed him hastily outside the door, expression furious, now donning a dumb fucking top hat, and with perfect clarity it dawned on Dave that holy shit, he was Jesse Stranger's fucking lizard prick in the stupid fucking hat. Of course he fucking was.

He only managed a bit of a spiteful smirk at the look on Nolan's face as he headed back toward the Haus.

<><><><><>​

 

[Sinderella]

It wasn't exactly dealing with Shadow 'mon, but being this little bit of information was found while the group was looking for Terminal Two, she supposed it was related.

When she'd heard about the zweilous with its second head chained shut, Odette thought that half of the group was just fucking with her. Some funny joke to mess with the mawile with her second head chained shut. But, she quickly realized that none of them were actually joking, leaving her interest completely and totally piqued.

Another two headed 'mon with it's second head chained shut? Near Terminal Two? She wasn't sure what exactly she was looking to get out of meeting such a person. Comraderie? Questions answered? Who fucking knew. She just knew she desperately wanted to at least catch a glimpse of him.

Nobody had any real idea where he was going to turn up, just info saying he was asked to come to Frontier Town. And where else would an elusive dual-headed 'mon show up but the industrial park (at least, she hoped that's where he would be)?

Stopping her trek, she wiped some sweat off her brow. "I need to invest in a fucking umbrella," she grumbled to herself.

[[ @Namohysip @canisaries ]]

 

[Namohysip]

There had been rumors about a Zweilous that had entered town recently. And was spotted in some of the more remote or less inhabited parts of town. What quiet area could there be, except...

Yes, there he was. He seemed to be training against the air, striking at nothing to get some energy out. The muzzled head was still snarling despite his bindings... He gave off a powerful aura, but it didn't feel too strong. Still, as a Zweilous, he probably needed a lot of training to get to that state.

He sniffed the air, catching the scent of someone new...

 

[Sinderella]

It was good to know her intuition wasn't totally and completely shot by the body change. She felt a rush of excitement when she caught sight of the zweilous, seemingly punching at nothing. And the unmistakable sight of chains around its second head left her momentarily eyeing it. Was it...snarling?

She felt Jawile's stem twitch, and it was there she allowed herself to feel a moment of thankfulness that her other head didn't snarl when muzzled. That would have presented her with a whole new set of problems, and probably a need for heavier chains. No, Jawile was stupidly crass and inappropriate when unchained, but they were silent as could be when forcibly shut. Thank the gods.

Adjusting the straps of her dress, she was careful with her steps as she wandered over, trying to think of some way to greet him. Part of her was wary--this guy could probably do a number on her despite her clear type advantage--but those who had met him had mentioned he didn't come off as too nasty. Though, she couldn't know for sure until she spoke to him herself.

She stopped short when she watched him sniff the air. Was she found out? Could he smell her sweat? She'd put on perfume that morning, but desert sweat was a different fucking beast entirely...

Fuck it. Full send.

"Uh, hello!" she greeted.

Too chipper, reel it in.

She cleared her throat. "I mean, hi. Sorry to bother you," she said, more even that time. "I think you met some of my group a couple days ago, and they advised you to come here?" That sounded okay. Simple and easy. "From Blaguarro, that is."

 

[canisaries]

Ever since Andre had heard talk of a zweilous with one muzzled head coming to town, he'd started asking around to find him. It'd be quite rude to invite someone over to see you and then make no effort to catch them when they did. Either way, his questions had taken him to the industrial area of Frontier Town, and he was rewarded for his efforts by the sight of the two-headed mon in the distance - with a nice added surprise of Odette being there.

He trotted the last few meters to the zweilous with a smile on his face. "Hey there, Alex!" he greeted. "And hi to you, Odette. Didn't expect to bump into you both at the same time. How are things?"

 

[Namohysip]

"So that's who I could sense," Alex murmured, thoughtful.

The muzzled head snarled and flailed before settling down with a stern word or two from Alex.

"Hello," he greeted. "Yes, I remember that... We had a little... adventure there, didn't we? I decided to take the offer of coming here to avoid... whatever that was."

He tilted his head and offered a smile.

 

[Sinderella]

Expecting an answer from the zweilous, she flinched a little when she heard another voice greet her instead. She settled when she realized it was mostly familiar, and was pleasantly surprised to see Andre sauntering up to her. She felt like she hadn't seen him in ages, yet they'd just gone on a trip to Blaguarro on the same train. Time and stress really were a set of bitches, weren't they?

"Oh, Andre," she beamed. "They're...okay, all things considered," she said sheepishly. "I remembered you all saying you'd run into someone else with a--" Crap, how was she supposed to word that with the zweilous--Alex, apparently--standing right there?

"...a similar predicament to mine," she eventually said. That sounded okay. "And wanted to meet them myself."

She watched in expectant awe as Alex moved to settle his snarling head and did so with little resistance. She tilted her head thoughtfully, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Don't you think some tighter chains would keep your...other half from growling like that?" she asked.

 

[Namohysip]

"Oh, I don't want to silence Xander completely," Alex explained as 'Xander' growled again. "Just enough that he can't... say things that would get me into trouble. I was a troubled child, and all that trouble siphoned into him when I evolved. I hope that once we recombine, we will... mellow out."

 

[canisaries]

Andre nodded. The process of a mind splitting into two when evolving the first time and merging again for the second was extremely interesting, but he didn't want to prod any more - he didn't want to treat Alex (and Xander. 'Alexander' as a collective?) as a circus animal.

"So, how have you found Frontier Town? Is it to your liking?"

 

[Namohysip]

"It's lovely," Alex replied. "I'm a traveler from very far away, so I'm afraid I do not have a lot of experience with climates as warm as this one, but I am used to arid environments..."

Xander snarled.

Alex sighed. "Do you know of any places with good food? Xander is becoming... antsy."

 

[Sinderella]

Odette nodded at his explanation, and found herself getting lost in a brief thought. She'd also been a troubled child, though, by no real fault of her own that wasn't related to possession. She humored an intrusive thought around what Xander, the other head, might say that would get Alex in so much trouble. Was it something along the lines of Jawile's crass humor, or perhaps something more violent than that?

The concept of evolving into a single being without the added stresses of a sentient head was an intriguing one, one she briefly pondered on. She liked the idea of eventually losing the intrusive thought hose linked to her skull, until she realized that mawile didn't evolve. And if it did, it would likely get more heads, and not less.

"I empathize with that," she said with a nod. "I was also a really fucked up kid." It was there that she gestured to Jawile, going as far as to tug on her chains. "I wouldn't say this is a direct result of that; more the cause. I feel a little bad I'm not as liberal with my muzzle, but I can only allow this thing to tank my first impressions so many times before it's enough."

Letting the chain go and grimacing through Jawile's stem twitching, she crossed her arms. "As for eats, usually when my other half is having a cow, she chomps steel. Yours doesn't seem keen on that, sooooo...I'd suggest Nina's place. Maybe Sun Stone if you have the coin." And Mr. Bossman doesn't think the growling is too disruptive.

 

[Namohysip]

"Mm. I'll think on that," Alex said with a polite nod again. "You seem more troubled about... your other head. And unlike me, I do not think there will be an end in sight. But for Xander and I, we do know that compromise is our ultimate end. We're hoping to learn from each other on when 'I' am needed and when 'he' is needed. You could try the same."

 

[Sinderella]

Well, she wasn’t planning to come out all this way for some sage wisdom, but she supposed it didn’t hurt. Though, she couldn’t help but frown at the notion that she was doomed to be stuck like this for the entirety of her stay. It was okay for her to think it, but to hear it out of the mouth of another was an entirely different beast.

Compromise, though…she wasn’t sure how that would work. It was hard to compromise when the thing that made Jawile talk at all were intrusive thoughts. And it wasn’t like she could just stop having those (as much as she fucking wished she could).

Glancing back at the twitching jaws, she flexed her lips around her frown, morphing it into something a tad more pensive. “Kind of working on that. I’ve found she’s the most helpful when somebody needs an ass beating.” Or when somebody wants to hear a cannibalism joke. She wouldn’t dare say that out loud, though.

“Where have you found that Xander is most needed, if you don’t mind me asking?”

 

[Namohysip]

"Ah... self defense," Alex said with a friendly smile and tilt of his head. "Which can be important in the wilds and wilderness. You know how things can be. I heard rumors of very... strange Pokemon as of late. I hope I don't run into any of those here. This town seems much safer."

 

[canisaries]

Andre huffed, still remembering the pain of that charmeleon's fire fang on his leg. "Yeah, you definitely don't want to run into those," he said. Although, if the charmeleon was some very skilled fighter familiar with special abilities familiar to the treecko, did that mean that typical shadow pokémon were actually weaker? That would certainly be preferable.

"So... pardon me if this is a strange question, but have you lived on Forlas your whole life?" he asked. Alex hadn't said anything indicative of being an off-worlder, but the stronger presence of the mon - the "aura of power", as Anite had put it - even though it didn't seem to refer to anything resembling the kind of aura Andre was used to sensing in his homeworld - made him feel like he should make sure.

"We are also off-worlders, so no need to be shy about admitting it," Andre added. It still felt a little careless to say it even when though was a known fact to everyone in town by now.

 

[Namohysip]

Alex tilted his head in response. "Forlas?" he said. "Oh... off-worlders. How interesting..."

Something about his body language shifted just then. It was hard to tell what or why.

"I'm afraid that question is... strange to me," he said.

Xander growled at Andre, but even he had gone a little quiet.

"Was this in the newspapers? I'm not very good at reading."