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Frontier Town Jailhouse

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Ch04: Jailbreak
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    • Another day at the jail and its cold monotony. With the Wayfarers recovering and only a few scattered visits, the cells were lonely and surprisingly quiet behind those iron bars and stone walls.

    One early morning, after the guards distributed breakfast, a sudden THUD punctuated that silence. It could have been something falling. It could have been someone being attacked. But a single blow? That would be a surprise.

    Step, step, step... Something was coming closer. Shadows creeping into the halls, pulling air from the room and condensing it like a thick syrup. Movement and breathing were suddenly laborious, but it was all ethereal. Something powerful and twisted had come into the jail and made no effort to hide it.

    A black fog crept into the former mayor's cell. He had no way to escape it, so hopelessly confined. When it touched him, he heard a voice.

    An injustice was forced upon you. Disgraced and helpless, you sit here, day by day, as the world moves on without you.

    Covering his ears, holding his breath, none of that would stop this reverberating presence from invading his mind—telepathy, yet somehow even more forceful, hammering into his skull.

    Then came a question. Do you want to change that? Do you want to reverse what had been done... and rule once more?
     
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    • Ignatius stirred.

    Stiff upon his jailhouse cot, his claws tapped rhythmically on his ventral edge, the sharp line of metal that ran down his chest. The discomfort was disagreeable, but nothing he truly minded. Neither did he mind waiting, nor loneliness, nor privation from his usual privileges. No, what mattered was the fate that awaited him. The lack of opportunity and resources to turn this around. To improve his position on the chessboard of fate, and secure a return to power. He needed his power back sooner or later in order to achieve his goals, or to achieve anything at all.

    He imagined, over and over again, tapping his claws all the while – himself in court, the federal judge from out of state, someone he had no leverage over, no understanding with. Magistrates in attendance who knew too much. No options save perhaps the use of force, and where would that get him? On the bounty posters, no doubt. Proofed manacles were one obstacle. Absentee assets were another. He had no safehouse, no staff, no resources.

    He needed his power back. He needed power.

    He needed power.

    He opened his eyes to the black fog, and did not panic. No, he smiled. He knew not what this was, but it was unexpected and most certainly a plan neither of Lucien's making nor those accursed offworld interlopers. Therefore, it represented opportunity.

    "You wouldn't ask that question if you weren't certain of the answer," he said, with cold satisfaction. "Name your price, then, whatever devil you are."
     
    The dark clouds thickened and thickened, crawling through the iron bars and seemingly dissolving them into more black fog. Something shaped itself in front of the disgraced Empoleon.

    It was the source of the voice.

    Good answer.

    <><><>
    ​
    Early morning greeted the Wayfarers with clear skies and a chill wind of the night's echo. A normal day, which was a welcome change for all their rest and relaxation.

    It all shattered when a rumbling explosion blasted open a portion of the jailhouse, plumes of black smoke rising and sending the town into an uproar.

    "Jail break!" cried someone.

    "Jail blew up! Is it another attack?!"

    Gerome stepped out from his bar, feeling the rumble even from where he was. He called for his assistants to keep an eye on the bar while he went in to investigate; his reasoning, he gave none.
     
    Koa had been on his way to the jailhouse again to make a visit to Drapion. It had calmed down somewhat, and he felt sure he was making a tiny bit of progress. And it gave him someone else to focus on and try to help, a welcome distraction from everything else. As annoying as having Ignatius next door was, he'd learned to tune the stupid penguin out and just spend his time working with Drapion.

    A distant explosion rocked the air and he saw a plume of dark smoke in the distance. His stomach knotted and he broke into a run. He reached the jailhouse in moments, skidding to a stop outside and panting. "What happened?" he asked quickly, gathering himself. Scanning the area, he tried to catch a glimpse of where the explosion had been, and if Drapion was still there. "Who broke out?" He wasn't sure which he feared more, Drapion escaping or Ignatius.

    Was there footprints? Some trace to show where the escapee had gone?
     
    Grace had been checking out the bulletin board when she'd heard the commotion. Following the smoke and the shouts, she flapped her new wings and hopped from foot to foot as she sprinted over.

    "Oh, Stars!" she gasped. "Is anyone hurt? I can help!" she said, already holding the healing energy of her life dew in her hand. Quickly, she scanned the crowd, looking, and then...

    "Gerome!" she called, waving her free hand. "Gerome, it's me, Grace! What's happened??"
     
    "Heard the explosion all the way from th' Wanderin' Zera," Gerome stated. "That ain't right. Was some real damage, but seems like the jail ain't keen on lettin' anyone inside."

    Even though he probably could have made easy work of shoving past them anyway, he seemed civil enough to obey the order.

    As Koa inspected the landscape, he would find that any footprints that might have been left were heavily obscured by the panic and urgent footfalls of others before he'd arrived. But he could smell something in the air that was... sour, but not to his nose. It was to something deeper. An ethereal rot that lingered... He knew that smell. The 'smell' of Shadow.

    A few guards seemed to recognize the Wayfarers and assumed they were there to investigate. They had a reputation for handling this darkness before and allowed them through.

    Drapion... was not there. Nor was their lovely mayor. Instead, in both of their jail cells, the bars had been somehow melted away. No, not melted... It looked more like it had turned brittle and then evaporated like ancient rust. Huge openings in the wall behind Ignatius' cell suggested the explosion's epicenter was there.

    Had he... somehow blown his way out? Just like that?
     
    No... A pang tugged at Koa's heart, swiftly superceded by a rush of anger. "Ignatius," he growled. There was no way this had been Drapion alone. And shadow, he realized with a shudder. That tinge of sourness and decay in the air... He blinked, and frowned. Powehi? Could he have had something to do with this?

    And what was the bartender doing here? So many questions.

    Still annoyed, he turned his attention to the jail cells. It didn't make sense, why destroy the bars and the walls? Had the explosion been made from inside the cell, or outside? Maybe there was a way to tell if whatever caused the rust been inside the cell or outside it. He checked for any lingering scents beneath the shadows, anything that could tell him if someone had come here. Someone like Alex, perhaps.

    "Did you see anything?" he asked, glancing at the nearby jailers.
     
    Behind the others, Aige had managed to slip in, quietly looking around. After the dream, she wasn't quite sure how to feel. The powers that be and everything else everyone had been frantically asking questions about had not quite gone over her head but more to the side, leaving the Roggenrola with a distinct impression of having missed a few important things while she had been fooling around again.

    "Um, may I add a question?" she interjected, tilting a little to acknowledge Koa. "Did you hear anything? And has anyone tried to establish a perimeter yet? No worries if you haven't, though we might have lost enough time by now."

    The Roggenrola felt awkward, unable to take charge of the situation as she would have normally done. At the very least, she didn't have a face that would have given her feelings away.
     
    "Every goddamn week it's something new," muttered the Watchog standing outside the jail. "You lot are offworlders, right? The Wayfarers, you're calling yourselves? I swear you people smell trouble and come running."

    He fidgeted with his uniform, ears and eyes so restless they hardly lingered on the new arrivals.

    "There were two guards on duty at the time. Some 'black cloud' moved in, not rightly sure what it was, coulda been a 'mon move but there's no type residue we can recognise. Anyhow, it did somethin' to the duty officers. One just lost his mettle and threw hisself at his buddy, just went crazy. Like a feral or somethin'. And the other lass has gone off her reservation too, won't hear a word of reason from no-one. The cells are proofed against 'mon energies, so we're usually watchin' for breakins, not... Not whatever the devil that was."

    He twitched his head towards the jail.

    "We've put 'em both in an empty lockup so as to keep 'em from losin' their nut at anyone else. Plus, could be infectious. Better safe than sorry."

    Watchog sniffed miserably.

    "Y'all can go on in if'n you like, but you won't have a jolly time, sir and misses."
     
    "We'll work with what we have. The guards could be our only lead," Felin said, pupils narrowing and her mind going over her thoughts. She shot a glance at the others. "Anyone feel confident in giving chase? This break in was recent. They can't have gotten far."
     
    Jackie Cat said:
    One just lost his mettle and threw hisself at his buddy, just went crazy. Like a feral or somethin'
    Click to expand...
    Koa suppressed a shudder. Definitely the work of shadows but... how? Why? What reason could Powehi have to do something like this... Unless Alex had done this.

    AdamArtDraws said:
    "Anyone feel confident in giving chase? This break in was recent. They can't have gotten far."
    Click to expand...

    He glanced toward Felin, considering her words for a moment, his mind already racing. Was she right, did they have any chance at catching whoever did this? And could they tell which way they'd gone? Instinctively he almost replied 'yes'. If they could catchup then at least they would know... He tilted his head, one paw raised, then put it down.

    "Wait. Whatever broke them out is strong. Even if the two of us could catchup, there's no way we could fight them. And if they have some kind of help, we'd be alone in the middle of nowhere with them." He scowled. "It's too risky, we shouldn't unless there's a lot more of us.."
     
    "The mayor... wasn't it," Aige murmured, looking around. "I wonder if he's the type that would chafe at having to lay low in their own playground- so to speak."

    The Roggenrola listened carefully as Felin and Koa debated pursuit.

    "Normally, I'd be all for staying put, but there might be some merit in following," she added. "If at the very least we can tell if they leave town, then that can give us a good idea where to go from there. As for danger, there's a fair amount in and of itself if we stay here and wait for whatever happens next."

    Was the former mayor particularly inclined towards revenge? To an extent, Aige hoped it was the case. Anyone who could look past that kind of preoccupation tended to be a vicious sort to deal with.

    "It is easier to be inconspicuous with less pokemon," Aige said thoughtfully. "Worst case, I'd be willing to go first as a scout. Without my hat, I like to think I can blend in pretty well!"
     
    As Koa inspected the tracks for other signs, and as they also checked the scene of the break, they found that trying to find whoever ran would not be a trivial task. And the reason was quite simple--there were multiple paths taken, all tinged with water shrouded in darkness. Like a Surf attack of some kind. The water made for a clean spread of all possible paths they could have taken... and by the time they found the correct path--if they could determine it--they would certainly be long gone by then.

    Searching would be a gamble. This was calculated and not spontaneous. Tracking them down seemed designed to thin their numbers to have a chance at catching up.

    Gerome frowned and looked inside, still not allowed past the guards the same way the Wayfarers were. "Well, you'll either wanna leave now or investigate," he stated flatly. "I ain't fast enough to chase someone like this... and they ain't letting me in. Figure I'll just go back to the Zera. Mrgh, right when the missus is visitin', too..."
     
    Since nobody seemed to need healing, Grace calmed down. She tapped her foot against the ground while her wings trembled behind her. "Okay, so, I think chasing them down by ourselves is probably a bad idea, but... I think we should try and follow the shadows for a little bit, and see if we can find any leads. If it gets too dangerous or we can't find anything, I think it'll be good to regroup and tell the rest. We have to keep an eye out for those that escaped-- because they'll be more dangerous now."

    Then she glanced at Gerome with a sympathetic smile. "You should be with her, Gerome. Don't worry about this for now."
     
    Koa wavered, suddenly indecisive in the wake of the others points. Maybe they should give chase? Could he still find Drapion perhaps? And why was the bartender still here? The Togetic whose name he couldn't remember seemed to know him though. Why was he trying to investigate?

    "Running after them still sounds risky. But if some of you think you can maybe... We'd have to go quick." He was probably the fastest here, wasn't he? But they could have gone anywhere at all. And if this was anything like Alex... As he spoke he started to pace around, still trying to detect any more scents and scanning the ground for more traces.

    "This shadow stuff can cut us off from Betel. We would have no way of contacting anyone if something happens."

    He tipped his head towards Gerome as he paced toward him. "What brought you out there? Did you see anything?"
     
    "Yeah, the explosion from my bar," Gerome drawled. "...Figure somethin' went on. Ahh, I dunno. I'll just head on back, seems I ain't gonna be able to do much anyway."
     
    "Well... I'd prefer if you go back, but if you want... you could come with us?" Grace offered to Gerome. "If we want to follow the Shadows and do any investigating, we have to go now, before we lose the trail."

    She glanced at Koa, realising she also didn't know his name. "I'm Grace, I'm part of the Wayfarers, too, I just wasn't as active before! If we stay together, we'll be safer, and the moment it feels pointless or too dangerous, we go. Actually, um, maybe we should let Betel know before we go, in case...?"
     
    "Not much time to think over it," Aige said, sounding a little put off. "But I agree with Grace that we should go now."

    The Roggenrola nodded at the Togetic. "Nice to meet you by the way."

    Looking at the others, Aige tilted back and forth. "However, I think we should probably split up. We don't know where the escapees might be headed, so we need to cover more ground. I'm not going to make that decision for you if you don't want though, so go together if you want, but I'll head in a separate direction."

    Aige paused. "Sorry if that that came off wrong. You can let Betel know when you get a chance, I don't think I've ever spoken to them directly."
     
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