Ranger HQ Ranger Union HQ

[Phoenixsong]

Leaf didn't ask whether Leona was sure she was up to it. Woulda been patronizing. Of course she'd want to go, even if it might be hard for her. Of course she'd want to see this through. (Who wouldn't?) And she had been doing tons better, lately. She still looked quiet, pensive, but not broken.

"It's possible this guy's trying to actually manipulate Cipher somehow," she added. "So probably we'll all have to deal with him one way or another. He's supposed to have really good control over shadows?" She didn't really even know what that meant, but given all the nonsense he'd been credited with so far it might as well've meant 'whatever he wants I guess'. "But Powehi's gonna try and help us hold that off. So it shouldn't be a problem to push through it." Hopefully.

 

[Jackie Cat]

Seth dramatically cracked his neck and knuckles. "You know it. Short of getting put through a wormhole back to my planet, I'll be there to put my boot up that guy's ass."

He glanced at his un-shoed hindpaw.

"Figure of speech. You know what I mean."

Leona snorted – it was so strange to hear her laugh at all, that it might take a second to register that she apparently found her counterpart pretty funny.

"Same here," she added. "That 'Powehi' didn't deputize me the way he did Seth, but... Whatever. I can't see myself falling under Alexander's sway – I'd tap out first if he got his claws in my head."

Tap out? Was that a casual statement of intent to... off herself? Maybe her ragged smirk meant she was only joking... Evidently the other Lycanroc had as dark a headspace as Seth did.

 

[Phoenixsong]

"Won't come to that, anyway," Leaf said, leaning on "won't" a little harder than she'd intended. "There's still more intel we can get, and we'll have the numbers to pull him in twenty directions at once." She glanced around, caught sight of a few Rangers bustling about their preparations. "Big bad Sock-Puppets-For-Hands won't know what hit 'im. Him or any of his pawns." She grinned herself, maybe a little nervous, but genuine.

Seth had told them what he knew about most of Cipher's admins ages ago, and who knew what any of them would be like if Alexander was actually pulling their strings, but any advantage they could get was a good one. "You beat Cipher before," she asked Leona. "Maybe they're not exactly the same as Seth's guys, but even if they're close, knowing what worked before to take them out would be a big deal." (And, bonus, also an opportunity to trash-talk 'em.)

 

[Jackie Cat]

"Heh... I sure did."

Leona shifted to look sidelong at Leaf, leaning casually on one forelimb. Since her recovery from Shadowfication, she wasn't just less jittery, she was practically mellow. Confident, relaxed, a little cocky. Just less performatively showy than Seth.

"Mind you, we're pretty sure that's down to luck, but mostly... because I had Rui on my side. She had the power to identify Shadow pokémon, for one. Plus she filled me in about Cipher, kept me on-task and motivated, took me to Agate and got me an in with her old man – who looked after my world's Celebi Relic – all things that made a difference. Without her, I'd have been like Seth..."

She shot him a sympathetic glance, though not a pitying one. He shrugged back.

"Wasted a shit-ton of time fuckin' around, battling a bunch of stupid dipshits in Pyrite and huffing my own farts about how great I was at battling. Meanwhile, Cipher had the run of the region, and all their plans went ahead without so much as a spanner in the works."

Leona clicked her tongue. "Yeaaahhh... That's a real bitch of a situation," she said, with feeling. Then, to the Wayfarers, "You guys are organised, motivated, informed, and working as a big fuckin' team. You want my opinion on Cipher? I think you'll curbstomp those assholes."

Seth snorted, and his muzzle curved into a smirk. He nodded his agreement, and winked encouragingly at Archie.

 

[Weazel]

Archie nodded along with Leaf’s forceful denial. None of them would be dying, best not to even speak such a possibility into the world. There were dozens of them and just one of Alexander, it didn’t matter how many flunkies he summoned, all they had to do was down the Hydreigon.

“Well, if the heroes of Orre think we can handle it, then there’s no way we can lose,” the Dewott nodded, responding to Seth’s wink with a grin of his own. “Still, there’s no such thing as being too prepared, so anything you can think of about the remaining Admins, Leona, that you think might be worth knowing in advance would be really helpful.”

 

[Phoenixsong]

"Good to know it ain't even a question," Leaf said, still grinning. That was more like it. "But c'mon, you gotta have stories, right? Why just curbstomp when you can humiliate?" She stomped a forehoof into the dirt and ground it in for emphasis. Honestly, even if there wasn't some top-secret strat for dealing with 'em, it'd probably be good for keeping spirits up. Or just plain fun to hear.

 

[Jackie Cat]

Leona smiled faintly. As the wind tousled her hair, it seemed for a moment as if there ought to be someone at her side...

Rui. I miss you.

"Heh... I suppose I can shoot the breeze a while longer," she relented. "There's this one thing that comes to mind, I guess – the shadow boss of Cipher had a pair of sons. Adults, sure, but really just boys, for all that they tried to seem super-serious all the damn time..."

Seth, despite himself, leaned in a little. Curious, despite a twitch in his cheek that hinted at discomfort. Whatever Leona was gonna talk about, it wouldn't have gone so well for him – this would probably feel like a lesson in what he'd missed out on, like anything from Leona's timeline.

Leona kept talking, about how she'd come out of retirement to battle Cipher again, as if she'd let some kid take responsibility for that, and beaten each of Ardos and Eldes in turn.

She spoke of how Cipher was just a uniform its members wore, to disguise that none of them cared about anything but getting one over everyone else, and none of them agreed on how to do it, except to have nothing they wouldn't do to get power.

She explained how every now and again, Cipher agents would let slip that they didn't want this. That they felt some kind of regret, that they'd made a mistake in letting things go so far...

"...and he gets this look in his eye, like he's just woken up from a nightmare, he suddenly sees everything like it really is, and he's like, 'Wait, you're gonna blow this place up with everyone in it while you make a run for it? What the fuck is wrong with you!' – though I guess he probably sounded fancier about it, eheh..."

As Leona told her story, Seth listened to her. Thinking.

Behind the wolf's eyes, in his mind, something seemed to click into place...

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