[X] My Assistant

[Vena Sera]

The inside of the warehouse was nothing but pure chaos now. Half the boxes were on fire, the Aqua girl was fighting another Magma - what are they, pop-ups? - and Benjamin was standing in front of the not-burning food, looking angry. Verdani had somehow gotten the Numel in a headlock, a fact that had the Magma grunt stupefied, if her open jaw and confused expression said anything.


All this for some Arceus-damned food.


'HEY!' Beat shouted. 'Can we all stop for a second?' Absolutely nothing happened - the food continued to burn and everyone was still pulling the 'what the hell am I doing here' look off wonderfully. Sighing, temple throbbing from an oncoming headache, he quickly walked over to Benjamin and started grabbing boxes that were only partially singed.


'Here,' he said, holding out a box to the shorter man. 'Not to disobey orders or anything, but I think we should just grab some while we can. I have a feeling this mission won't be a raging success.' He tucked a suspiciously light box under his arm and gave a sharp whistle. Verdani lept off the Numel, leaving it close to unconscious. Her tail puffed out, she walked toward Beat proudly, satisfied with her victory - until a blast of fire caught her from behind.


'Yes!' the Magma shouted pumping the air with her fist. Her Numel, nostrils still smoking from the intense Ember, slumped on the ground, defeated. Verdani fell to the floor, whining pathetically. Beat quickly shoved the light box into Benjamin's chest and ran to the fallen Poochyena, rubbing her head before recalling her. Can't use Stahl here, Beat thought, watching the grunt to a little victory dance. Fire and steel do not mix.


'So, Benjamin. Any orders?'

[Xantha]

This mission was going to pieces, and it was going fast. First, they were discovered almost immediately, and the Magma already there sent for backup. Crystal was currently fighting said backup, and it was not going particularly well for either side.

Now the boxes were on fire.

Exasperated, Crystal shook her head and turned back to her battle. Serena was in bad shape at the moment, but so was the Numel -- it was swaying on its stumpy feet, and its eyelids were drooping. Now, it was only a matter of seeing who could last the longest. Still, she thought, I should recall Serena... I really don't want her to get knocked out. The moment that thought crossed her mind, however, Serena sent her a feeling of vehement refusal. Crystal frowned, but abandoned the idea -- besides, there was more pressing business to attend to.

"Ember!" the Magma barked again. The Numel blinked, shaking its head, then spat out a ball of fire.

"Dodge!" The Ralts complied, teleporting off to one side. "Now, Shadow Sneak, then Confusion." Serena closed her eyes, body dissolving into darkness, then shot towards the Numel, reforming herself just in time to slam into the opponent's pokemon. As it staggered back, Serena quickly blasted a Confusion at it. The force of the attack was weaker than it would be normally, but it did the trick. The Numel collapsed, unconscious. Serena, tired but satisfied, slumped onto the floor with an exhausted "Ral..."

Cursing, the Magma recalled his pokemon with a glare at Crystal. "Stupid camel," he muttered irritably, stuffing the Numel's Pokeball into the bag at his side. "I'll get you back for this!" he snapped, pointing at the Aqua girl.

"Yeah, whatever," Crystal muttered absently as she hurried over to Serena. "Are you okay?" she asked, frowning as she looked her pokemon over. The Ralts had several scorch marks all over her body, and an ugly bruise on her shoulder where the Numel had tackled her. Crystal reached for her bag, looking for a Potion, but couldn't find one. Dammit. "I can't find my potions... Look, can I recall you now? You need some rest," she said to Serena, frowning. The Ralts grumbled, but nodded reluctantly. Crystal sighed, relieved, as she pulled Serena's Luxury Ball off of her belt, pressing the button. The Ralts disappeared in a beam of white light.

That done, Crystal turned away briefly to check on the other members of her team. They appeared to be gathering boxes, which was probably a good idea... Crystal went over to them, picking up a box that smelled strongly of smoke, but wasn't burned, on the way there. She arrived just in time to catch the last sentence out of the taller man's mouth.

"...Benjamin. Any orders?" she heard as she walked into clear earshot. Glancing between the two of them, she gathered that "Benjamin" was the man in the coat. Since the taller one was waiting for Benjamin's orders, she assumed that he probably had some position of authority, so she waited for any such orders as well, raising an eyebrow.

This post has been edited by Xantha: Jun 20 2010, 04:54 PM

[stbyleth]

Benjamin was liking this greatly. He was being asked for orders, when in fact he was on the same level as all the others. He grinned wickedly, looking quite like a lunatic. "Grab as many boxes as you ca--OH MY GOD!" He squealed like a girl as the fire just missed him. Rapid insults and curses began spewing out of his mouth as fast as they could, smashing together and sounding like mush. He almost stumbled as the other box was shoved upon him. More curses.

Draugur was wailing as well, having his tongue grabbed and shook. He tried to lick the girl's face, but failed to do so. When the girl let go, he pulled back and chimed off, calling out his name. Benjamin calmed himself down quick enough to turn back to the Gastly, almost dropping the box of food. One of the Magmas was beaten, but one of the Aquas was beaten. He sighed and recalled the confused, almost fainted Draugur. "Kráka, go!" he shouted.

A Murkrow yawned and ruffled his feathers as he was released from the pokéball. He blinked and glanced around the warehouse. It was chaos. He flew up into the air.

"Kráka, use Astonish on every pokémon that is fire, including the Charmander. You two!" He pointed at Crystal and Beat as best as he could with a box in his hands. "As I was saying, grab as many boxes as you can and get the fuck out! We'll do this thing!"

Kráka moved towards the Charmander first, cawing his eerie call.

This post has been edited by The Mad Hatter: Jun 20 2010, 11:43 AM

[Lup]

"Oh, no. Oh no no no no no," Lisey said, putting her hands on her hips and completely ignoring Dr. Feuer's surprise. "You aren't just going to get away with this. I'm not just going to stand around and let you-" Lisey tripped again, this time on a suspiciously large rock on the ground, making her fall into and consequentially knock over a large tower of boxes. A few of these boxes fell into other flaming boxes, and all hell proceeded to break loose.

"I'm going to get kicked out for incompetence at this rate," Lisey groaned.

[Xantha]

Crystal found herself resisting the urge to giggle -- again -- at Benjamin's girly scream. Luckily, or unluckily, that urge was completely quelled a moment later when the Magma grunt tripped and sent a stack of boxes into more boxes, spreading the fire further. She ducked, covering her head, as a flaming box flew through the air. Tiamat, who Crystal had almost forgotten about, cried out, flapping her wings as she dug her talons into Crystal's shoulder hard enough to puncture the skin. She hissed in pain, reaching for her belt and scrambling for Tiamat's ball. "Tia, can I recall you? Please? All of this isn't good for you, or me." The Swablu nodded enthusiastically; anything to get away from the fire. With a sigh of relief, Crystal pressed the button, and Tiamat disappeared in a flash of light. Rubbing her shoulder, Crystal rose from her crouched position and hurried over to a pile of still-unburnt boxes.

"Might as well make the most of this stupid situation...," she muttered, setting the box she was already carrying down on the ground and stacking five more on top of it. Crystal paused, considering it, then took two boxes off the top. Can't carry that much... Before she picked up the pile, she pulled a third Pokeball off of her belt and tossed it to the ground.

With a burst of white light, a Torchic emerged, blinking in confusion. "Tor?" Exuro asked, staring around at his surroundings. Warehouse, concrete floors, high windows... flaming boxes?

"Hey, Ex," Crystal said quietly, catching the Torchic's attention. "Serena's in bad shape right now, and Tia didn't like all the fire and noise, so I had to return them. You're all I've got right now, so keep a lookout, 'kay?" Exuro nodded, chirping his agreement. With a small smile, Crystal turned and picked up the stack of boxes with a grunt, staggering a bit under the weight. "Okay, now to get out of here before this whole place burns down..." Carefully, Crystal made her way over to the door of the warehouse, trying not to be noticed.

[Vena Sera]

The fire raged around them and Beat groaned in frustration. He was not looking forward to explaining why his clothes smelled like smoke to his mother - that would involve telling her that he had joined Aqua. He had told her he'd gotten a job in a warehouse close to the river - only partially true, but even the whitest of lies would be enough to set Melissa Braunstein off.


'Okay, this is enough,' he muttered. He kicked aside a box that had been burned through, spilling what looked like noodle packets everywhere. He grabbed a large, deceptively light box and poked Benjamin in the back.


'Sorry, boss, but we're leaving,' he said bluntly, holding the box on his shoulder. He could feel the ends of his dreadlocks getting singed. Great. 'Screw the rest of these boxes, I don't want my little sister ID'ing a charred body all over some food.' He poked Benjamin again and then headed for the door, the other Aqua and her Torchic in front of him. Before he could quite make it, a large, burned beam cut across his path. Beat blinked and sighed. 'Awesome. I was wondering when the Cliche Beam would show up.' With his free hand, he rummaged in his pants pocket for the grey-coloured Pokeball. 'Hope you don't mind the fire, Stahl, but I kinda need your help.'


A flash heralded the arrival of the small Iron Armour Pokemon, who stared blankly from Beat to the beam. 'Well, I'm not gonna move it,' Beat said, conversationally. 'I'm holding a box. See?' If the Aron was capable of sighing, it would have. Instead, he simply backed up, put his head forward, and charged. His Tackle split the beam easily in two, leaving a mostly-clear path for Beat.


'Alright. Now go bust down that door so the girl can get out. Benjamin!' he called. 'Hurry up!'

[stbyleth]

Benjamin stiffened at the various pokes. He sighed, picking up more boxes. “Alright, get out. Hurry!” The smoke was beginning to make him dizzy. His eyes were fogging up as if he had allergies that had suddenly decided to hit and take effect. He closed his eyes tightly and reopened them, but that didn't do any good. He needed to get out, and soon.

The Aqua member let out a small yelp as Kráka came crashing back into him. The Pokémon was cawing up a storm. Benjamin paused, decided that that was enough, and recalled the Murkrow. He didn't need to fight anymore. The other member had cleared the fire for them mostly. He had a pretty clear exit now.

He had close to six boxes stacked up in his hands. It was good enough. If they were low on food, why didn't they just say so?! Benjamin could cook just fine, if not amazingly. If he was provided with the ingredients, well, he could've become the faction cook! That didn't sound very appealing, since he wanted to take control of Magma and completely annihilate it. The opponent faction would fall, and it would be his doing.

Everything was spinning now. He heard the man yell his name. Stumbling a bit, a box falling, Benjamin didn't even notice it had fallen. He took the remaining boxes and followed after Beat. He handed — or rather, shoved — the boxes at him. He moved further out of the way of the flaming building and the smoke, fell to his knees, and had a coughing fit. His face was rosy from the heat and he was sweating. This mission felt more like a failure then a success. He continued to cough.

After a few minutes, he stood shakily. He turned to Beat and took his boxes back. He nodded a bit and waited for the girl to get out of the building. Once that was done, they would high-tail it out of there.

This post has been edited by The Mad Hatter: Jun 26 2010, 04:27 PM

[Xantha]

Hearing the other Aqua member's voice from behind her, Crystal turned to face him, only for a ceiling beam to come crashing down between the two of them. Startled, she jumped about a foot in the air, sending one of her boxes tumbling to the floor. Exuro gave a concerned "Tor?", blinking up at her. Shaking her head and blushing to herself, Crystal assured her Torchic that she was okay and set her remaining boxes on the ground, placing the fallen one back onto the stack before picking them up again. Coughing a bit, Crystal grimaced, carefully shifting the boxes over to one arm as she quickly pulled the collar of her shirt over her mouth. The sooner we get out of this damn place, the better.

She opened her mouth to tell Exuro to burn the beam down so that Beat could get through, but closed it again as she realized that setting more things on fire probably wouldn't help. Besides, he seemed to have it under control; the long-haired man's Aron easily split the beam in two with a Tackle. Now that two of them were out of harm's way, Crystal turned to check on the remaining member of their team. She was glad to see that Benjamin was already hurrying towards them; 'Bout time, she thought grouchily to herself. Her normally bottomless patience was already running low with this screw-up of a mission. Well, at least we got something... even if it is just food.

Crystal frowned as Benjamin shoved his boxes at Beat and all but collapsed onto the ground, coughing. "Uh, you okay?" she asked, but the man said nothing -- with good reason, as he was still hacking his lungs out. She took his standing up and nodding slightly as a response, and the girl dipped her head briefly in return before turning to hurry out of the warehouse, boxes in her arms. Finally.

[Lup]

Lisey noticed that everyone around her was leaving, and took the opportunity to flee without noticing whether or not the other two Magmas were even remotely okay. Her Charmander tailed closely, ashamed at having ruined just about any chance of promotion at this point. As she stumbled after the Aquas, she tripped yet again, this time landing face-first in a puddle of mud. Coughing from the smoke and sputtering from the dirt-water, Lisey lay there a moment and fumed quietly, attempting to avoid a complete mental breakdown.

Eventually she gained enough emotional strength to stand, futilely brushing at some of the soaked-in mud on her uniform. "I don't think I'm even going to go after them. Whatever they stole was barely worth all the trouble that gave me." She snorted, frowning and walking away.

[Vena Sera]

'Alright, head count.' Beat glanced quickly around the circle - Benjamin and his Murkrow, the girl and her Torchic, himself and Stahl. With a hmph he sat down, soot and ash puffing out of his dreadlocks and vest. The giant box landed next to him, almost smacking Stahl in the face. With an annoyed grunt, the Aron batted Beat's leg with his head, making loud noises that easily crossed the language barrier - There is a burning building not ten feet away, GET MOVING.


'So, boss.' Beat said, poking Stahl in a vain attempt to get him to stop. 'Where to now? Any second now and this place is gonna be swarming with Magmas trying to put the fire out.' This struck the tall man as vaguely funny and he let out a small chuckle. 'Heh. Gallows humour. Uh, by the way - I'm Beat Braunstein. Ben can introduce himself. Didn't catch your name?' he prompted the girl.


Stahl let out a frustrated ail and gave up his assault on Beat's leg, instead turning his anger on the box. Before Beat could grab him, the Aron had charged, the giant box falling to pieces easily after being singed and battered.


There was nothing inside.


Beat and Stahl both stared at the remains of the box stupidly, not quite comprehending yet. Finally, Beat turning to Benjamin.


'So. Uh. What'd you get?'

[stbyleth]

Benjamin huffed. “Her name doesn’t matter. I’m Benjamin Venefsukja. Got it? Good.” He rubbed his temples, sighing. “Now, does anyone know what just happened? We almost failed a mission. But you can’t let the others know this. If they do, they’ll kick everyone off.”

He had gained most of his calm façade back, and he continued, “So here’s the story we’re going to use.” He had no problem lying. They were the only ones there. “There was a call near where we were stationed as a squad. Before they could react, we three jumped into action and were separated. Thus, cutting us off from any help. We found that the call was coming from inside the warehouse so naturally we went in to investigate. When we arrived, a Magma called for tons of back-up. Don’t forget that part. Tons. Since they are Magma, they set the place on fire in a vain attempt at getting us to fail our mission – since they’re evil and that’s what they want to do. They also want us to starve.”

He took a deep breath. “So we scrambled away with what boxes we could, some singed, some not. We defeated the Magmas there. Got it?” He crossed his arms, looking at the other two. “If you get me fired I will personally murder you both.”

When the Aron had charged at the box and had found nothing inside, Benjamin pursed his lips. “Is this a joke?! This – ! Ugh!” He bent down to open his boxes. He sighed with relief when he found that there was found within. He closed the boxes back up and hauled them up in his arms.

“Well then. No further questions. I’ll meet you all later. I suppose.” What had cracked of the façade during the few moments had returned and was all glued back together. “Get your boxes and report back to base. Quickly.”

Without waiting for them, Benjamin, the new Aqua, took to the path and away from the burning building. For Christ’s Sake, thank the Lord. Now he hated fire even more-so than he did before.

I'm submitting this for RP grading now. :U Since none of you guys have posted a reply.

This post has been edited by The Mad Hatter: Jul 2 2010, 12:41 PM

[Xantha]

With a relieved sigh, Crystal plunked her boxes on the ground and flopped down on top of them. Exuro chirped unhappily, shaking moisture off of his feathers -- it was still raining. He poked at Crystal's belt, then looked up at her. She frowned, but recalled the Torchic anyway; they seemed to be out of danger now, in any case.

She looked up, startled, when she was addressed. The Aqua girl opened her mouth to answer Beat's question, but Benjamin cut her off before she could begin. Snapping her jaw shut with an irritated huff, Crystal listened to Benjamin's proposed explanation with a steadily growing frown. Lying? I don't like it, but I suppose he can do what he likes. I'll just have to tell the truth, then...

She was pulled back out of her thoughts when Beat's Aron broke his box, only for it to be discovered to be empty. In a mild panic, she quickly jumped off her stack of boxes and hastily opened them, relaxing when she discovered the neat bundles of packaged food inside. Closing up the boxes again, Crystal looked back over at Benjamin when he spoke, and watched him go.

Shutting the lid on the last box, she stared at Benjamin's retreating back for a moment, then turned to look at Beat. "Well. Uh... I'm Crystal Chase. Nice to meet you, although we should probably be going now..." She looked pointedly at the still burning warehouse, then sighed, gathering up her boxes. "Shall we go?"

Alright then... Sorry for the late post, I just figured that I'd better wrap up Crystal's involvement in the thread. I'm not sure if this post will count in the grading, though.