#muse: npcs

[goldensimisage]

Closed starter for @dragon-prince-behemoth

Today was just going to keep getting worse, wasn’t it? That little green devil showed up, some uppity barista talked smack to him, people were staring... And he was still hungry! And to top it off, after shoving aside a Darmanitan that had the nerve to just stand there in his way and gawk at him, he now had to deal with townsfolk mumbling about him as he stomped along to find some way to blow off steam.

But as luck would have it, he may have just found a good target for that: Some annoyingly confident Dragonite had been following him around and looking down on him, and he’d finally been noticed by the bear! And so he stood, clawed hands balled into fists while he waited for the dragon to land so he could tell him off face to face. But until that happened, all Darius could do was grumble to himself and pace back and forth impatiently. Lucky for whoever would have to clean up the mess, most of these folks understood what was about to happen and were already starting to clear the area.

[goldensimisage]

So what if he’d been told to stay out of town? This Pangoro wasn’t going to let those cats sneak around and have all the fun on their own! He was bored out of his mind by all this waiting, and more importantly, he was hungry! And when he was hungry, not even Arceus almighty would be able to keep Darius from marching in and finding something nice to munch on.

Lucky for him, when it came to a pokemon his size, nobody would dare stand in the wrong spot or risk slowing the bear down while he lumbered up and down the streets until something caught his eye. And eventually, something did: a cozy looking cafe. In a move likely to startle some of the folks inside, Darius carelessly shoved the front door open with enough force that the hinges may need to be checked for damage later, and proceeded to sit himself down at the nearest empty table to wait for whatever waitress they had working here to come out and serve him.

Just looking at this guy would give off the vibe that he wasn’t going to be at all pleasant. Reclining there in a seat that could barely hold his weight with an expression that grew steadily more impatient, and the one eye he had left slowly looking around the room to try and find whoever worked here. Little did he know the kind of snap back he’d get if he got pissy!

[goldensimisage]

Continued from here

“Yeah, I’ve got that much! A nice Marowak kid showed my partner and I a few places a while ago.” Wow, this cat just rolled right along, didn’t she? And the way she used ‘kid’ so casually despite not even looking near 20 herself... But anyway, she prattled on like one would expect of a young, excitable explorer who didn’t seem to put much thought or care into her words.

“Said partner’s scouting out some of those cafes so we can meet up for lunch later, while I’m doing what I said and getting acquainted with the town! You get a better feel for gossip and local news by talking to pokemon than you do looking at a news board, y’know?”

@team-destiny-rp

[goldensimisage]

Joseph had decided to take a visit to Gold, and bring along Lee so he could have a friend to play with. So he knocked at the door of Gold's place, wanting to see how his simian friend was doing.

His knock wouldn't be answered by an open door. Instead, the pair of visitors got stopped by an Audino who'd noticed them on his way back down the narrow street. A tired looking Audino, at that. Busy night, maybe?

"Hey, what are you two doing? There's nobody there after last night." This Umbreon obviously wasn't one of the neighbors, but surely he'd read the paper at least? The local press had been going nuts all morning trying to push the story...

[goldensimisage]

Another day behind him, and another weekend rush taken care of. Floor swept, tables wiped, receipts tallied (thanks Honey), lights out, and finally... Doors locked up. He’d turn his head back to the other pair of grass types, taking note of just how tired they both were. Maybe he should look into getting more help, or maybe closing earlier on days like this... Or maybe both? Both seems good, it’d give him more time at home. But those were thoughts for later, for now Gold gave a friendly wave to the Steenee and Leavanny before they all headed their separate ways for the night.

“You two take it easy, alright?”

“Don’t gotta tell us twice, boss man.” responds one of the other grass pokemon as both of them waved back, and one gave a yawn after turning away. Yeah, he definitely needed more workers, especially for holidays like Unova day... This was just too much for the poor duo and himself.

That lingering thought gave him plenty to think about on his trip home. A quiet one as usual, much to his luck! And unbeknownst to him, lucky for a pokemon that had been tailing the distracted Simisage as well. A pokemon lost in their own thoughts was so much easier to follow...

It didn’t take too long for Gold to reach his modest home, the convenience of only being a few blocks from work. Things were already mostly dark, with Suzy having spent most of the day out with a friend’s family and only having beaten him home by a few minutes. The two take a good minute to hug it out as a greeting, and Gold tops it all off with a gentle kiss on the top of the smiling Buizel’s head.

“Sorry for being gone all day, kiddo. I can make it up to you in the morning, and we’ll have a day all to ourselves,” a headpat is given to the bui as she returned her hug to the kneeling simian, getting a giggle from her in response. “How’s that sound?”

“Works for me!” Cheerful as always, even with his absence on a holiday. It never failed to make the Simisage smile... But if she wanted to have some family fun tomorrow, she had to be rested! So Gold finally let their little moment end by scooting the Buizel off to bed, and decided it best to do the same himself. Off to his own bedroom, Gold finally got to relaxing by slipping out of his baggy clothing and tossing it into a basket in the corner of his bedroom. But right then, just as he was about to slip into bed, the first sound rang out. A sound that would signal the beginning of things spiraling in a way he’d never expected:

A bang at the door. Not a knock, a violent bang that shook the frame and sent a few cracks through the frame around the latch. Gold wasn’t the only one who heard it either, because by the time he jumped back to his feet and opened his bedroom door to investigate, he saw Suzy’s bedroom door cracked at the other end of the hall, with a curious eye peeking through it. After a hurried, silent wave from her father though, she disappeared back into the room right as a second bang echoed through the house.

And then it happened. One final hit, signaled by a CRASH as the front door swings open so hard that it slams into the wall of the living room and almost bounces back into the face of the intruder before they entered with a heavy footstep.

Darius had the biggest grin on his face right now. All that sneaking around the boss and the others had done, and he’d managed to find their prize just like that! And in such a tiny place, no less. He’d wanted to corner Gold to get some payback before bringing him back, but this... This was almost too perfect for the Pangoro. None of that fancy jumping around and shit in a place like this. Once he found where that monkey was hiding, that is...

He stepped forward, going deeper into the house toward the hallway to start that search. But that’s when Darius would make his biggest mistake: rather than entering the hall on the left side of the living room, he turned right, and started toward the first cracked door he saw. There was hardly any time to react to what happened next.

“GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!” Gold exploded out of his own bedroom, in a wild fury at the sight of his oldest rival so close to his daughter’s bedroom. As far as he knew, Suzy was still a seret to them, and he was bound and determined to keep it that way!

Darius turned at the voice just in time to grunt in surprise as a blast of wind knocks him off his feet, stunning him just enough that he almost didn’t process the shing of a knife being pulled from the block just inside the kitchen, or the rapid thundering footsteps that lead up to a Simisage landing on top of him, weapon raised over his head in a backwards grip.

Gold started to bring it down in a stabbing motion, fully intent on ending this bear in a fit of paternal rage. But it’s caught mid swing by a paw that squeezed his wrist tight, preventing him from pulling back away as his foe stunned him right back with a headbutt before putting his free hand on the monkey’s chest and throwing him off with all his might.

Normally he’d be winded, but he was too frenzied to notice much beyond the red mist at the moment. Gold scrambles back to his feet and re-aligns his grip on the knife, holding it forward now with both arms raised to protect his center while he watched the bear climb back up himself with a guttural growl. He takes one step forward toward Gold, and after a momentary glance at the still cracked door, Gold rushes back in.

He thrusts the knife forward with his right hand, his ears filling with a pained snarl as he felt Darius’ paw clamp down on his left shoulder and start to squeeze, the pressure being enough to make Gold start wincing as he pulls the knife out and thrusts again, trying to force Darius to let him go via pain with the second stab before the pressure on his shoulder combined with him being forced further away made him lose his grip on the knife, leaving it stuck in the Pangoro’s side as he struggled to try and reach it again.

Suzy was watching all of this from the safety of her bedroom. Her papa hurt him! And he was facing away from her too! This was the perfect chance, the perfect moment for the Buizel to act out her heroic aspirations and leap to her father’s aid! Which she was just about to do, right up until something happened that stripped her confidence away in an instant.

There’s a muffled crunch, and the pokemon she believed to be the toughest in the world forced out what little air was left in his lungs with a shrill scream while his legs buckled under him from the pain and the weight of Darius trying to force him down.

Suzy’s confident smirk melted right off of her face, replaced with one of confusion, sadness, and pure terror. Outside, Gold sat on his knees, clutching his now-deformed shoulder and trying to regain his breath, fighting back the tears of pain in his eyes as he looks back up at the grimacing Pangoro before him. One more glance at the door. And the simian starts to stand up again, pulling his right hand back to prepare a last ditch Energy Ball, only for it to fizzle out after Darius puts him out with an upward swipe of his claws square in the chest.

In the bedroom, that poor Buizel was frantically trying to slide her window open enough to squeeze out, and the last thing she heard before she managed to escape was the slam of that final blow landing. There were no complex thoughts in Suzy’s head when her paws hit the grass outside. No brave fantasies, no heroic aspirations, just one word:

Run.

And run she did. As fast as her little legs could carry her in the only direction she could think to go: Pinwheel Forest.

[goldensimisage]

Inch by inch, a darkened tunnel expanded away from it’s hidden surface entrance and toward the destination of the pokemon digging it out. All the while, the pokemon grumbled to himself about a fight hungry bear causing this mess in the first place, and their tight resources forcing him to fix it the old fashioned way. They could have avoided all this, they could have already reigned in that old blood the boss was so obsessed with, they could have already started moving back into this city! But noooo. Darius had to get impatient. Darius had to go off on his own. Darius had to make a mess, get himself in trouble, drag resources away from their main goal...

“And drag me into digging a damn tunnel!”

The end of the Krokorok’s thought escaped him as a hushed growl, followed soon after by a grunt as he hefts one more chunk of dirt out of the way, and promptly sat down against the side wall with an exhausted sigh. How far had he gone? He had to be close to finished by now...

There’s a pause, with the soft sound of Sobek taking a deep breath in the darkness, and a sharp huff drowned out by the woosh of a brief burst of flame from the reptile’s maw. That quick burst from Fire Fang was all he needed, luckily, to glance back and estimate how far he’d dug. Seven meters, give or take.

“Just a couple more feet... That bear owes me after this...”

Sundown was approaching -or at least it should be, hard to tell from down here- and Sobek had a schedule to keep. So he rose to his feet again after just a minute of rest and back to work he went, working away one claw full of dirt and stone at a time. But finally, finally all that was left above the earthen crocodile was solid foundation. And the time was just about right for another move to be readied.

Above ground, a Pangoro sat grumbling to himself and glaring at the bars separating him from the lone guard present. There was only one, and a distracted one at that: an Indeedee sitting behind a desk with his eyes more focused on paperwork than the lone jailed pokemon. Now Darius was a big pokemon. Surely he could just brute force his way out, knock those bars right out of their place, and overpower that Indeedee. Or at least, that’s what he would try to do, but the mere thought of it lead him to rub at his recently reset shoulder with an already-sore arm.

For an instant, he actually found himself regretting fighting that Dragonite... And from the look of things, he’d have plenty of time to dwell on that thought. The Indeedee finally left his desk and began to leave, only stopping to stand outside of Darius’ cell with it’s hands behind it’s back.

“Okay, lights out panda man. Do me a favor and tuck in for the night so you don’t give the night guy any trouble.” As usual, snarl and bared teeth are the only responses he gets, prompting a shrug from the little psychic as he whirls around to head toward the exit. He expected some complaints in the morning, since that’s the exact attitude he was just talking about!

As if on cue, there’s barely 30 seconds of silence before Darius finally notices a soft thumping sound, vibrating the very floor beneath his feet. Thumping that slowly got louder and more forceful, until finally... A mixture of a crunch and a bang, and a small crack in the floor. Then another, and another as the crack grows and the stone floor bulges outward, finally stopping when a chunk of flooring is broken completely free to reveal a deep hole beneath the jail, with an utterly wiped out Krokorok lifting himself partially out of it to catch his breath after so many back to back uses of Rock Smash.

Darius inhales, about to say something snarky about how many days he’d spent in here, but he’s cut off by a single claw being raised and a glare rivaled only by the boss meeting his eyes directly.

“Shut up,” hisses the reptile. “Climb in. We’re leaving now while it’s easy.” He didn’t need to tell Darius twice! In seconds his fellow thief was shoved back into the tunnel, his rescue target just barely fitting through the hole on the surface and crawling to freedom right behind Sobek and emerging into the dim late evening light and brushing the dirt from his knees, shins, and hands in a rush before more orders were given in a hushed whisper.

“We’ve got no safehouses here yet, so we’re skipping town instead. Stick with m-”

“I know this town, ye dumb lizard! Just scatter and I’ll see ye back home.”

“I- you can’t just run off after- ugh, fine. But if you don’t come straight back to the manor,” A claw points straight at Darius’ chest from the shorter pokemon, jabbing into him to drive the statement home. “You are taking the blame. You’re not throwing me under the bus.” A roll from Darius’ eye answered that gesture, and a shove from his hand to knock Sobek out of the way so he could take off into the growing darkness.

“Whatever, just scatter like I said!”

Sobek was speechless. Shoving him aside literal seconds after he broke him out of jail? There’s nothing he can say to that, and so the exasperated crocodile just throws up his hands in defeat. He did his job, and he wasn’t getting paid enough to keep dealing with this.

Darius, as dense as he was, was still a life-long thief and knew what he was doing when it came to making a getaway. Prioritizing distancing himself from that jail first and foremost. Sticking to darker side roads and alleyways, keeping his distance and acting casual when groups were in sight, and even snatching up a warp seed as a backup plan from a distracted Kecleon’s stand, all on his winding yet steady path toward the limits of Nacrene.

Or at least, he was on a steady path, until something caught his eye that actually got him to stop in his tracks: He’d almost barreled around a corner when a patch of green in the dim light caught his eye, and the bear’s entire mass came to a sudden stop so he could pull himself back to hide in the shadow of two closed down shops, where he could then peek out and get a better look at what he thought he saw.

Sure enough, there was that green devil of an ape that started all this. He’d just waved off a pair of other pokemon, two that Darius didn’t recognize nor did he care about. All he cared about right now was the red mist clouding his eyes as he stared daggers at the little traitor, who hadn’t even noticed his presence from the looks of it, and watched him lock the place up tight.

Maybe this would be a good way to apologize to the boss? He’d just stumbled on one bit of info about Gold, and maybe tailing him could lead to more... Or hey! Maybe Darius could just corner him, rough him up, and take him back all in one fell swoop! That’d no doubt make the old bird proud!

[goldensimisage]

Between her own stammering and fidgeting, Nia hardly noticed that the Honchkrow that had been staring her down had looked away long enough to gesture toward one of his Golett bodyguards with a wave of his wing, prompting a silent message to be relayed to the one wandering the halls. Already, the old bird had a solution in mind for the problem Nia had presented to him, and one she would be filled in on very soon.

Only a few seconds after Nia scraped together the excuse to cover for her partner, she’s pushed aside by a Krokorok entering the room and giving a respectful nod to their boss. Normally she’d give him an earful for something so rude, but...

At least Nia got a break for the time being. This reptile starting to speak was met in turn with a silent sigh of relief from the Meowth he’d just about knocked over, which was the last thing she’d expected to feel after an action like that!

“You were looking for me, boss?”

“Yes, Sobek. But first, I want to ask: have you seen Duchess anywhere?” So much for a break. If Nia wasn’t nervous before, then that question was enough to make ice shoot through her veins.

“I have actually, I passed her in the hallway on the way here. Said she was on her way to go sleep. Also told me to fuck off, so that was nice.” Answers the croc, folding his arms over his chest and letting his thick tail rest flat on the floor.

“Hm.” With all honesty, Carlo wasn’t too interested in what exactly was said, but Nia’s story checked out, so that was enough for him. “Now with more pressing matters, I need you to do a little tunneling. Darius got himself into trouble.”

“Nothing new there. Consider it done, boss.”

“Thank you, Sobek. I’d prefer it done soon, so you’re free to go.” A nod from the lizard, and off he went back into the halls, probably on his way to prep for this job. And so, once again, Nia found herself alone in deafening silence with the bitter and withered crow.

“Um...”

“Oh, right, you’re still here. What else do you want?”

“Well...” What she wanted was to just be allowed to leave like Sobek. But would asking for that seems suspicious? Better not to. But what could she say? ...Well, there was one thing she could do, just to try and act casual. “Why are we trying so hard to recruit this one guy?”

“Are you questioning my decisions?” Once again, another moment of her blood running cold just from a glare.

“No! No! I’m just curious is all... I mean, we could recruit anyone off the street, couldn’t we? Is that Gold guy just that good at what he does?” A little feline curiosity seemed innocent enough, but putting Carlo back on that train of thought made the Honchkrow’s eyes narrow from his cushy seat as he once again stared daggers in her direction. Not directly at Nia, though, like he was just lost in thought while looking at her...

“No. He’s nothing special. This is about getting back at that she-devil who took everything from m- us. And left us to skulk around here in the shadows.” Yikes, nerve touched. He was already scary enough when he was calm, so maybe it would be better for Nia to just back away from this subject?

“I-uh.. I think I get it. Soooooo, should we just get back to helping with that?” There’s a loooong pause after she got him thinking about a certain other pokemon. But finally, after what felt like ages, Carlo looked directly at Nia once again and nodded toward the door she’d come in through.

“Take your partner and leave me.” She didn’t have to be told twice! In a flash Nia was out of there, and already looking to find Duchess. As soon as she found that Delcatty, they were gonna get as far away from this place as they possibly could!

[goldensimisage]

She knew she wasn’t just being allowed to roam free. Of course it wouldn’t be that easy. Ever since Nia split off to go talk to the boss, Duchess could hear the sound of metal feet clacking against old, creaky wood in an unnaturally perfect, unsettling rhythm. She wasn’t entirely sure why, but it felt like that Golett from the doorway had been following her...  At least until she turned a corner into a narrower hall, almost bumping right into a tall ground type pokemon in the process.

“What are you doing prowling around in the dark?” Of course. Leave it to what was essentially a thieves’ guild to be suspicious of each other just for forgetting to flip a light switch.

“Fuck off, I’m sleepy.” She hisses back to the Krokorok without any hesitation. Not a complete lie! But still a statement that drew curiosity from the other, who decided to poke and prod some more.

“Which is why you’re headed toward the kitchen.”

“You ever tried to sleep in one of those shitty beds upstairs? A towel in front of the old oven is infinitely better.”

The other’s jaws opened up, a claw raised as if he was about to say something to that, but... Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t debate that. Especially not with a cat about warm napping spots. Even if he did want to argue though, any chance of that was cut off with the Golett that had been trailing behind Duchess finally caught up to her and rounded the corner, only coming to a stop now upon registering that a second pokemon was standing in front of it. It completely disregarded Duchess, looking straight over the Delcatty at the pokemon she’d just been talking with to issue a command in that same droning voice it had used when she and Nia got here.

“Sobek. Your presence is required in the meeting hall.” A sigh escaped the upright ground type in response, something that the droid didn’t even dignify with a response while Sobek glanced down once more at Duchess for a moment. But nothing else was said, and he simply pushed past the two, filling the hall with the slowly fading sound of his tail dragging across the floorboards on his way back to where Duchess had come from. And lucky her, the creepy automaton followed right behind him! Now she was alone to do what she’d come to do. And she’d waste no time getting to work.

Long after the sound of footsteps had faded, Duchess waited outside a door midway through the darkened hall. Waiting, listening, checking to make sure she really was alone for this. Silence. Good. And so it began, the Delcatty standing up on her hind legs and working the doorknob as silently as she could. Finally, she pulled the handle down far enough, and could feel the door start to give under her leaning weight!

Sloooowly it opens, just enough for Duchess to slip on on silent feline pads and close it just as gently behind herself, promptly dropping the travel bag she’d been stuck with for so long and rolling her shoulders at the sudden loss of weight, as she finds herself in that old office once again. Well... Office was a stretch. In reality, this was little more than a broom closet with just enough space to fit a few filing cabinets and a shelf with a lamp inside. Just as cramped as she remembered..

So long as she could do this right though, it’d be the last time she’d ever have to be stuffed in here. Taking full advantage of her privacy, Duchess bit down on the handle of the bottom drawer and pulled, opening up the dusty cabinet with ease and instantly starting to flip through documents and files with her dexterous tail.

Records of heists long passed, reports snatched up from corrupt explorers and Magnemite officers, witness accounts and photos, you name it. If it involved or incriminated a Delcatty or alolan Meowth, she snatched it up, stuffing it all into her bag and moving on to the next shelf. Considering she’d been the one who’d filed all this away, she knew exactly where to look, greatly expediting the process of her record scrubbing until finally, the top drawer was shut just like the rest. Now for the disposal, and one she’d carefully planned out before they’d even arrived!

Once again, she slips her head through the strap of her bag, ears folded back to ease it through and hoist the whole thing back over her shoulders. And just as silently as she’d entered, Duchess slipped back out of the office, being sure to leave it as seemingly undisturbed as it had been prior to her arrival. Now off to the kitchen!

She was far more relaxed now, or rather more unassuming. Her perpetual state of tired grumpiness when she was here was hardly what one would call relaxed! But no matter, it wouldn’t look suspicious if anybody saw her pass by and slip into the kitchen where her planned method of evidence destruction awaited: the oven.

It sat, cold and untouched, but still perfectly usable with the pile of firewood ready to go beside it. With one more glance around the room to ensure her privacy, Duchess got to work: first loose papers, then logs, then the couple of thick files she’d procured. And finally, a match to get rid of it all. The kitchen lit up in an orange flash as she slammed the oven shut and watched through the vent: first the papers reduced to ash almost instantly, followed more slowly by the files on top as the logs sandwiched between them caught flame. But just to be sure...

With a flick of her tail, the chimney was opened, and the fire glowed even brighter and hotter against her face as old hot air shot up through the chimney, heating the entire room while the things she’d come to steal were finally completely incinerated. Mission accomplished.

Now so long as Nia didn’t crack, they were clear. But for the time being... It was awfully warm in here, and she hadn’t been lying to Sobek... A quick little nap couldn’t hurt, right? With nothing else to do but wait a while, Duchess leaned against the wall opposite the stove, curled into a cream colored ball on the floor, and promptly went out like a light.