The UNDERGROUND Team

Rodolfo watched in silent awe as Shimo bravely flew ahead to investigate the situation. Another pang of guilt hit him as he realized that he would struggle to do something like that when he had the option of remaining in the safety of a group. However, he supposed it had been done once before. When he’d been banished from the valley, he’d been alone and had to ‘scout ahead’ for danger in order to survive. This thought comforted him slightly, but before he had chance to think back to that hideous day he’d been banished, he realized the espeon had started talking to him.

“They—They’re not infected,” Rodolfo heard and relief swept over him, however, he made an attempt to disguise this. He was a charizard, and everyone considered charizards to be fearless. Despite the truth, Rodolfo felt pressured to live out the stereotype. He gave a curt nod as the espeon continued, but hesitated before following the creature towards the source of the light. As he neared, he instantly distinguished the pidgeot sitting nearby, as well as two other, relatively small pokémon – one with the glowing horns. Peering at the newcomers, Rodolfo recognised neither species but presumed that one was a ghost type and the other some sort of bug. Ushering a weak, if slightly uneasy smile, he went to speak when his attention was suddenly stolen by a thump against some sort of metal. Lifting his slim head, he glanced around the area for the sound’s source which still continued to echo slightly. Squinting into the darkness, Rodolfo failed to see any other pokémon in the area, however a nearby lamppost made him curious. Unsure whether or not he was hearing things, he glanced back to the others but kept his mouth shut, persuading himself that he just needed some sleep.

Nyx continued to float after her fellow companion. Suddenly, she saw a greenish bird in front of them. Who are you? it demanded. She scoffed. I'm Nyx, and this is Agni. Who are YOU?
A pink cat-like Pokemon she recognized as an Espeon came towards them next. She flinched slightly. Her old, wonderful trainer had an Espeon at one point. No, she wouldn't let the emotions get the best of her, and Nyx blocked out the memories.
Did you come from the underground? it asked. The female ghost nodded. We both did. We both wanted to get out. She glanced over to what looked like a Charizard, and sighed. ...It's safe here, right? Nyx asked, worried.

"It's safe here, right?" The little floating ghost, a Misdreavus, he figured.

"As far as I know," The white bird answered. "There aren't any infected nearby, but I'm sure there will be more. This place is pretty exposed." A sound nearby of something hitting metal caught Shimo's attention. He looked around, trying to see where it came from. He didn't see anything, so he just brushed it off, though he kept in mind that there could be something bad nearby.

He scanned over all the pokemon around him, taking note of anything that stood out. The Charizard looked scared, and the scratched up Espeon looked like she had a lot of battle experience, of course. He couldn't tell much just from looking at the Misdreavus, and he could hardly even see the little bug. His feathers ruffles as a breeze drifted by. Something he saw in all these pokemon, there was something odd. Like they could be... a team?

Agni skittered about the area, oblivious to the conversation around him. The bug seemed to be in a sort of dream state: He hadn't seen the moon, the stars, the SKY in so long... He crawled atop a small building and stared at the moon, his horns glowing brightly...

As his daze passed, he started to look at the assembled pokemon, and.. in a moment of clarity.
"Rather odd bunch we've got here, don't you all think? Not like it matters. You all look strong enough. There's dead to crush. Let's get to it! We've a word to clean up! Starting right here!"

((I'm still suffering writer's block, so my apologies if and when my posts suck.))

Leo narrowed her eyes at the Bug pokémon.

"Such brave words, but alas, these pokémon need to rest." Leo turned away from the bug, facing the Charizard. "What is your name, Charizard?"

Leo felt the fur on her chest rise. To speak to such an intimidating pokémon! It gave her chills. With respect, she gave a short nod at him.

"We should rest first, before anything else," she added.

She glanced down the alley and at the Underground's entrance, longing for the safety it provided. Finally, she would be able to take a breather without looking side to side, cautious that something might spring at her.

Rodolfo was only partially listening to what the bug pokémon was saying but had dedicated the majority of his attention to trying to distinguish what exactly it was. He didn’t have the widest knowledge of pokémon species but whenever he was fortunate enough to meet a new one, he grew especially interested in what they were capable of. Of course, he knew the bird was a pidgeot, the purple creature was one of the evolutions of eevee – although the name continued to escape him, and the ghost was a misdreavus – he’d previously met one on his travels.

"Such brave words, but alas, these pokémon need to rest."

Rodolfo shook his head, dragging himself away from his thoughts and back to reality as the espeon’s words registered in his mind. He smiled softly at the creature’s consideration. He couldn’t remember the last time pokémon had shown him such kindness – first the pidgeot scared off the infected mightyena and now the espeon was making sure that he had time to rest. He smiled again as the espeon continued.
“It’s Rodolfo,” He answered, still smiling softly as he nodded his head. “And you are?” He turned his head then realizing that he didn’t know the names of any of the other pokémon gathered, but something in the back of his mind told him that when he was enlightened, they’d be names he would never forget.“Oh, and what about everyone else?” He quickly added, eager to quench the idea of actually befriending these pokémon.

((OOC:Skip me, I just can't think of anything, and I'm extremely busy.))

"I'm Shimo," the white Pokemon was glad that he would soon know what all the others' names are. "I was separated from my trainer not long after the infection started. I really miss her..." A pang of emotion swept across him, but he shook it off, focusing himself on what was going on now.
(Ooc--Sorry about the short post, there really wasn't much that I could do there...)

((@Skitty: Don't worry about it. I have problems with long posts as well, and keeping within the three-day limit, because I'm so damn busy all the time. I'd say something to Suicune, but again, busy.))
"Well. I'm Agni. My trainer abandoned me, so I've abandoned him. I don't expect the Legendaries to help us; Arceus doesn't care, if he even EXISTS. We're on our own down here, so we can't afford to wait for a miracle.
"Now. All of you look tired. So, you should probably all rest. I'll take watch, and wake you if the undead should challenge us."
Despite his small stature, the insect gave off an air of confidence, with a hint of power. Before even waiting for an answer, he crawled atop the nearest building and sat, watching the night with his sparkling blue eyes, waiting for morning.
((I'm having trouble writing this little bugger. Not sure how exactly I want him to go about things.))

"I am Leo," the Espeon stated simply, her tail lashing. She cast a sidelong glance at the bug pokémon as it crawled to a nearby building.

"Well," Leo murmured, her claws unsheathing to scrape at the pavement. Her eyes glinted with annoyance. "I was thinking we head underground, since it's the safest place here, and not just in some building, where creatures might be lurking upstairs. I'd like to keep my fur on, thanks."

She made her way away from the building and towards the alley that lead to the Underground entrance.

"Also, it's quite a pleasure to meet you all," Leo added, glancing at them over her shoulder.

Rodolfo turned his head to each individual as they uttered their names, each time offering a friendly smile as a greeting. Turning his attention back to the pokémon that had called himself Agni, he nodded his head softly in agreement before watching the little insect clamber onto a nearby building. With that, he shuffled his large body round before following the espeon towards the underground entrance, his eyes constantly flitting around his surroundings. Rodolfo had already faced one infected tonight and wanted to rest up before another one sprang out of nowhere.

“So... uh, Leo, are you local to the area?” Rodolfo asked, curious of the espeon’s knowledge. He was born and raised in Johto but he’d never journeyed to any of the region’s towns, let alone cities, and he wondered about the espeon’s history. Shimo and Agni had already exclaimed that they’d belonged to humans before the epidemic broke out, but had varied opinions about it – although to Rodolfo it was a completely foreign idea. He hardly understood humans, having only ever met a handful in the past year and dramatically less after the first two months away from the charicific valley. He frowned slightly at the thought of belonging to somebody, but decided to keep quiet for the sake of staying on everybody’s good sides.

Yes, I'm Nyx. She responded to the Charizard, and smiled slightly. He seemed slightly nervous, so she decided to be kind. She was glad everyone introduced themselves. Nyx hoped she could remember the names...

The Espeon was making its way to the Underground, and decided to follow. She looked back at Agni. Come on. She urged the bug, and then began to follow Leo the Espeon. She seemed quite strong, and Nyx respected her. She floated towards the Espeon, and decided to stay close. Nyx knew she wasn't that powerful, but she could stun an infected if one happened to come.

So she stayed with the group.

((OOC:Guys, I'm not away, I'm just busy. Ok? OK~ C: ))

As the others in the group introduce themselves one by one, Shimo made sure to take them all into his memory. I can tell, Shimo thought to himself. These Pokemon will become my good friends and allies. Shimo smiled a bit at the thought of having a group with him to help him through the infection. The little white bug, now known a Agni to Shimo, directed himself to a nearby building, while the rest of the team was headed towards the underground.

Nyx addressed Agni to come along, so Shimo just followed Leo and the others, his talons scraping on the pavement as he walked.

Agni looked at Nyx, urging him to go with them, and his eyes sparkled.
"Well then, it looks like we're just a little bit of a team... In that case... We're not going back into the Underground. However.. Even if only for the night, we can make sure it's safe. We can camp out here, around the entrance. I still insist on taking watch, though."

The little bug scurried atop the building that housed the entrance to Goldenrod's massive underground, his horns glowing dully.

Leo's fur bristled, the air around her spiked with irritation. She flicked her tail, her eyes narrowed at the bug pokémon. She was about to come up with a sharp, stingy reply, but then she seemed to think better of it and nodded.

"Fine, have it your way, bug," Leo murmured. She settled down near the entrance, her purple eyes gleaming in the darkness. "We're not going all the way in. Entrance it is."

What was the point of arguing? Leo knew it wasn't worth the words.

Leo had no plan on sleeping. She felt her energy at its highest peak. She wouldn't be able to sleep even if she tried! She would simply keep an eye out for them.

Rodolfo had to stop abruptly in fear of accidentally walking into Leo as Agni offered some words of advice. Looking from the bug pokémon back to the espeon, Rodolfo realized that it would be these two that he would struggle to satisfy at once. They both seemed very leader-like and whilst Rodolfo already respected the espeon’s bravery, something about Agni made him want to listen. Offering an awkward smile to no one in particular, he moved towards one of the nearby walls, dropping his weight onto it with a grunt before sliding down into a sitting position.

The pain from the mightyena’s attack had completely faded now, however he noticed that the creature’s blood was still present – dried and beginning to crack. Frowning, he began to pick away at it with a single claw whilst keeping one eye on the rest of the group. Although he was absolutely exhausted, Rodolfo had noticed that both Leo and Agni were taking watch into the early hours of the morning, and felt as if he had a duty to stay awake alongside them. Glancing to the other pokémon of the group, he wondered whether they had any intention of sleeping and decided that he would try and last some time before finally succumbing to the inevitable slumber.

Agni wasn't coming with them, so the 'team' stayed. Nyx was irritated, Agni was stubborn. Then again, so was she. Nyx was quite tired, but there was no way she could sleep. She had just met a good amount of Pokemon who seemed...nice. Like they would accept her.

Something purple and shiny caught her eye.

Near the entrance, there was a dark purple-ish rock. Curious, the Misdreavus floated over towards it. It was quite shiny, and something in her mind told her to touch it. Nyx proded it slightly, and she suddenly felt energy soar into her, Nyx's whole body glew a bright white.

((OOC: It's evolution time~))

Shimo didn't really care where the team went, really. If they wanted to sleep outside, he'd sleep outside, if they wanted the Underground, he'd sleep there. The large white bird was glad that they had come to a compromise, so he found a comfortable spot on the top of the small building that held the entrance to the Underground. He knew that he wasn't going to be able to fall asleep very fast, so he just got comfortable and watched all the others.

He noticed that Nyx was still moving around, in contrast to the settled down team. She floated over into the entrance underneath Shimo and Agni, and a bright flash came to life in the doorway of the small structure. Shimo had seen this process before, so he knew what was happening. Nyx was evolving. The white light dimmed down as Nyx's changes were finished, and she backed out of the entrance just enough for Shimo to see her.

Replacing the small blue ghost's body was a taller, purple one. Her head was covered by an elaborate, hat-looking thing, and her body seemed to end in a dress. Wow, what a beautiful evolution, Shimo thought to himself. Very fancy looking. I can't seem to remember the name, though... He had fought a few of them before, so at the very least he knew that Nyx had evolved into a very formidable pokemon, but he always had a bit of trouble with the name of it.

Hopping down from the little building, Shimo had just one thing to say to her: "Congratulations!"

"Fine, have it your way, bug."
The sound of irritation in the voice angered Agni a little bit, before he realized he hadn't given a decent explanation of why not. He sighed and crawled back down, poking Leo with one of his horns.
"You do realize that there are likely Dead following us right now? The last thing I'd want to do is lead them down to the safehouse. We may be trained for combat, but most of the survivors down there were pets, unfit to defend themselves. I won't let us go so the undead don't find them, so that they're safe. Okay?"

There was so much echoing silence in the corridors it drove her to ripping corpses up just to hear the crack of their bones snapping. It was infuriating... There needed to be sounds. There needed to be screeching sires, people screaming, loud, terrible noises to fill the endless silence that always surrounded her.

Then, finally, noise. It sounded like voices, like a meal... She padded closer to the beautiful music floating on the air. She wanted the screams, the apex of the music. The part she always waited for. She ran closer, her lean, lithe legs carrying her quickly to her goal.

The silence... will end...!

There were many scents up ahead, but one in particular caught her attention. It was sweet, and familiar as well. She knew this smell... A flash in her mind's eye brought up the image of a purple cat-like pokemon. She knew one of them...

She leaped, her open maw quickly ripping into the flesh of the cat creature. Her beautiful screams floated into the air, obliterating the silence. There were more screams and sounds of others running, but the cries of pain from the creature below her were what mattered. She bit the legs, breaking them, and gently licked the wounds, keeping the creature crying and screaming as long as possible.

Her skeletal tail wagged, remembering what happiness was like. She continued wagging her tail as she began to feast on her prey's legs, keeping the espeon alive for as long as possible. The beautiful cries of pain and agony sedated her into something akin to a trance, her mutilated decaying body reminiscing what sleep was like as the wonderful lullaby played.

To those around, the cries resounded, then died down after one last bone-chilling howl cut through the deafening silence.

Silence...

Rodolfo had been on the edge of slipping into a well-deserved sleep, his eyelids drooping shut when a series of screams brought him crashing to reality. He jumped at the sudden noises; his head jerking backwards, causing him to hit his head against the wall he’d been leaning against – momentarily blurring his vision. There was a stranger present and the group had erupted into total, uncontrollable panic. As detail returned, Rodolfo could only have wished he’d been blind. A horrific canine had attacked Leo, tearing the poor creature’s legs from its body and spraying his friend’s blood across the cold pavement. Rodolfo felt physically sick; eyes wide as the gruesome images were absorbed into his fragile mind. His mouth opened to emit a silent scream of terror before natural instinct kicked in. Pushing himself from the wall whilst the infected feasted on a still living espeon, Rodolfo ignored the pain in his wings and took off into the sky with a strangled roar – a sound of intimidation reduced to a guttural cry of fear.

He reached a suitable height, yet never dared to look back at the scene – the visions of Leo’s death were already flashing before his eyes, unlikely to ever leave him. Every bone in his body screamed at him to return, to assist his newfound friends, but life in the epidemic had taught him that in the end, you couldn’t trust anybody. Rodolfo moved quickly despite his fatigue, his tail burning particularly brightly in his fear, serving as a potential beacon if his surviving companions ever wanted to find him. As he reached the outskirts of the city, he swooped down to land clumsily, his side hitting the ground, crushing his left wing as he gradually skidded to a halt. He was trembling. If he had ever passed for a proud charizard since his banishment, every stereotype was now completely obliterated. He lay shivering in the dirt, eyes wide and bloodshot as Leo’s screams resounded in his head. He was a mess, utterly traumatized by what he’d been unfortunate enough to witness. Curling into a ball, his body involuntarily shuddered as the tears began to flow.

Nyx had evolved. She looked...fancy. She absolutely loved her new appearence. The Pidgeot Shimo congratulated her, and Nyx returned a smile and said a thank you. Her companions were quite.

Then something attacked Leo.

A Houndoom, most likely. It was slowly killing her. Nyx screamed, utterly terrified. She had just evolved, and now her companion was dead. The Charizard had taken into flight, and Nyx floated after him. Wait! We must stick together! she yelled. The Charizard fell, near the outskirts of the city. Rodolfo was trembling, and crying. She slowly glided up to him.

Please Rodolfo, we must stay together. She was crying as well. I-I don't want to lose anybody else.

Shimo screeched in shock as Leo was devoured by an undead. He panicked for a moment, before noticing that Nyx and Rodolfo flying away. He took off after them, but stopped in mid-take off. Agni! Shimo knew the little Pokemon would be in more danger than the rest of them. Fluttering to the top of the small building where the bug sat, he picked Agni up in his talons, soaring off before anything else could happen.

Reaching the outskirts of town where the others stopped, Shimo hovered a few seconds, setting Agni down on the dark pavement. He settled himself on the ground next to Nyx, keeping his muscled tense in case the infected pursued them.

"Shit," Shimo gasped. "That was insane." He was shaking, and his feathers stood on end, but he made sure to stay brave and reassure everyone. He noticed that Nyx and Rodolfo were... Crying. Shimo knew that Leo would've been a great team member, but damn, they hardl knew her. Even so, Shimo reached out and patted Nyx on the back with his wing, and gave Rodolfo a positive glance, hoping to cheer them up. "A-Agni, are you okay?"

Agni sat in stunned silence, trying to take in what just happened.

He had been trying to appease the dissenter, Leo.

SOMETHING had attacked, and Leo was dead.

The bird had grabbed him and now they were.. elsewhere.

Agni twitched.

"Anybody mind telling me what the F-... My apologies. WHAT JUST HAPPENED?"

Rodolfo jumped at the sound of Nyx’s voice before turning his head to the stranger. He’d hardly witnessed Nyx’s evolution and was somewhat startled to find the voice belonging to a mismagius. Sniffing, he pushed himself into a sitting position and despite his efforts failed to produce a congratulatory smile – it emerged as a look of pain. The charizard then noticed Shimo and Agni – both of them keeping relatively calm and collected. How he envied them. They stood level-headed and although shaken by what had happened, hadn’t been reduced to such a panicked state as Rodolfo.

"Anybody mind telling me what the F-... My apologies. WHAT JUST HAPPENED?"

Rodolfo turned to look at Agni, the tears staining his face highlighting the previously unnoticeable scarring from his banishment. He opened his mouth to talk but the words refused to emerge, caught in his throat as he mentally relived the situation for the second time since his landing. Taking a deep shuddering breath, he shook his head violently in a vain attempt to block out the images of torture and death. Leo was probably still there with that monstrous creature. For once, Rodolfo prayed that she had been killed – that her suffering had ended quickly after the dismemberment of her fragile limbs. He shuddered at the thought.
“I-I c-can’t deal with this,” Rodolfo finally managed, obviously shaken. He sat with wide eyes transfixed to the ground, subconsciously wringing his wrists as his mind flitted between the past and present. “... What do we do?” He asked helplessly to nobody in particular, but was finally able to tear his focus from the ground to observe each of the pokemon gathered. It was times like this that Rodolfo longed for his life back in the Charicific family – sure he was weak, but at least he was loved, even if the love didn’t last.