(ACE) The LAVERRE Team

OoC)) Skip again, Conan is remaining quiet as he could.

A light excitement tingled along Plant's spine as everyone got into their hiding spots and a quiet fell over the place. It wasn't scary or unnerving like he thought it would be, but almost fun..! Like games should be! The cold metal was trying its best to be a spoil sport and suck his warmth away, and pulling his sweater even more so over himself the child tried to bundle up as best he could. Yet the chill of this factory was in the very air, and any exposed bits felt it more keenly within the silent environment. “Alrighty, hon, I’m gonna be the seeker!” Ali's voice called out from below, the sound a welcome distraction from thoughts of temperature. Perking his head up the Snivy watched his friend pad gently about, the faint glow of her rings a comforting sight as she looked about the place.

While he had not watched the others hide he wondered is Ali had, if she was cheating...!? No, he realized, having to stifle a chuckle at the thought, she wouldn't do that. The sound of Hide's voice revealed he had been found but it was not enough to convince him of foul play. No, instead Plant shuffled, noticing the longer he lay upon the raised path the more the texture of the grate became apparent to his skin. He didn't weight enough for it to truly bear down on him but an impression would be left nonetheless. Shifting awkwardly to change the pressure points he could not stay comfortable in the spot, rising, turning, and resettling again and again in a bid to be at ease. With each movement his small feet and tail made little thunks against the metal, as if laughing at his struggle. Perhaps he could look for a different spot?

With a deep breath in he rejected the idea; he was too exhausted to search again, and if anything felt like cheating that was surely it.

OoC)) Skip, Shadow just gets back up without a word and heads to the factory.

Well, if he'd been found first, then he could at least help Alirah look for Conan and Plant. Maybe even find the other kid while they were at it! He wouldn't try to look for them by sensing auras - that would definitely be considered cheating. So, the old fashioned way was what he'd have to do. At least he was good at looking for people! He'd found Kaneki after all, and he was notoriously hard to find if he didn't want to be. Spectreons were ghosts after all, even with his ability to sense auras, they were hard to find.

Idly, his thoughts wandered once more back to his evolution. Would he be able to sense auras better if he evolved? What would change? Would he get more headaches like he does now, or would they go away? Hide's ears twitched and stood high as he heard a noise nearby, his chocolate eyes looking around before flicking up to the metal walkways above them. Was someone hiding up there? Hide blinked, before squinting his eyes a little to peer up into the dark above them.

The only one nimble enough to get up there is Plant, right..? How the hell are we meant to get up there? He thought, before glancing around again. Oh well, he'd have to figure that out later. For now, he wanted to see if that other kid was hiding somewhere around. He sniffed at the air, ears twisting around to listen in to anything around them that was off - even the smallest sound could be their (hopefully) new friend. The mingling scents of Plant, Conan and Ali were ignored, trying to catch the new one among them.

They'd come out a moment earlier, so it should be a little easier to find, hopefully. Hide hummed softly, picking up a new scent from the crowd, slowly and carefully walking his way along where the trail led him. It wasn't Ali, or Plant... it smelled kind of similar to Conan, but with its own key differences. So maybe this was their new friend they were trying to find?

Either way, Hide was following it. He stepped carefully and slowly so as to not spook them, listening carefully to the quiet factory around them in case he was getting closer.

The Poké Ball Factory once stood as a behemoth landmark for travelers, marking their way for those too incompetent to use a compass that they neared Laverre City and would fortunately not become yet another casualty— Another city kid going to the big bad woods to die alone. Hopefully. Like, why drag others with you for something like that? Seemed pretty rude.

And that was BEFORE the absolute shit blasting of an epidemic began, so you could imagine weary souls seeing the creepy old place nowadays would practically cream themselves at the idea of leaving the woods un-fucking-murdered.

The inside frankly smelt like piss in the deeper sections, a friendly reminder that even with almost everyone dead, people STILL found a way to ruin the simplest things. Pissing on the parade, you could say.

The singular feline-like shape slunk through the dreary hallways quickly, scanning each doorway and beyond with purpose as each stride took her deeper into the heart of the Factory. As some familiarity came back to the new resident of the factory, her pace broke into a sprint as she rounded a corner and—

BAM!

The Spectreon’s unfortunate face smacked into a closed door with some measure of force someone smarter than her could probably determine, which mattered not to the groaning creature as she lay phased halfway through the door, holding her paws against her throbbing features.

“Goddammit. Great job you fuckin’ twat,” she growled. She always remembered and forgot her ability to phase through objects at what some might call shitty times. “You had literally one fucking job, Lazarus.”

She scrambled back to her paws, realizing with yet another groan of annoyance that she had in fact not known where she was— but could you blame her? Everything basically looked the same and it looked like SHIT!

With an angry huff and aggressively billowing nebula wisps, she continued her trek with somewhat more caution. She’d been away for too long already.

---

Confusion set in the kit’s features. Meema said to avoid talking to ANYBODY, even if they had candy. Especially if they had candy, actually, or white vans… whatever a van was. But these guys seemed so nice— they even invited her to play hide and seek! She loooovvvvedddd hide and seek!

Artie was getting so flustered!! She wanted to play too, the palette-swap version of her seemed like he could be her brother and the leafy-sweatery one could be her bestie! No, no, that was PERFECT— Meema would forgive her like she always did, and she’d finally have some friends her age!

The midnight blue Eevee finally scooted out of her hiding place slowly and really carefully until she emerged into the main part of the room. She didn’t wanna talk at first, no no. But what if they thought she was MEAN? Meema was mean enough on her own, they couldn’t think she was too!

“I can play too?” Artemis managed. Her eyes shot to the fluffy pink kitty and lit up brightly. “Can I lick you?! You look like candy!”

Her mood changed from shy and quiet to bubbly and curious in a single second, and her dumb fear of what Meema would do was all gone for now! She ran super fast over to the orangey-one and inspected their neck-gadget without even waiting for Pinky to answer: “What is THAT?”
It was super cool for a second or two but Artie wanted to hide!! She didn’t want to seek, seeking was boring! She whirled around playfully, striking a quick pose before rushing off to hide without so much as a word.



((Artie’s writing might be quite different from post to post. Experimenting with how to write her.))

Was it… was it time to just call this off?

It was starting to feel a little silly. For all Alirah knew, the kiddo could be even more apprehensive to associate with them because of their obvious efforts to draw them out. She kind of saw in glorious hindsight how it could be construed as creepy and honestly she could’ve facepawed with the might of Thundurus.

She sighed, then taking in a breath to announce the ending of the game—

“I can play too?”

Wait what? NOW you come out?
She quirked her brow quizzically at the small midnight Eevee now suddenly in her line of sight, silently but most definitely judging the child’s decision making.
“U-Um! Yes! Absolutely.” Alirah affirmed. Awkwardly? Yes. But she was doing her best. “Do you want to hid—“

“Can I lick you?! You look like candy!”

Alirah dead stopped mid sentence, jaw agape and brain on full emergency shutdown. “I’m sorry, what?“ Her eyes shot to Hide, looking for an adult in the situation despite her also being an adult. Her eyes pleaded with Hide to help her or kick the child, whichever he deemed most necessary for her unbridled CREEPINESS in this moment.

“What is THAT?”

Oh thank god.

The small floof turned from Alirah hastily and rushed to Hide, staring down his headphones like they were some alien technology to her.
“Errr… hey sweetie—“

Alirah’s speech died the moment the child lost internet in Hide and spun around on her toes like some overly dramatic ballerina, complete with a finishing move and all, leaving Alirah even more confused than before when their new… “friend” rushed off into the Factory with the enthusiasm of a Pachirisu on unmentionable substances.

She stared blankly, even after the child disappeared. Her eyes seemed to have dulled ever so slightly and there was a lethargy that suggested she REALLY didn’t want to go find the kid as she strode towards her.

Conan kept as quiet as he could as Alirah went past him and he peaks out looking as Alirah continued walking. For once, he was wanting to be caught so he could try again and find Hide. From what Conan liked, Hide was the tougher one to find outside of when Grimsley was around. The Eevee hoped that the human was okay out there. Regardless, Conan started moving quietly to reach the safe spot. Soon a voice not familiar spoke out. “Can I lick you?! You look like candy!” Conan stops and looks around. Did he get spotted trying to sneak to the safe spot? He shakes his head and sighs before going to where Alirah was walking. He was so close too, guess he'll get it next time. Upon seeing Alirah, she was with a dark furred eevee. The eevee walked over and realized he wasn't spotted at all. He could have ran to be safe but he didn't. He was curious already and wanted to know who the other eevee is.

Getting low to the ground, Conan went to find Plant and tell him another playmate is with Alirah. He didn't know where Hide was hiding but he hoped that Hide wasn't caught yet. "Hehe, me, Hide, and Plant has a new playmate. I gotta tell Plant." Conan said as he couldn't help but giggle as he walked. Forgetting that they was playing hide and seek, he walked around looking for Plant as he comes up to Plant's hiding spot.

It was very quiet. That was expected for such a game, but the longer it dragged out the more uncomfortable it felt. Were they looking or just waiting? He could see Alirah and it looked like she was searching, but not very hard or.. meaningfully? Did she not want to play..? It was a bit disappointing to realize, and Plant was suddenly hit by guilt as he wondered if he should have offered to seek. Crawling forward on all fours, moving oh so slowly to reducing the amount of noisy thunks he was making, the grass type tried to get closer to her while staying upon the high walkway. Since he hadn't been found he would be out of the game for making the offer, but to swap with her and see a smile.. the child thought that was a fair trade.

But the question did not get asked. Before he could even formulate the words and Ali could call the whole thing off, a small, unknown voice squeaked at them, and not long after the source came barrelling forward. Tossing his small hands over his mouth to stay utterly silent Plant curled into his little ball once again and watched with wide ginger eyes. The ball of fluff seemed friendly enough, her voice practically shrill with excitement with another squeak of, “What is THAT?”
The energy level of the new Pokemon was not what Plant was expecting, nor did it match the rest of the group. For someone so bubbly to be in this place of cold, lifeless steel.. it was a lot to take in honestly, making the lad's mind spin and delay his question of being the seeker so long that the Eevee darted off without another word. Wait! Reaching out with one hand in a silent plea Plant watched the Eevee disappear, leaving them all more bewildered than anything.

Yet, he did not pull his hand back for several long seconds, and it fell slowly back down to the grate. Something about her actions was oddly nostalgic to the Snivy, so vaguely familiar of.. himself?

OoC)) Skip again, Shadow will enter in next round.

[quote="Duma"]
Kaneki was beyond pissed. He'd lost his target, they'd escaped and left him twiddling his paws and running in circles. The spectreon growled lowly under his breath as he paced his way along to where the factory stood off in the distance. The spectreon swiped his tongue over his muzzle and briefly paused to clean off his paws, the copper taste of blood a sharp and familiar one to the ghost. All it served to do was further hammer home the fact that he had failed to kill the danger that had attacked them; and it was all Shadow's fault for holding him back.

The spectreon's fur bristled as he trotted up past the charizard, shoving his way past aggressively with a curled lip and a glare sent up at the purple fire type. His mind was circling, spiralling and twisting itself around in tight circles, wondering just what was going to happen now that the other ghost they'd been fighting was free. What if it came back while they were sleeping? What if it was just stalking them now? That damn thing wouldn't forget what Kaneki had done to it, he was sure of it. Was it going to come back to them when he was asleep?

What if he couldn't save them the next time that thing came around? Did Shadow not realize the danger he'd just put them all in? That thing could return at any fucking time and attack them again, it was clearly smart enough to plot, especially since it used the confusion of the attack at the boutique to attack them while they were disjointed and unable to really gather a proper plan for fighting. His brows furrowed as he thought, growling lowly under his breath and looking back at Shadow with a frown.

He would never trust that fool with his life, not if he was too scared and too weak to take a life if the lives of people he was close to were in danger. He was too weak to be trusted, and too stupid to be left alone. He would never risk leaving him to look after the others. Being strong enough to protect someone meant that you had to be prepared to kill something else if it meant you, your loved ones or them.

And Shadow had shown Kaneki that he would never be trustworthy enough for that.

Kaneki snorted in disgust, before turning back around to head to the factory, trotting on ahead with an irritated flick of his twin tails. He couldn't stand dumbasses who were weak. That was what got people you loved killed. And he refused to ever have that happen again, not on his watch, not while he was still alive.

---

Hide looked around the room as he and Alirah looked for the others, his ears perked high and chocolate eyes looking around the floor. At least being as quiet as it was in here, meant that he had plenty of time to think. It had been a while, and Kaneki still hadn't returned... but he surely would've known by now if something bad happened right? Whatever they were fighting would've come for them next if something bad had happened to his beau, or Shadow would've flown back and delivered the bad news.

Somehow, that thought brought forth a wave of nausea. Hide placed a paw over his muzzle for a brief second, eyes falling to the floor as he took in a deep breath to calm himself. The thought of Kaneki's body out there, bloodied, injured, maybe still desperately clinging to life as he tried to drag himself after whatever was a threat to him and Alirah-- his eyes stung and Hide quickly wiped at his face. He had to stop that, right now. Kaneki would be fine, he had to keep telling himself that. He had to be fine. He'd promised.

The sound of unfamiliar feet on the floor got the canine's attention and his ears perked up high, blinking over at the direction... and spotting their new friend that they'd been playing this whole game for to begin with. Hide grinned widely and offered a cheery wave, tail starting to slowly wag side to side. Oh, thank god. Something to distract himself from his doomthinking.

“I can play too?” Oh, bless them. They were so small, so young... they were... Exactly like Kaneki used to be. The thought struck him like a gut punch, and he paused his waving for a moment at the realization, staring at the little eevee with a slightly agape mouth. Alirah thank god, was the first to say something to the little midnight kit, allowing Hide to snap out of his deja vu induced stupor.

“U-Um! Yes! Absolutely.” His brow raised a little at how awkward Alirah sounded, quirking a grin at her. Was she not used to kids? That was a surprise, she did so well with Plant and Conan! “Do you want to hid—“
“Can I lick you?! You look like candy!”

Hide blinked, before he snorted loudly and covered his muzzle to try and block off his laughter, looking away from the umbreon and little eevee. Oh man... this one would be a handful, Hide could tell already.“I’m sorry, what?“ Alirah's absolutely flabbergasted response and her pleading look only broke the dam on Hide's control and he barked out a laugh at how pitiful the pastel umbreon looked, peering up at the Riolu for his help. He chuckled and tried in vain to stifle his laughter, still giggling softly once the little eevee's eyes locked onto his headphones.

“What is THAT?” Hide grinned, crouching down a little and opening his mouth to answer, his ear twitching as Alirah started to comment as well, “errr… hey sweetie—“ but there she went, spinning on her heel and dashing off into the dark of the factory with a funny little pose and back into the darkness. Hide snorted and looked back over at Alirah, giving her a raised brow and a grin as she started to slowly wander to where the eevee ran off to.

"With a pace like that Alirah, someone would think you've never been around kids like that before," Hide teased her, reaching to nudge her side with a toothy grin, "You aren't used to being with someone that bubbly are you? Don't worry, I am. Believe it or not, when we were still kids, Kaneki used to act just like that. So it's kind of nostalgic." He said, chuckling softly and sniffing at the air. "Alright guys! Looks like our friend is coming to join us, Ali and I will come look for you now that the games in proper full swing! Ready or not here we come!"

Humans always seemed to be able to create anything they visioned. With their fancy tools and-and lumber, the fuckin’ things probably could’ve made the actual stairway to heaven if they hadn’t had their heads up their asses until the end of the world.

So with that being said… why the FUCK would they build this place?!

Even down to the goddamn color scheme, this place just SCREAMED ‘burn me to the ground!’ Lazarus scoffed with disgust as she drifted around turns and shot through the hallways. It was nothing like her cozy little warehouse. Maybe that’s why she hated it. Maybe there was nothing actually wrong with the Factory.
But those thoughts involved diving deeper into her twisted psyche than she were ever willing to without the promise of reward or at least a swift blow to the head so she would forget unpacking years of shit.

She could practically hear the cartoon sound effect of her sudden stop before a high-set window. It wasn’t the lovely view that caught her eye, oh no.
“It’s a fuckin’ spooky boy,” she exclaimed of her fellow Spectreon. What an interesting turn of events. She phased her head through the wall up above to stare closer at the approaching form, tilting her head with cat-like curiosity at what she could only read as less than happy body language.

Lazarus ceased her time moonlighting as a mounted trophy head and rushed down the stairway she FINALLY located— she was willing to negotiate with the ghostly critter, but Artemis was about and stranger danger was a lesson she didn’t always apply tactfully.

---

Oh, how exciting! Artemis jumped from one hiding place to another, each one PERFECT until she realized that one… right there!! Was even better. By the time she settled in a spot, her short legs were shaking with anticipation and her breaths were coming out super fast. What a day to be alive!! New friends that were nice AND haven’t been scared away by Momma, that even play games?! To heck with what everyone said about the world before the epidemic, this here was peak living!

Artemis had landed in a box of white handrags which she stuck out sooooo badly against. Momma once mentioned hiding in plain sight? Was this what she meant? Or should she have made sure an airplane saw her? No, that didn’t make sense— airplanes only helped you hide outside. She nodded to herself, affirming the common sense she expertly deployed and shuffled even lower in the box, practically vibrating in excitement.

"With a pace like that Alirah, someone would think you've never been around kids like that before," Hide joked with a playful nudge of the Umbreon’s side. "You aren't used to being with someone that bubbly are you? Don't worry, I am. Believe it or not, when we were still kids, Kaneki used to act just like that. So it's kind of nostalgic."
Alirah gave a small smile to her friend, warm and intrigued at the idea of Kaneki behaving in such a way but also quizzical at how sharply contrasting their ghostly guardian behaved now. “Oh, I believe you, I just can’t picture it!” She laughed. What a sight that would’ve been.
"Alright guys! Looks like our friend is coming to join us, Ali and I will come look for you now that the games in proper full swing! Ready or not here we come!"

Alirah shot off at Hide’s go ahead with renewed spice, feeling just a bit more motivated and relaxed after having been reassured by her confidant’s words.

She began checking all the usual places she might hide in a situation like this, even some less likely spots for safety concerns or simplicity’s sake. She had long since left her childhood and was having a bit of a time finding the headspace needed to track down the little stinker—

Wait.

She really WAS losing at hide and seek with a child, wasn’t she?!
Alirah groaned at herself, internally cursing for suggesting this darn game. Yup. Never gonna live this one down.

It was almost to the point she was going to accept defeat at the child’s hands. But she would frame it to Hide and the others that she just pretended to not be able to find the kiddo. Yup. Perfect crime.
She stopped mid step, like hitting pause on a movie. Her eyes caught the subtle gleam of violet eyes staring her down, almost predatory in concentration but the two large midnight ears gave away their harmless owner’s identity. Well, that and the very obvious backdrop of white rags she lay in.

Alirah paused, feeling a chill roll down her spine at the kid’s intense stare. The pastel fox had to look away briefly to steel her nerves— it was just a kid, what would she do? Bite her? It would be fine, and on that breath she charged for the Eevee with full intent to tag her like no one had ever been tagged before.

It was all too easy to catch the tiny critter. Even Alirah that naturally sat at a low height was able to outrun her with ease and plopped her snoot into the back of the child’s head with about as much grace as a freshly born Girafarig. The Eevee toppled over from the touch and rolled to a stop, not even waiting to cease motion or assess her injuries before beginning to scream.
“Wh-what, no, shhhhh. It was an accident, I didn’t mean to— please stop.” Alirah pleaded, which somehow only made the kid wail louder. A look of undeniable horror crossed Alirah’s face and as she did with most problems out of her paws, she scanned the room for Hide— he would know what to do!

OoC)) Skip, Conan isn't doing anything this round.

It was the strangest feeling, and it caught the Snivy so off guard he nearly forgot he was playing a game. A deep yearning told him to follow her, to not let the Eevee disappear though she already had, and as he got to his feet the Snivy was stilled by Hide approaching below. He spoke with Ali so freely that again it was hard to recall they were playing a game. Could he ask them to pause, or switch his role? The excitement of being found all but been forgotten by their new player, but before he could formulate the question Alirah was off in search once again.

A small hint of disappointment deepened a frown on Plant's face. He wanted to look! Even from his vantage point it was hard to see past everything, and the small Pokemon had numerous hiding places and blind spots to shelter in. The more the minutes ticked by the less interested he was in playing at all, and eventually the Snivy started to walk forward along the raised walkway. It made some noise but he no longer cared, his ginger gaze looking for the shimmering dark dot that had greeted them for only a moment. Did she live here, he thought, was there anyone else here? Curiosity made his scales tingle, there was so much he wanted to know! but the buzz was cut by a sudden sharp scream.

His head snapped to, spotting the eeveelutions with ease though no threat was present. The Eevee wailed so loud it sent chills down his spine. What had happened?! Bolting across the grate his steps echoed in a loud beat, and when the path ended he swung of it with his vines. Even from the floor the pair showed no signs of violence, and he froze up a few yards from them. What could he do, anything, something? His mind went blank, even memories of Verglas refusing to surface as he got cautiously closer. He looked at Ali for answers but she was searching for her own, offering him nothing. Though he had not seen the short chase the Snivy was desperate to help, to do something for this Pokemon, and all he could muster was an awkward, "Found you!"

Kaneki paced up the path until he came across the factory finally, easily moving himself through the wall to get inside and looking around. He nosed and sniffed a little at the rubble and debris blocking off the entrance. He could smell Hide and the others, but there was also other scents under there as well. Who else...? These scents were fresh, they were still around here somewhere, he'd bet. Kaneki growled lowly under his breath, lifting his head to look around. His dual colored eyes scanned the horizon, then up to the buildings around them. Was this other person also a threat? He sniffed at the air again, tails flicking and twitching uneasily. He was on edge after all the shit with that marowak, and he was a hair's trigger away from once more attacking something else that threatened his group.

He bristled as a shadow flew over him, looking up to see the purple charizard land closeby to enter the factory the others were in. The huff from the charizard made Kaneki bristle and he bared his teeth with a snarl, fur spiking up nad red gaseous tails crackling like fire. "If you've got shit to say just say it, Shadow. Huffing at me is just going to fucking piss me off more." He growled at the  charizard, shoving past with a huff to enter the factory, his ears pinning back with a flick of the white gas at the horrid screech from the door. So much for stealth.

"Yeah, yeah, just announce us to everyone you dumbass. Nice going numbnuts." He growled under his breath, following the scent of their group back to the others. He could hear voices that were familiar at least, easily picking his beau's voice above them. Sucking in a short breath, he shook himself out and sped up his pace to meet up with their group faster. The sooner he got away from Shadow, the better honestly.

“Oh, I believe you, I just can’t picture it!” Kaneki slowed slightly when he heard Ali, his head cocking ever so slightly. Picture what? What were they talking about? Ears twitching as he heard Hide's reply, the spectreon paused for a moment, listening to what they were saying. Hide and seek...? Were they playing with the kids? That... checked out for Hide actually. May as well get the kids up and moving, make a game out of it. The spectreon quietly jumped up onto a pile of boxes to watch from the darkness, not wanting to interrupt their game just yet. At least watching them play was a good way to calm down.

Hide's ear twitched slightly as he heard movement, chocolate eyes scanning the dark. Briefly, he sniffed the air, relaxing when the riolu caught the scent of a familiar ghost to them. Oh thank god, he was alive. He breathed out a sigh of relief, scanning the darkness for his beau. Of course, if Kaneki didn't want to be found, Hide knew he had no hope, but he was glad that the spectreon was safe at least.

His ears twitched at the sound of paws drumming on the concrete, and his eyes snapped around to the sound, catching the tail end of Ali tagging the new eevee with a muffled gasp. Oh no, no she was going too fast--!

It was too late, Ali had tagged the little eevee and suddenly his ears were assaulted with the screams of a young kit wailing at the thought of losing. Hide hurried over quickly, his ears pinning back against the sound. Ohhh shit, that sound would attract anything dangerous here!! “Wh-what, no, shhhhh. It was an accident, I didn’t mean to— please stop.” Alirah's soft voice and pleas were quickly stammered out in an attempt to console the little kit.

He glanced up at the sound of little feet pattering over, spotting Plant as the snivy hustled out from his hiding place with an awkward but well mannered, "found you!" Hide cracked an uneasy but thankful smile at Plant, before swapping his focus back to the little kit. He crouched down and reached out to try and console them, humming out a little tune to distract them.

The crying had completely covered the noise of the approaching danger; pawsteps thundering against the ground and murderous intent heavy in the air. Hide realized it too late, his head snapping up with a sharp bark of alarm in time to watch a dark colored body collide with Alirah with a war cry. At first he thought it was Kaneki-- but a quick look at nebulous gas and wild, blue eyes confirmed that this new spectre was not his beau.

Hide scrambled to his feet, slamming his paws together to form a protective bubble around him and the kit behind him, unsure of who this attacker was-- the kit! He thought suddenly, eyes widening. Of course someone this young would have a parent nearby! And... oh fuck, they thought Alirah was attacking the little eevee.

Without a chance to try and open his mouth to explain it, a second feral snarl caught his attention, this one was far more recognizable to the riolu. He watched in horror as Kaneki came bolting out from the shadows like a man possessed, slamming himself into the other ghost to knock them free from Alirah and send them both sprawling across the hard concrete floor. "Get the fuck off her--" Kaneki's warning snarl was cut off as he collided with the other spectreon, a tangle of dark furred bodies, astral and red gas mixed with flecks of white.

Shit this would end bad if he didn't stop it! Kaneki wouldn't take anyone attacking his friends lightly, but this whole thing was born of a misunderstanding! Hide snarled and raced towards the brawling ghosts, reaching in without hesitation to grip the white gaseous scruff of his beau, yanking him back and off the other ghost with a sharp, firm yell of "THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Kaneki panted hard as he was yanked free from the other ghost, his lips pulled back in a feral, protective hiss. He placed himself between Alirah and the other ghost, his eyes wide and wild, though he didn't move as Hide placed himself between them both, slamming a large orange-tinted bubble around them, breathing heavily. "That's-- that's enough, Kaneki. She's protecting her kit," he said to the spectreon behind him, though his eyes were locked on the space ghost in front of him, keeping himself and his protect barrier firmly between the two ghosts. He raised his hands in a gesture of goodwill, his ears perked high and forward, showing he meant no harm but that he was alert.

"Just, everyone take a break, take a breath." He started slowly, slowly walking to the side so that he could flick his eyes over to where the little eevee kit was still under his other protect bubble. It was astounding he was able to get it off twice-- usually that didn't work. "Ma'am, I can explain what was going on, if you let me. We mean you and your kit no harm, we were playing a game-- hide and seek. She was tagged and started crying, I promise you we didn't hurt her."

The Spectreon’s drumming footfalls suddenly stopped, in a single second halting the one-woman stampede with a sharp gasp. Lazarus’ ears perked high as they began to recognize voices… voices and— oh shit.
The noise of her offspring wailing was a sound as familiar as her own voice, and she could hear Artemis’ cries in the distance alongside the tones foreign to Laz’s highly alert ears.

She sprung directly at the wall separating her from her child and appeared like a monster from beneath the bed, continuing to phase through all petty obstacles between her and Artemis as she raced through the abandoned factory like it was nothing. In her vision appeared the small midnight blue kit, lay on her side with screams only quieting to inhale fuel for the following shriek. Lazarus wouldn’t have been surprised if it were just a boredom tantrum but above her stood a fucking Umbreon with the brightest goddamn pink fur she’d ever seen. The little shit was tiny but they still towered over little Artemis, which brought on even more rage when Pink Fuck raised their paw and shook her child.

Lazarus, despite her shortness of breath, screamed in rage as she closed the remaining gap with a pounce. “I’ll fucking kill you!!”
Lazarus sunk her claws into the Umbreon’s terrified face and sliced ribbons under her eyes in the fraction of a second they collided before Lazarus pinned the small creature to the ground with teeth piercing into her trachea before the fucking bitch could make a sound. The tiny pink form ragdolled under the considerably bulkier Lazarus as she thrashed her head and sent cracks and squeals ripping through the previously silent factory.

The Spectreon lifted her head with a mighty heave and prepared to slam the small Eeveelution’s now limp form into the cold concrete. When Lazarus inhaled deeply, her senses were flooded with the Umbreon’s fear scent but this didn’t dissuade her from her task. Not even Artemis’ frantic screaming at the entire brutal showdown could drag Laz from her rage fueled assault.

Just as her head began to descend, her eyes snapped to another voice— not her child, not the pained cries of her victim: "Get the fuck off her--"

Any remaining wind in Lazarus’ lungs was promptly knocked out of her by an overwhelming force. All of her paws suddenly left the ground as she flew over and beyond her quarry in a flurry of claws and teeth.
As the world around her blurred and spun as they fell, she could see enough of the attacker to guess this had to be the ghost from earlier— fuck.

Her earlier advantage against the Umbreon quickly turned around on her as she found herself in the creature’s very own situation with her new opponent standing at an imposingly larger size.

Not that common sense was Lazarus’ thing, especially in the heat of anger.

She snapped and clawed at the fellow ghost in a reckless attempt at doing more harm to him than he to her. Lazarus could taste blood in her mouth but the situation moved so fast that she wasn’t sure whose blood it even was.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

The opposing Spectreon was suddenly removed from their two ghost mosh pit and while she was entirely confused, she didn’t hesitate to let out a loud yowl of frustration. Her body screamed in pain despite the adrenaline - not that she would show it, going so far as to breathe deep, slow breaths as to not show the enemy just how badly his initial tackle damaged her ribs.

The other Spectreon moved to shield the furry pink creature now lay motionless on the ground with eyes wide open in a terrified, silent scream. Then their referee placed themselves between them and she studied the character with a scowl— a Riolu. She would comment on his lovely shade of orange fur if she weren’t so goddamn angry.
The Riolu threw a protective sphere around their side. "That's-- that's enough, Kaneki. She's protecting her kit," he said, eyes forward and resting on Lazarus. His paws raised between them in what appeared to be a cease fire. How… curious.

"Just, everyone take a break, take a breath."
She stared at him as he moved and she trailed his gaze to where he’d placed a Protect around Artemis as well. Her gaze softened then, eyeing this stranger with more trust than she’d given anyone in this group thus far. While granted it wasn’t a lot of trust, protecting her child was a start. "Ma'am, I can explain what was going on, if you let me. We mean you and your kit no harm, we were playing a game-- hide and seek. She was tagged and started crying, I promise you we didn't hurt her."

She watched the Riolu silently for any indication he might be lying, lashing her tail with leftover aggravation at the previous altercations.

“It’s true, Mommy! I’m a bad hide’r’seek’r!!” Artemis cried. “Pink Lady was just better than me…”
“You’re sure?” Lazarus asked sternly.
Artemis responded with a nod so intense it knocked her balance off and she toppled over. Lazarus observed the child with tears once again forming in her eyes and sighed heavily. Yep, that checked out…

Lazarus focused on the Riolu after shooting a less than savory glare at the other Spectre. She understood the latter’s motivations but that didn’t mean she had to like him. “Please accept my apologies. Know that it was not personal— my child is all I have left of my partner. She is very dear to me.”
She then turned her attention to the stirring pink Umbreon. That was going to be an awkward conversation once she was fully awake…

Aw geez…

The kiddo only seemed to get more hysterical with each passing second and attempt from Ali to break her out of… whatever this was, tantrum or mental break, who knew. She made faces, did a small dance, told a joke… nope, nope and nope.

Alirah’s sight was blurring as tears of frustration welled in her frantic eyes. Her eyes snapped to the side as the small green form of Plant approached with a well meaning but fruitless "Found you!"
She reached her paw out to pat the child’s head gratefully but stopped as yet another shriek rung through the factory. That paw redirected to her ear in an effort to alleviate the pain, then once more to the child now lay on her side screeching louder than ever. She gently shook the small form in a half hearted but desperate attempt to silence the little booger before something worse—

“I’ll fucking kill you!!”

Even louder than the screaming child was the enraged roar of a new entity— Alirah had no time to make out details besides a general quadrupedal form and dark fur— before the aggressor was launching themselves at her with jagged claws ripping holes in her face before she even hit the ground.

The impact knocked the wind out of her in a single forceful exhale. When she began to breathe back in to restore the stolen air, sharp fangs on her throat prevented her from doing so in the most painful way she could imagine. She gasped and struggled to no avail against the larger creature, she couldn’t even scream against their restraint. Alirah’s vision was getting hazy but she could see the small smears of blood coming from her neck and paws on the dirty ground her head lay on.

The feeling of the cold floor against her frame was suddenly removed as the other Eeveelution lifted her small body and began to thrash like a vicious dog with a plush toy. Alirah forced in a breath as she felt things in her body crack and shift, sending a new wave of agony through her already damaged body. She got out a series of screams and wails, not that it made a difference in the sheer savagery displayed by her attacker.

Alirah was left thoroughly dizzied and nauseated as the thrashing finally calmed. She retched violently to empty her stomach even as they lifted her above their head for reasons she was too disoriented to piece together.

And then all of a sudden, the ground again.

She lay there wheezing as a small amount of blood puddles around her head. Her eyes were wide and unblinking, nor processing any information as she reacted to nothing near her face. The sounds of a scuffle filled her ears but her mind was so shaken up by the assault that she could not gather enough thought to care. It was just… blank.

And then darkness.

His voice was drowned out by the very sudden, very quick chaos. The blue child's wails were ear piercing, echoing about the metal hellscape and striking the cold world around them with a lively burst. Suddenly the air was alive, abuzz with her shrieks as Ali and the others frantically tried to calm the siren that was the Eevee. Oh no no no. His very skin crawled, their surroundings awakened by the alarm tones as he took panicked steps away from the pair of eeveelutions. Even if they got her to stop-- everything around them was now awake and aware. Clenching his hands together the grass Pokemon had not a single idea of what to do, of how to help, of how to be useful in this situation. It was overwhelming, and struggling to simply draw in breath, the Snivy could offer nothing as the situation instantly got worse.

“I’ll fucking kill you!!” A new voice caterwauled, raw outrage fueling the words as a vaguely familiar shape charged them. Were it not for her voice Plant may have thought it was Kaneki, but before he could even take in this new Spectreon it was attacking, striking, drawing blood beside him that splattered like a thin rain across the ground as Alirah went tumbling. Time moved all too fast and too slow, the mortified Snivy staring at this unknown ghost with terrified eyes, helpless to stop her from attacking the downed Umbreon. Another threatening snarl, this time familiar, sliced the air again as Kaneki appeared and lunged back in a bloodied squabble. Plant.. could do nothing. In stunned silence he watched, unable to pull his eyes away from the horror, unable to scream as his throat seized up and no new air entered his lungs. Unable to focus as his senses were assaulted by the smell of blood, the sound of claws and teeth, and the sight of his fiend being and ripping another apart.

The world blurred, thoughts going dark as survival instincts told him to leave, but his feet had given out. Forced to watch his brain tried its best to take him away but the child's eyes were glued to the ghostly shapes. Helpless, useless, worthless, pathetic, why couldn't he just do something, something, something--- "THAT'S ENOUGH!"
The fighting stopped, the sounds quieting, but the reek of blood still assaulted his senses as Plant stared with wide, stunned eyes. Hide talked her down, his voice clam, soothing, and preventing another fight from breaking out. Plant stuggled to pull himself out of the crushing sense of panic, of the threat looming right before them, of the blood that painted the cold ground a bright red. While the Riolu's words did their best they were barely coherent to him, just a soft tone as the child finally took in a strained, gasping breath to ground himself once again.

Words slowly started to make sense again, though the Eevee's squeaky yips were still too much. Clasping his stressed hands over his mouth Plant took in deep but fast breaths, his mind working in overdrive as he tried to... take this all in. “Please accept my apologies. Know that it was not personal— my child is all I have left of my partner. She is very dear to me.” The unknown Spectreon's words came in intelligibly, but the rattled Pokemon could not handle processing this situation. He had looked away from her, from the both Spectreon and Eevee, and found his ginger stare locked on the colors of red and pink. Alirah had been slammed to the ground, the bright red blood bold against her pastel pink fur. Somewhere inside he knew Kaneki was fine and did not need to offer that consensus thought, but everything about the Umbreon concerned with this unbridled alarm. "..Ali?" He finally manages a word, just enough to draw attention to what his mind had latched to; was his friend okay..?

OoC)) Skip, Shadow is just walking around exploring a bit. Can't really think of anything else for him currently.

While he would never hurt his beau, Kaneki's body flattened low to the ground as he glared daggers at the other ghost that Hide had put himself as the barrier from. The spectreon's lips pulled back in a feral snarl, getting up from where he was standing to pace back and forth behind the riolu who, to his credit, kept sidestepping to make sure he was always between Kaneki and the other spectreon. Considering how pissed he was at that moment, probably a good call.

Blood still coated his face and paws from his earlier brawl with the marowak, now freshened with the blood from the ghost he'd just attacked moments before. His eyes never left the other ghost, grey, black and red locked on silver and blue, even if his vision was blocked by a mostly orange furred hide for 85% of that time. His chest was heaving, fresh cuts along his side stinging in the cooler air as he moved. Just move, Hide. Let me tear her throat out, let me get back for what she did to Ali The Spectreon thought, trying to push past the orange riolu, only for him to place his paw against the ghost's nose and push him back, keeping himself firmly between them.

Chocolate eyes flicked down to him, that endlessly kind gaze of his making Kaneki hesitate a moment, breath catching. Hide shook his head no, and Kaneki growled low under his breath, retreating back a few steps so that he could check on Alirah instead. The spectreon sat down beside her, nosing at her body and assessing the damage that'd been done to the poor thing. His eyes squinted briefly, leaning down to see just how bad the damage was-- all survivable that he could tell for now... but who knows what it'd do to the poor thing once she woke up.

“It’s true, Mommy! I’m a bad hide’r’seek’r!!” Hide finally pulled his gaze from Kaneki as he heard the kit talking to her mother, letting his protects drop with a heavy sigh. Keeping them up for so long was a hard ask for the poor fighting type, and he shook his head to try and stave off the headache that was building. The screaming certainly hadn't helped that either. “Pink Lady was just better than me…” Bless the child for being able to talk down her mother; Hide wasn't sure if he could do it all himself and stop Kaneki from trying to attempt murder on behalf of Alirah.

He was partially listening to the mother and daughter duo, his attention still half on Kaneki to make sure the spectreon wasn't going to escalate things further. The ghost never took anyone hurting people he was close to lightly, especially if they were people he'd attached to. And as far as Hide could see, Kaneki had attached himself tight to this group here. The last time he'd clung so tight to a group was when they were both younger and on opposing sides of a turf war. Kaneki had almost gotten himself killed back then, too, just trying to keep him safe.

That wasn't even mentioning the time he did get himself killed because he would rather be hurt, then have someone he cared about hurt. It used to be he would rather be hurt over hurting someone else... but time had quickly warped that away from the poor guy. It turned instead into a feral need to protect what he saw as his, and that protective nature expanded now to not just include Hide, but Plant, Conan, and Alirah as well. He sighed softly, glancing back over at the eevee and spectreon in time to see the space-themed ghost turning to look at them - him, specifically. Good, he had her attention, that was a bonus to Hide at least. If she was focused on him, then maybe there wouldn't be a need for another brawl.

“Please accept my apologies. Know that it was not personal— my child is all I have left of my partner. She is very dear to me.” The riolu heard Kaneki's scrape of claws on the concrete before he saw it, turning quickly to block the spectreon from outright pouncing on the other ghost again. He growled trying to duck around Hide again, only to be blocked by him turning to face him outright.

Annoyed, Kaneki growled and gripped at the concrete, his voice raising in anger. "Apologies? Horseshit! There was no way that was anything but personal, you tried to take her fucking eyes first." He snarled out, trying to duck around Hide again, his fur bristling and gaseous tails crackling like a wildfire. Hide tried to block him again, but gasped as his hands phased through the ghost's body. Shit.

Kaneki went to lunge at the other ghost again with a yowling snarl, claws scraping across the concrete with a harsh noise. The spectreon's lunge was stopped midair by an orange furred body tackling him, gripping him hard around the chest and neck to keep the larger spectreon in a headlock, tipping his head back. The size difference between them was almost comical-- Kaneki would've easily been able to overpower Hide and stand back up, but the firm glare he fixed the ghost with had him pausing, though he swallowed hard and growled out his vehement dislike of being restrained, claws gripping hard to the ground.

"Let go, Hide! Let go of me." He hissed, fighting to tip his head down to glare at the other ghost, tails whipping back and forth angrily as he back feet scrabbled on the concrete to get under him, though with Hide's bodyweight against him, it was harder than anticipated. Spitting out a mouthful of saliva and blood, Kaneki growled and struggled against Hide briefly, though he stopped with a harsh sound as the riolu's grip tightened and he hissed out a curse as it briefly cut off his airway.

Hide sighed heavily, looking at his feral beau and then back at the other ghost, flashing her a winning smile, despite holding down the equivalent of a pissed attack dog so she didn't get mauled. "Sorry about him! I promise he's usually not this aggressive, you just caught him at a bad time." He said cheerily, though the disapproving snort and growl from the ghost he was holding in his grip said otherwise. "We're all just a bit riled up still, okay? Just give it time and things will settle, this jackass included."

Lazarus opted to stare at the unconscious pink floof for the time being. She was out like a light, face still twisted and eyes wide open. And yet SOMEHOW that managed to freak her out LESS than the fucking Spectreon she had just brawled with.

She watched him closely out of her periphery as the damn thing paced and stalked like a fucking mad dog gone cage crazy. Which was insidiously alarming enough on its own but now that they weren’t in the middle of having the ghost equivalent of a bar fight gone wrong, she Laz could really see the madness and fury on that guy’s face— oh, and the blood. Which made the Spectreon’s twisted glare ever more maniacal and intimidating; the nerve she had to fiercely battle this guy was before she got a good look at him. Now?

Given a choice, she would probably choose to shart, vomit AND piss herself in front of Arceus himself before being wheeled off to Hell instead of fight that fucker again. So she was pretty grateful for the Riolu that persisted with remaining between them as a barrier each time the ghost stalked this way or that way to come at her again.

"Apologies? Horseshit! There was no way that was anything but personal, you tried to take her fucking eyes first." The Ghost-type roared.
Lazarus visibly flinched at the volume of his voice and quickly played it off with a sigh and a quick lick to smooth out some of her fur.

In the moment she was looking down at her chest, something had gone awry with the feral spook and his companion, evident by the sharp gasp by the latter.
By the time Lazarus looked up, that crazy fucker was lunging at her once again and she already knew she wasn’t going to fare so well this time. Shit. “Artemis!” She screeched, hoping her admittedly ditzy offspring would take the chance to flee instead of hang around or gods forbid try to intervene.
It felt like the second her breath left her lips, she saw the speedy orange form of what she recognized as the ghost’s partner absolutely bodying him and restraining him from assaulting her again.
"Let go, Hide! Let go of me."

She glared with her back arched, a thick row of hackles raised in alarm. They squirmed and struggled against each other, during which she noticed how unwilling the otherwise crazed creature was to bring any harm to his companion. That was telling of his nature, which she guessed was a point in his favor. Now if only he weren’t trying to literally murder her…

"Sorry about him! I promise he's usually not this aggressive, you just caught him at a bad time." The Riolu - Hide - assured with a smile. She was taken aback by the creature’s cheery attitude despite the thrashing and enraged creature he was literally preventing from committing murder. The infamous smartass Laz, always with shit to say, was speechless. It would’ve been a horseman of the apocalypse if the world hadn’t ended already. Hide continued, "We're all just a bit riled up still, okay? Just give it time and things will settle, this jackass included."

She stared at the duo quizzically, offering up little in terms of a response— typical Laz. Diplomacy was not her strong suit, and she would’ve definitely fucked around and found out more in her lifetime if not for Kato’s cool temper and situation handling.

Instead, tiny Artemis approached the enraged ghost and his companion fearlessly. She stopped just a few feet ahead of them and stared up with eyes on the Spectreon specifically— “I’m sorry my mommy can be so mean sometimes, mister. She won’t say it, but I know she’s real sorry too. Please forgive her.” She bowed her head apologetically to them and then trailed back to her mother’s side before Lazarus could have a literal heart attack. Her mouth hung open in serious shock and then she sighed heavily, nuzzling her child. Just like your goddamn dad…

((Skip Ali! I’ve been playing with the idea of going ahead and waking her up but she’s been unconscious for like two minutes lol. Will probably wake her next round, she’s stirring slightly and groaning but not fully coherent.))