||Good Morning

[Kell]

The morning was cold and bright as a crisp November day. She blinked several times in the light, and looked out the window. Despite the fact that sunshine and warm fronts were bearing down from outside, it was always winter in the North wing.

As Fawn slipped out of bed, she looked to her sleeping roommate and got a sense of de ja vu. Already she could see that today would be the same as it was the past several days, so familiar that her motions could be mechanical and automatic. She expected that she’d fall into this routine: she would take a shower and use up as much hot water as she wanted, head down to the cafeteria, grab something to eat, and bide some time at the Center until she was needed; all before most of her slacker floor mates had even woken up.

There was a small possibility that she would be called for a mission, but if the drought they'd had for the past few days were any indication, it wouldn’t happen. The Leader seemed to be occupied with other things at the moment. Most notably, his sudden disappearance, she thought, narrowing her eyes. He was last seen fleeing the Base’s rubble, and there were rumors that he was leading remotely through the Commanders under him, or was never coming back. She didn’t believe the hype. Daisu Hill didn't seem the type of man to relinquish power so easily.

As expected, she soon enough found herself walking towards the Center, washed and dressed in a blouse and dark jeans, and with a bagel in one hand. The only difference today was that it was a poppyseed bagel instead of cinnamon. Her still-damp hair looked like shit, but that was part of the routine; nobody else was ever awake, and at this point, nobody cared if she looked sloppier than usual. There was the hallway to the sleeping quarters, there was the tunnel that led to the science labs, and there was the Leader’s Chambers…

She could spit out her coffee every time she passed by that hallway, as seeing the full extent of the damage again did not detract from its immensity. While conditions were significantly better than they were a few weeks ago, what with all the reconstruction they had been undergoing, the damage was worst in this area. A gaping maw existed where his office used to be…And she suspected that it was only a minor taste of the capabilities of the Alvahs they were working on. Someone in the Darkness labs either deserved a huge pay raise or a huge demotion for that.

Nobody had witnessed the fight that had caused such destruction, except for those who were in it…but clearly everybody knew about it, as they could certainly feel the battle raging at the time. She herself believed that it was the end of Team Darkness’s headquarters, but they had all endured.

The damage had rendered the surrounding area to be structurally unstable; and because of that, all of the people who were bunked in that area temporarily had to cram into the other wings…specifically hers. She scowled. Commander Hill could be unbelievably reckless.

She walked through archway into the Center, a multi-functional place that looked a bit like a lobby crossed with a computer lab. Not surprisingly, it was empty and quiet as she liked, except for a tv mounted on one of the walls that was never turned off. She sat at one of the PC’s and pulled up classified maps of Kyoto’s cities and infrastructure made available to all members by the Team’s hackers. Absentmindedly chewing her bagel, she studied the images while listening to the news on the television. /fanfiction.

[Naze]

OoC ;;

May I join?

[Kell]

OOC// Yay! If you're still up for it....almost a week later...then sure. ^^

[Naze]

There were all forms of mannerisms that could work off stress. Some humans liked to mindlessly sit around gazing into the screen of a television or a computer, other's preferred their little exercise programs, while others hunted. However, all possible ways of working off the stress one man felt were completely in vain. With Team Darkness's leader, Daisu Hill, missing after the action that went down at the base a few days ago, the second General of Team Darkness should have been utterly relieved beyond belief since it certainly wasn't his will that brought himself into Team Darkness. Daisu had forced him quite harshly into this new business and Razz hadn't taken too kindly to this new lifestyle at all. But, Daisu's sudden disappearance after the wretched battle that almost brought the base to rubble, allowed Razz no possible way to keep track of the devilish man. A true devil..

At least when Daisu had to shorten his leash every two seconds Razz had no confusion of the bastard's actions. Now.. Now he poofed, and with a dear legendary friend that was deeply related to Mewtwo out there, Razz had many things to worry about. If Daisu would discover Mew, what he was planning in hiding.. He certainly hadn't given up, that much the general knew from simply observing the man's personality. Daisu Hill was a man who would probably murder his own family for a quick dose of power. "If only that kind of power could be given in a shot to the vain as easily as any drug," Razz muttered under his breath darkly, frowning as the red-haired member sluggishly strolled down the hallways of the base. And if only they could overdose as easily.. Razz thought, passing the chambers that once housed their leader without a single glance. Gazing in, inspecting everything.. It would bring much too many nightmares into his imaginative mind with stress at full tilt. Razz had been tossing out jobs to members left and right ; each having no meaning whatsoever, just something to keep them all busy for the mean time.

It certainly wasn't the easiest of dealings, especially as sleep-deprived as he was. It seemed as if even his skin had become paler, with the rare sleep he got haunted by nightmares that jolted him into consciousness with too much fear grasping his mentality to possibly even consider a quick snooze. With an adjustment of his red, stylish glasses Razz forced himself into a straighter posture then before that was still miles away from relatively perfect but with an appearance to keep up, something was ultimately better then nothing. At least no one's up at this hour.. Razz thought, the single comfort that had reached his mind in quite awhile as the peaceful sound of silence usually irritating to the general's ears was the thing Razz was grateful for most at the morning. He now knew he had more then enough time with dawn peering through the small amount of windows the base had to maybe force himself into stomaching one of the cafeteria's wretched meals into his overly picky gullet, fix himself into a decent looking appearance, and maybe.. Just maybe catch a quick snooze with the help of a sleeping pill he had recently received from a local drug store. Nothing over the counter, just some pain killers meant to help the takers' sleep as well. Though Razz's dear Mew was currently missing, her wish to escape the grip of a Pokeball for awhile as well as those begging blue eyes captivating Razz, the man was quite sure that she could evade capture long enough for Razz to arrive by his Pokemon's side. That was on his to-do list today..

Nearly lost within his own thoughts, Razz continued on until he made a turn into the Center as if on auto-pilot, his eyes glazed as if he was already asleep but the general was snapped back into full consciousness as the meeting of another Team Darkness members. God dammit.. Razz couldn't help but curse mentally. Looking like shit run over and dreadfully tired at that, Razz gave an inner sigh ; the last thing he needed now was interaction with another coherent being. "Uh.. G-good morning... If I could be sleeping right now the last thing I'd do is be fully awake.." Razz said with a slight laugh and a shakey, exhausted voice. "Wanna trade jobs?" the second general joked with a hint of misery within his voice as if it were cruel that he couldn't just hand his duties just like that over to a more responsible member. Granted he didn't know her name or that any of their members even got up relatively around this time, she seemed responsible enough with work on the computer main frame and mindless morning news blaring upon the plasma television positioned upon the front wall for all to see. Maybe he'd send her on a mission like some other members, just to get her out of the base while he took time to gather his composure as much as he could in this ruffian state.

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[Kell]

Her fingers skimmed over the keyboard, typing in words without thought as her now-awake mind focused on the news. The result when she looked back at the computer screen was the TD database, which she checked daily, even though updates were less frequent now. The point was to scope recent mission reports to see if her teammates were doing anything significant.

Nothing news-worthy apparently, though it could also mean that their members were exquisitely stealthy. She decided on the latter.

There were a few stings, minor thefts of Pokemon…all successful. Most of their current activity showed up on her screen as CLASSIFIED, which likely represented experiments in their underground labs. She pulled up figures from the last few weeks, eyes darting across the pages shortly...A disappointing downslope in productivity since the incident.

The good news in all this was that they were still functioning, especially in the scientific field. The bad news was that they didn't seem to be bringing in enough Pokemon or assets to turn a profit. Though they were certainly not poor, that could only be a matter of time as cloning and experimenting was a very costly process. She closed her eyes, contemplating the situation. At her old job, they never had to worry about monetary issues…the Team had owned a very lucrative casino business that almost single-handedly supported their operations. Apparently, her home region was abound with gambling and sin even among "upstanding citizens." She wasn't sure that a similar establishment in Kyoto would be reasonable, but there must be some other way to boost their income. Though it wasn't specifically her responsibility to dwell on these things, that never stopped her from doing so.

Fawn bristled at the faint sound of footsteps behind her. She turned in her chair, honestly surprised that someone else had chosen to come here at this time of day.

Her heart sank when she realized who it was. Though he had never addressed her solely before, she knew who it was from his distinctive voice. Of all people, she thought, narrowing her eyes briefly.

She stood slowly to face the now second-in-command Team Darkness member, straightening her posture. "Good morning, General," she said, nodding.

Her face was set in a calm disposition, though on the inside, she was anything but. She had secretly hoped that the first time she actually came face to face with any leader (but particularly this one) would be when she was on her way up the rankings; maybe as she took his spot ("Ex-General Razz, meet your replacement, Fawn,"). Or maybe after a particularly impressive heist, as Commander Hill commended her personally, and everyone took note of what a real "Mission Accomplished" looked like.

Instead, it was here, now, in her grunt-ish glory days at 7 am. At least there was no one around to witness the occasion.

Casually sweeping her pale hair behind her, she vowed never to leave her room again without taking the time to blow-dry. "I'm Fawn Stanton, though I'm sure it gets tiring trying to remember us all," she said, mustering a sympathetic tone.

She raised her eyebrows, and a small smile graced her expression, as well as a short laugh. "Nonsense sir! Otherwise the 'unnatural human superpowers' quota for our leaders would go unfulfilled."

Really? Just tell me where to sign, she thought.

[Naze]

On average it wouldn't of accounted for anything out of the ordinary that if the second General were around any true Team Darkness member that he would've felt as if he were a fattened pigeon in a room full of alley cats but with fatigue acting as his plague and temporary sedater, it didn't even enter his mind in the wee hours of the morning. Especially with this minor grunt looking just a lick less glorious then himself with the obvious expectancy that simply showed in her appearance that both General and Grunt had taken it upon themselves to expect nor other member to be even close to stirring yet. Even so there was a large, gaping rift between the two ; this Fawn seemed to be wide awake while Razz could barely muster up the strength to make a semi-coherent statement, if any. There was a form of tension in the air and Razz could fully sense her general objection towards him however, the General decided to simply find his own objection to her's, nearly stumbling over to the fairly large couch within the lobby room and collapsing upon his back without a damn for whatever the woman felt.

So there he lay, in a ragged heap on the couch with thoughts shooting through his head like a wave of silver bullets, taking in Fawn's words subconsciously however from the blank look upon his face worthy of a true, respectable general on his face one could've easily thought otherwise. However, after the female had finished her verbal sentences, Razz glanced at her with his abnormally dull golden optics. "I don't bother to memorize your names anymore. And no one corrects it so I guess people don't mind being addressed by the wrong name," he stated flatly but truly, knowing full well that by tomorrow he would notice another woman and call her 'Fawn' when her real name was 'Sabrina', and vice versa. With some effort, the fatigued man sat up with a grunt and a curse from under his breath, lowering himself still to the point where his back was comfortably rested upon the back of the expensive leather sofa that Razz could've cared less on how it was paid for with his elbows resting upon his thighs and in turn the General's chin rested upon his upturned palms. Pupils fairly focused upon Fawn as if scanning her for any possible flaw, Razz opened his mouth for a deep inhale of oxygen before exhaling in a long sigh. "Waking up this early from free will, I call that inhuman. And if arrogance is a disease, not an some super-ability, unfortunately for Daisu.." Razz said with a slight hiss in his voice that flashed his fanged teeth for a moment as well as a sharp glare that brought his expression back to life, the gaze no longer directed at Fawn but at the left wall with the imagination of the enemy that was unfortunately no longer within his watchful sights.

But he could no longer worry about something that was not about to change no matter what he did about it. So now the matter was to focus upon what kind of job to give this grunt.. Looked physically fit enough to endure quite a bit and seemed level headed enough to be good in a battle but did they truly have many mission right now..? Razz knew that recently they had attempted to collect a few legendaries ; they had successfully captured Mewtwo much to his disgust but two other legendaries they had attempted to capture had turned up in hideous failures that the General could only laugh at. Both a young Shiny Suicune and the original Suicune had both resulted in despair for most of the base though everyone agreed that Shiny Suicune's capture was much less a lose for the base then the original. The Shiny Suicune had been taken away by a Pokemorph child and her Pokemon and in return the grunts had gotten quite the earful but atleast they weren't dead. The original Suicune was stolen as well but the Pokemon's savior had faced a much larger number that were now all beneath the ground to rest eternally beneath a cold tombstone. Some perished upon the battlefield while others met their end on a table within their medical center. Though they had yet to attempt retrieving the Shiny Suicune, the original's new master had thwarted each of their attempts to snatch their catch back with either a cunning strategy or in later attempts they had another decrease in members as each had to be struck from the rosters in their early deaths. There hadn't been any more tries since the fifth murder.

Gruesome but did that mean all hope was lost? Yes, yes it did. Did it mean that he couldn't lead them both into an idiot's ideal death trap? No, no it did not. Maybe, just maybe, if he could retrieve both legendary beasts it would lure Daisu back. And then in the event of a little... incident.. both Pokemon would be free once more before the scientists could even jab them with a single needle. Ingenious? Hardly, but so suicidal and dangerous it was just worth a try or two. "Hey.. uh, Fawn was it? Would you like to go on a mission with me? If you can recall correctly, we attempted to capture a Shiny Suicune and the original Suicune, both tries failed. I say we try to retrieve them together, we'd make quite a team don't ya think?!" Razz spoke, the bounce back in his voice and with this new idea, all previous fatigue was washed from him as the General swiftly hopped to his feet and put a hand to his chest with a puppy-dog look in his currently dazzling golden hues.

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[Kell]

Something that had bothered her for a while was this: Why was he still there? He no longer had to put up with the stresses of leadership, and there was nothing stopping him from leaving now. Perhaps he had grown attached to Team Darkness? She didn't think it likely. She herself stayed for the love of the system, the love of the machine that was Team Darkness, and it had always been so rewarding to her.

Fawn couldn't see what this Razz’s benefits were, since he usually seemed to hate his power as much as she hated the outsider being put in so high a position. As if anyone not from Team Darkness had the capacity to run the organization!

Despite this, she could clearly see that Hill's disappearance was taking its toll on everyone. Because of the big difference in their ranking, she rarely saw this man so close; and she had not noticed until now the signs of his unfamiliar but understandable wear.

General Razz's once abrasive flamboyance seemed to be toned down. Or worn down.

Or, it could just be that he isn't a morning person, she thought, as he proceeded to sprawl on a couch with so much haste. Fine. She allowed herself to take a casual stance herself, crossing her arms and leaning on one leg. At this point, she intended to just let him talk, and respond affirmatively to everything so that she could go put notes on her maps, and he could do…whatever it was that he did. But his next statement caught her attention.

“I can’t speak for the standards of others,” she put in, “but I fully expect to be called by my name while I am here. Sir,” she added, looking at him pointedly. She had learned a few things from her stay at Team Rocket, and even though she was back at the bottom-most rank, she would demand every shred of dignity due her.

When the General turned his gaze back to her, head in his hands in the most carefree of ways, she felt like she was being appraised. She kept her gaze even, matte grey eyes trained upon his bright eyes flitting about. She understood that this was routine, as she did that so many times to her fellow members. And though she barely dared to hope, this ritual usually ended in the assignment of a job—Something she wanted more than she cared to reveal.

"Waking up this early from free will, I call that inhuman. And if arrogance is a disease, not an some super-ability, unfortunately for Daisu.."

Her eyebrows knitted slightly. Small talk…it was something she considered herself competent at, but that did not make her enjoy it any more. She shrugged it off. Anything to break the monotony was welcome, and she'd be setting off on her own soon enough. There'd be plenty of time for comfortable solitude later.

Or not. She was floored. His request came seemingly out of nowhere!

Her first instinct was to insist that she was too inexperienced to go on this mission with him, but that would’ve been a lie. “Yes, yes of course I remember those attempts,” she said, in a deeper, contemplative voice. Millions of things occurred to her, as she kept her outward composure while trying to decipher the ludicrous things that must be going through Razz’s mind.

The casualties were record-high, and the utter failure was understandably devastating to the morale of the Team, especially in this critical time of relative newness. One didn’t forget things like that. They were still feeling the effects of the last big disaster, and now, without their leader, was when he wanted to go for their next try at one of their biggest fiascos to date?

There was that to consider. Of course, in the time Fawn was there, she never believed they had sent fully prepared teams on the Suicune missions. If she was given the time to organize, she could assemble the necessary tools, perhaps enlisting the help of some of their scientists for those; formulate a functioning strategy, preferably one that was both quick and quiet; then there was the matter of which team members would be joining, but she doubted anyone would want to come, given their track record on this particular front…

If Razz wasn’t going on this mission as well, Fawn would be convinced that it was a homicide attempt on his part. The fact that she had done nothing to warrant her assassination was beside the point. One had to be paranoid about things like that, especially with outsiders, whose agendas you could never be sure of. The risks were extremely high, but on top of the cold settling in her stomach, there was a rush spreading throughout her body.

She thought about what he said. “That we would, sir,” she acquiesced, raising her eyebrows.

General Razz regained some of the erratic attitude she came to expect; and while it grated on her a bit, she allowed herself to smile. She had gone so long without a major assignment, and to go from nothing to this…If she succeeded where no one else had, she could only see good things for her career.

Fawn could never be sure of what his true objective was with this endeavor unless he happened to tell her, but at least if any treachery was in play, she would be able to take care of herself.

She made her decision to go along with this. “As foolish as it would be to take this mission, it would be more so if I didn’t. I'll happily go,” she said with a small smile.

[Naze]

Though Razz was typically the first person to poach a string of badinage to anyone present, the current topic nearly had him bursting with such contemplative ideas that his mind found no time to conjure any form of his previous incoherent or idle speech. It was only until he took note of Fawn's slight hesitation to comply with his offer, hellish and suicidal as it was, that the assumption of Fawn's refusal even entered his erratically berserk mind. Did he rely upon the ambitious nature that he sometimes saw in this woman a bit too much, enough so that he had almost guaranteed himself a positive reaction from her? No..No if you were normal then you'd picture what happened to everyone else who dared to try out this mission.. Razz pondered to himself, forcing the images that were beginning to reform within his mind of the documentation photos and reports made upon the murders that befell many of their members, creating the crater within them that Daisu only helped enlarge. Though they all disgusted Razz and made him feel sympathy for the souls that had been put through such a heinous reaction by a human being, it startled the General to know that they had become less and less disturbing within his mind after the many times that the memory reoccurred. So why, why in all hell would this woman ever accept such a positively absurd offer? From the files that the General was forced into reviewing and from what he saw with his own two surprisingly observant eyes this girl had done little to earn herself the situation of placing her signature upon a death warrant. Fawn may of been ambitious but, as dull as Razz was in the wee morning hours even he could see that she was no fool even in the least.

However all former pessimistic views upon this subject were swiftly morphed into ones of wanderlust as Fawn delivered upon him the direct answer that he had doubted only moments ago. Paying little to no mind to the fact that she mimicked his thoughts in also noting that this idea was incredibly foolish upon his behalf, Razz held his focus more upon the fact that she both agreed and added that she would happily accompany him. Though Razz, like any other, obscured his secret, it arose once more into visibility as Razz took unconscious notice of how delighted he was to actually travel on a mission with another ; Fawn Stanton or not. It was the harsh reality of the fact that due to his flamboyant and zealous nature most people he met held a form of dislike towards his personality which daunted upon the man slightly from time to time. So now it brought him the utmost delight to have someone accompanying him after so many ages of lone travel and now the torture of Team Darkness ; finally just a single human being to keep him even the lightest of company. And for that moment of his happiness induced by loneliness, Razz allowed himself to abandon the former, if not even obvious, rancor he held for Daisu Hill to focus upon much brighter forms of indulgence.

"Perfect!" the General finally barked loudly in his perfectly restored cheery voice. "Then let's go to the lab and get some supplies. I, uh, trust you know more about it then me," Razz commented, remembering his own lack of knowledge in the scientific department with a good natured laugh that sounded slightly sheepish due to his self induced embarrassment. Though it was something that he quickly forsake as his pale skinned hand gripped onto Fawn's hand before walking at a quick, nearly running pace out of the lobby with raw energy bursting through every pore. Forcfully but not harshly dragging Fawn to the door way the energetic male paused to turn around and with his free hand extended his index finger, directing it towards himself. "And calling me 'Sir' makes it awkward, right? I mean, we're equals pretty much. So just Razz, 'kay?" he stated, before sharply turning upon his heel once more to direct himself [and Fawn whom he still clung to] completely out of the room.

Though luck was not very plentiful in the lives of most, maybe this Suicune mission would span longer then presumed with Razz now finding himself fortunate to have an actual partner to work with despite their polar opposite personalities and what an eclectic pair they made.

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