;; || :: __ KNOW YOUR ENEMY

[Naze]

Though Razz was still highly fervid about making a true friend out of Fawn, he felt little guilt when he withdrew his Ditto from the PC back in Otaro City. Why should he of? He wanted to take it from the safety of the computer anyway, it was just sooner then he had so desperately hoped he needed to withdraw the pink blob. He'd need that signature weapon as a large precaution when they faced the 'Reaper' of the two Suicune owners anyway, for he'd be damned if he allowed himself or Fawn to lose their lives to a mission. Though Razz would certainly prefer a path with little to no bloodshed, the reports proved that this feat would be nearly impossible. But they would cross that bridge when they reached it and they would make it across it's unforgiving pavement or plunge into the cold black waters of death ; neither of which was a choice that they could play a large part in, at least in the long run of it all.

So far now it was time to focus on all of the real time things occurring and as their trip progressed, he was making a list of what Fawn disliked, some of the top included : Physical contact that would he refused to stop and when he took her from towers several stories off the ground and jumped from rooftop to rooftop. What? She hadn't fallen, he didn't why she was so irritated but remembered barely stifling a laugh loud enough to wake all of Oleander Town [though a few minor laughs and chuckles escaped throughout that period of dawn] and giving a comment about Fawn "needing more red to get in his pants". Razz firmly believed that if he truly, truly pissed her off enough that Fawn could surely kick him into the dirt.. He'd have to try out that little 'flying' experiment again when they reached Arkon and somehow keep his reproductive organs.

It gave him the occasional snicker as they walked that he did not explain to his dear companion that he wished for true friendship with. Enough so that he even intended to make a good impression upon her by allowing his female counterpart and polar opposite to request the few rests they had, though he was hardly above being the first collapse when the words were uttered from her mouth. What am I to become without beauty rest..? he could recall thinking plenty of times but recently, his lively attitude was what fueled him as if he was shooting pure caffeine into his veins judging by how his erratic personality brimming with all forms of vagary had no change in the least.

But this was the first time it altered, as the question was shot at him with Fawn's mocking smile that caused a frown to appear upon his lips and a slight widening of his eyes that held a sense of mild distress. Alright, so this was a lot of karma from their trip taking it's turn on him. Nothing got to his innermost self more then these kinds of decisions pushed upon him when company was amongst his person and that stupid little smile she kept upon her lips that seemed to know that damn well he would have a difficult time with this. "Umm.. Well.." Razz absurdly began. They needed to keep moving, that much he knew. Yet he also didn't want the guilt of any injuries they could both sustain looming over his already heavy shoulders. Especially with their recent penury of rest. A silent moment passed where Razz averted his golden gaze upwards in thought and with little will to allow Fawn to see all of the indecision going on within him. If you can hold your own, Fawny he entertained saying to her but had a bitter sense that told him that this course of action was not to be spoken nor thought about. Ever. He had no wish to insult Fawn when she didn't deserve it.

Navigating into an Onix lair or a portal to Hell.. Not very desirable. Making time, or safety. Razz was hardly a doughty person when the time did not desperately urge for it, but.. How much would it prove to her that he could keep up with this? But how much are you willing to risk just for her thoughts that contradict you no matter what.. The Team Darkness General thought but it did not take long for his answer to reach a definite conclusion ; A lot. And right now, everything. The obscene fervid emotions he held towards a seemingly impossible alliance reached an apogee as he contemplated his answer.

"Well.. Err.." he began, closing his eyes tightly with a grimace, his face showing equal if not more distress then his eyes cared to reveal, even lifting his arm and putting one of his black-gloved hands behind his head in body language speaking obvious nervousness. No.. No this wasn't the way to do it. Change it Razz mentally ordered himself sternly and after another moment tensely passed with his emotions severely dampening the atmosphere.

Finally straightening his form and opening his eyes that now met Fawn's, the general continued in a manner that demanded respect. "We're going through it. We shouldn't waste any time if we really want to accomplish this mission," the red-headed male finished quite seriously, a certain passion burning brightly within his gold optics that reduced his thoughts of Fawn's doubts linked to him to mere cinders. "And you're right, a lot of Pokemon will be waking up right about now.." pausing only for a second to glance up towards the sky darkening the land with the last few minutes of twilight, "..but they're not much we can't handle. Okay?" Razz stated, something he knew would prove true if they could trust each others' unconditional cooperation on this. Though the general tossed in his fair amount of trust towards his companion, he could only hope she did the same.

"In fact.. If you need a security blanket other then the Alvah," Razz said with a reach towards one of his pokeballs ; the one he had recently withdrew from his PC. With no hesitation, he clicked the center button upon the red and white sphere to release his weapon that was certainly a contract of safety to him. His especially experimented ditto did not even relatively appear in it's original form anymore, so Razz was quite prepared to grab the fair sized chainsaw by it's red handle when he released the Pokemon from it's confines. "We've always got this. Bet none of the members had this baby on them when they failed," Razz said with a choice word of 'failed' rather then 'died', his sentence coupled with a friendly, even warm smile that revealed some of his fangs. "So what do you say?" he concluded, anxiously awaiting her reply with the futile want to ignore the fear of a negative response.

[Kell]

As he spoke, she tilted her head, as if she were seeing him in a different way. Granted, she had prompted him to see how he would respond; and sometimes, like now, he would give her glimpses of a lesser-known, more authoritative side. Fawn preferred that side of him by far.

She smiled vaguely, though this time genuine. “I agree with you.” Glancing into the cave, she took a deep breath, the prospect of continuing on sweeping over her previous tiredness. Looking back at Razz, she almost did a double-take at the weapon in his hands. What is that? She didn’t say. Bizarre, yet Fawn found herself accepting these weird things the more time she spent with him. That chainsaw just came out of a pokeball? Nothing wrong with that. Where unusual things normally pissed her off, she now found herself developing a Fuck it, just let it be mentality. Razz seemed comfortable with the chainsaw slash Pokemon in his grasp; crude, but nonetheless effective, and that was enough for her.

“Right. Well, as reassured as I am that you have that,” she glanced at her Dratini, as it stared at something she could not see, “I don’t know how much I can trust this one yet. Let’s just get through as fast as possible.” She was starting to wonder why she thought it would be tough to go through in the first place. This little connector cave was probably a straight shot to get out of. And he was right. No wild Pokemon were going to be an issue for either of them. Who knows? Maybe they could blow through before any Pokemon even knew they were there. The prospect of a fog to wake her up was sounding more and more promising. Fawn hadn’t been running in a while, and among other things, was something she missed a lot. Pulling flashlights out of her bag, she tossed one to Razz and tied her hair up. “We’re gonna run it, ok?” she requested, tightening her backpack to her frame. She wasn’t worried about Razz; for judging by previous actions, she felt there was physically more to him than he’d let on yet. Though she was a fair runner, it amused her to think that in some race for their lives, she’d most likely have to be the one to keep up with him.

Pulling a head start, she whistled once sharply for her Dratini. The Pokemon slithered forward promptly to follow her, but she still had a lot more training to go before Fawn would ever use her in a real situation. Blasting through the cave would be a good test to start with.

Fawn jogged into the cave, dark cavernous ceiling getting higher the further she went in, before settling into her stride. She trained her flashlight on the ground ahead of her, eyes slightly adjusting to the dark. Her soles hit the earthy floor with minimal noise, as her Dratini weaved swiftly alongside her. The blood now rushed steadily through her veins, euphoric; and she laughed sharply, not caring then about her presence being known there.

Stagnant as the air rushing past might be, and wearing clothes not quite appropriate for speed, she still felt as free as she’d ever felt; chasing only a thin beam of light, and with nothing stopping her, either from falling into a chasm to certain doom, or from escaping this life.

No rest for the wicked, though, she thought, grinning ironically. She was on the way up. Many times she thought how people could consider her a victim of the family trade, her just following in the footsteps of her parents in joining what was often considered an evil business. Had it actually been that way, she would’ve quit of her own accord a long time ago. She considered herself one of the lucky ones. Damn good at her job, and actually enjoying the assignments thrown her way? How many people could say that? Her whole life had been primed for this. As much as she enjoyed entertaining thoughts of leaving the system, and all of its built in condescension, she knew she never would. She needed the structure...thrived on it; and as long as it treated her fine, her loyalty would not shatter.

A swarm of Zubat rushed over their heads. Too close for comfort. And he has the Repels, Fawn thought mildly. “Dragon Pulse.” She commanded. Instantly a dark beam was released upward, and the way was clear. A sound like footfalls behind her; was it Razz, already catching up to her, or the sound of Zubat bodies dropping from the air? She didn’t know, and raced on.

[Naze]

Maybe it was rather fool to become so easily roused even giddy about Fawn's lovely, genuine smile due to the fact that a man such as himself could not keep a professional, authoritative figure unless called upon as Fawn might of learned but it still made a deeper smile then Razz cared to share appear within his heart. Through out their time together, the general had gathered that Fawn was an incredibly fastidious individual but he had dealt with that since joining Team Darkness, though being skilled in a division did not increase his liking of it in the least.

With a candor so commonly obscured such as his female companion's, why shouldn't he feel a shudder of delight run through him upon the rare sight of that faint little smile? The only thing that was beginning to disturb the general was that her approval and what she considered to be antiquate was becoming much harder to prove feckless against him. But these were matters Razz didn't dare to dwell on at the moment as he caught the flashlight with his free hand, delivering the female a sure nod. Run it? Any previous feeling of fatigue to limit his body's overall physical performance was forsaken with a large rush of adrenaline to add to the man's already euphorically high happiness.

With an almost cocky, sly smirk Razz watched Fawn dash off into the cave with a mental note to allow her a moment or two to get ahead of himself. So with a click, the male pressed down with his thumb upon the button that released the small cascade of artifical light before heading off into the cave with a heavy sigh, darkness immediantly greeting his vision in an unpleasant manner. Just follow the light.. Razz noted, but with his golden hues trained upon the beam of light, the general could not help himself from sharply turning his head upwards when Fawn's laughter echoed through the cave. Is this Fawn really happy or really tired..? he pondered with a slight chuckle that was drowned out easily by the echoes of her laugh still bouncing off the cave walls. Whatever it was, Razz was certainly overjoyed to have this Fawn in his company.

His long red hair flowing freely behind him and his clothing rippling with the wind his speed produced, Razz shut his eyes for a moment. He could connect deeply with Fawn's current state of elation if it was so truly related to this run ; the feeling of freedom was incredibly tantalizing versus Team Darkness's cold chrome base where you barely even saw the light of day except through an occasional window. And running like this with a very small, simple agenda currently hovering over them was a beauty Razz found most people took for granted. Oh well, 'most people' certainly wasn't them, not by far. With a reopening of his eyes, Razz followed Fawn through the darkness of Suko Cave, partially beside her yet slightly behind her as well, his shoes making small taps against the cold rock that had never seen the light of day.

The process continued for a few moments until a small flicker of light presented itself at what seemed to be the exit of the cave. Finally. The run had been quite refreshing but, he did feel the want to exit this cave and get to Arkon ; nice warm beds, a good night's sleep, and knowing that they were close to their first target which was beginning to bring him more relief then sympathy for the trainer. Though Razz constantly reminded himself to keep track of his own, more hidden plans, knowing it would be fool to carelessly lose himself in such a ludicrous manner. "Finally! Ahh.. I'm ready to reach a city again.." Razz stated, choosing to relieve himself verbally after secluding himself in near silence for their short dash through the cave. Maybe they should go running in a field the next time they chose to let out some energy in such a manner, and preferably when they were more energized on a full night's sleep.

Eyes fully adjusted to the dark as they might ever get, Razz gave a slightly irritated moan when the first rift presented itself to their vision. Arkon had plenty of earthquakes, so it was no surprise that there were these kinds of hazards that Razz knew were most likely scattered through out any winding corridors this eerie little cave might hold. He was just shocked that they didn't see more of them in this journey, or more tedious ones then this practically small chasm. Small in Razz's terms of course, since this gaping trench within the earth was something most trainers would need a Pokemon with equipped with a flying ability to cross, or take a chance and test one of the winding tunnels Suko offered. "Wonder how long this has been here and how many people have actually been this way.." Razz muttered loud enough for Fawn to hear. Oh yes, he'd be damned if some tedious rift would bring them to a yield, right damned!

Without any further warning as he commonly did not lend to his companion, a feeling of deja vu rushed him as he took Fawn before she cold come to a full halt, gripping her from behind. Now his own high=pitched, flamboyant laugh echoed through the cave walls and bouncing through the tunnels as he thrust himself upwards to gain an airborne status. Compared to the several stories they fell or the rooftops they jumped back in Oleander Town, Razz found the chasm to be somewhat easy as he landed gracefully at least a foot or two away from the edge. It wasn't the jump he was concerned about, but now that he had reached the earth again with Fawn still within his tight embrace, Razz swiftly released her and hurriedly exiting before the female. "Come on now, it wasn't that bad right?" the general put out there before any further commentary could be uttered, even adding a playful wink to Fawn.

Now it would be a straight shot to Arkon. Or not.. Razz thought with a heavy grimace, as another obstacle barred their way ; Silver Tower. He'd heard of it, hell he even paid the tower a visit to receive his now beloved Raichu. Though he had taken a different route other then Suko or Arkon..

About to bemoan their run through Suko Cave and their trek to reach the connector cave, Razz only paused from the oncoming rant to take notice of another shudder that rippled through him and his head swiveled to the side, facing Silver Tower in full with his eyes trained upon the large tower, closely inspecting it. The cold night air that carried smells that promised some future rain blew his jacket and bright red hair as Razz stood completely still, as if he had become cursed into a stone statue, his stillness resembling the night at the cemetery in Oleander Town. "Fawn.." he called in a much more contemplative voice, turning his head to glance behind him at the female. "Can you sense something? A kind of power..?" he first inquired and met Fawn's eyes with now emerald shaded optics instead of his once sparkling yellow eyes. "Our first target is here," the general stated with a turn back to the tower, his gaze slightly elevated to become focused upon the first floor of Silver Tower.