[action - goldenrod base]

[moneylogues]

[One of the interesting things about being a mercenary in a dangerous galaxy means that waking up in an unknown location with no clue how he got there? Not necessarily that new. Well. It also happens when he's had a fun night sometimes, but that generally means there's a hot blonde next to him or something.

But this whole... whatever it is, this is new. And he doesn't like it one bit. He also doesn't like that he doesn't have any of his gear. No armor, no guns, not even any of his knives. And no sword. No key.

Yeah, that doesn't put him in the greatest mood.

All this Rocket shit doesn't interest him one bit and, honestly, he's only half paying attention to all of this. Not his problem. Like any of these people can match the paycheck he was gonna get back home. No way. He needs to get far away from wherever the hell this planet is.

So. Anyone in the Goldenrod Rocket base might just spot Felix wandering around and... checking every supply closet, cabinet, and drawer he comes across. And every time, he looks disappointed at the contents. Next up is a hallway closet. He opens it up...]

Aaaaaand behind door number four is... another supply closet! Oh, good! I guess I'm all set if I need to mop something.

This is all just great.

[Frustrated, he slams the door shut. The sound travels through the halls, but he really doesn't give a shit right now.]

Seriously, where the fuck do these idiots keep the weapons?

Comments

[11121_assumption]

Walter was wearing his recently acquired lab coat, hair tied back and Rocket shirt on underneath. Beside him today was a Luxio; Chaos held her head high, tail flicking back and forth as she accompanied Walter around the base as a personal bodygaurd. She took the job very seriously, hissing at anyone who got too close and raking her claws on the metal flooring.

Walter had been intending to walk down the hall to collect today's data from the lab but first he had to deal with some man who was furiously checking every door in said hallway, looking for weapons. It was a shame there wasn't a different route or he would've walked away from the clearly angry man who wanted to be armed. As it was he glanced down at Chaos and motioned to his side. Chaos slipped beside him, between himself and the stranger, as he wanted to carry on with his business. Hopefully the man just left him alone.

[moneylogues]

Many, many people have hoped that Felix will just leave them alone, but alas. Hopes like that never work out well when it comes to Felix, sadly.

He's still at the closet, one hand pressed against the door and leaning against it, when he hears the footsteps. Immediately, he turns. And right away, he's sizing the guy up. The lab coat's different from most of the clueless morons he's been seeing so far. Everything is just slightly different from those guys, honestly.

Felix moves to the middle of the hallway, right in this guy's path. Yeah, no getting past him without a word.

"Hey there, buddy, you wanna help a guy out here?" Felix glances down at the cat for a moment. Interesting. "Now you look like you might know a thing or two about this place. Right?"

[11121_assumption]

He had been hoping to slip by unnoticed, but alas, Felix was taking up the middle of the hallway.

"I have been here for a few months." Walter confirmed, voice soft as he slowly folded his arms. He met Felix's gaze unflinchingly Even if he had wanted to avoid him, he could speak to him with a level of confidence. "So I can answer some of your questions."

Beside him, Chaos was not happy about this man getting in the way. She gave a low, disappoving growl, stepping between this man and her trainer. Walter didn't try to call ehr back or apologise for her behaviour. Why would he discourage her from being protective of him?

[moneylogues]

"A few months, huh? You don't say." A few months here with this organization or a few months on this planet? Hm. He looks back down at the guy's... companion, tilting his head slightly. He's keeping his posture relaxed, though. He's not about to let an overgrown blue housecat intimidate him. Attention right back on the guy. "But that's perfect, thanks."

What to ask first... Well. There's the obvious.

"So maybe you can actually tell me exactly what backwater planet this is? I'm having some trouble finding a name."

[11121_assumption]

"I don't know. I'm not a native." So this must be a newcomer, just as he and Manaka had been. Why do they keep asking him about this world? The note he had found when he had awoken had somewhat explained the situation, enough that he hadn't sought out answers from others.

"So you have only just awoken here. There's no way back to where we were, or how we were. For the time being."

The 'overgrown blue housecat' flicks her tail back and forth, eyes neevr leaving Felix. Give her one reason. Just one reason...

[moneylogues]

Felix is about to comment on the first part, but then the guy keeps talking. No way back. Ha ha, okay, what?

"Okay... wow. Now there's a lot of info and none of it what I want to hear." He pauses for a second. No, no, let's not piss anyone off just yet. "Which, hey, that's not your bad. I get that. But you're gonna have to give me just a little more here, I mean..." Okay, no, he doesn't need to stress out about this. It's an easy fix. Even if this guy doesn't know the way off this planet, that doesn't mean no one does.

"Look, there's gotta at least be ships stopping here or something."

[11121_assumption]

"There is a ship that goes to a neighbouring region, but not away from this world." Nope, space travel isn't a thing here. Walter had grown up in the 80s, there had been rockets and such in his world, but it was all very much just for the government to play with. It didn't benefit the public at large.

"For the time being, you will need to adapt. This place has brought people from various...states." Such as from beyond the grave. He had heard some confused newcomers talk about 'being human' too...

[moneylogues]

"Yeah, nah, not the kind of ship I'm talking about. Fuck..."

Okay, there's no way he's just stranded here, right? Not now. Not now. Not when he's this goddamn close to being done with this job, so close to his paycheck. And now the universe itself is ripping him away from it?

No, okay. Okay, he can... figure something out.

"...States." Well, isn't that just some delightfully vague phrasing? "Okay, not that I don't appreciate a nice mystery now and again, but can you, I dunno, specify, maybe? You're not just talking about states in the geographical states here, I'm guessing."

[11121_assumption]

"Non-human to human. From spirit to flesh. From dead, to living." He explained simply. This person was evidently have some issues getting to grips with the situation. So had he, but he didn't have a public panic session over it.

"Everyone I asked have said they don't know how or why they came to be here. We simply arrive, are given a Pokemon, and then left again." Heather had said it was a chance to 'begin anew'. He still hadn't figured out what she had meant or how he was meant to live 'better' life, so he excluded it from his explanation.

[beastofasister]

[When Felix turns away from the door, he'll find...something has hooked around his ankle. It doesn't squeeze, so it might even go unnoticed until he tries to walk away—but even if it does, its hold is tight enough to keep him from leaving.

...It's a hose, like the kind you can find attached to some vacuums. But didn't he just slam the closet door a second ago? Why is it cracked now?]

[moneylogues]

[As a mercenary, and an ex-soldier as well, Felix prides himself on his excellent reflexes. They've saved his ass on numerous occasions and it's not easy to catch him off guard anymore these days. He's prepared for a lot.

Which makes it extra embarrassing when he tries to walk away and almost falls right onto the ground because something is holding onto him.

He catches himself and doesn't actually smack onto the floor, but it's not the most graceful sight. He's glaring as he turns to look at the...

...Uh.]

...Okay, what the fuck?

[Didn't he just-- Ugh, the damn door must be faulty or something. Whatever, first he needs to get this stupid hose away from him. Let's just reach down and remove that...]

[beastofasister]

[When Felix reaches down to untangle the hose, he'll quickly find that he can't. Unlike what it should be like to have an inanimate object wrapped around your ankle, it actively clings to him. Weird, right?

But before he has much time to contemplate that fact, there's the sudden, deafening whrrrrr of a vacuum coming to life. The closet door swings back open so hard its knob slams against the wall beside it, the vacuum barreling out and charging directly toward him.]

[moneylogues]

[Okay, this thing is goddamn weird. What the fuck is even...

...uh...

Just when he's sure he heard something, the door slams open and okay that's a goddamn vacuum, what?] Okay, what the actual-- [Wait, it's coming towards-- Oh shit.] --fuck!

[He quickly jumps out of the way, though there's not exactly a lot of room to manouver in this hallway. So that's not ideal. None of this is great, actually. Seriously, what the hell is happening?]

[beastofasister]

[Hopefully Felix doesn't think this encounter has already reached peak weird! Because the vacuum promptly starts laughing an evil, ghostly cackle. It speeds past him, then lurches to a halt before it can slam into a wall itself, rounding on him and making another pass in his direction.

It also still hasn't let go of his leg with the hose, so. Try not to get tangled up in that.]

[moneylogues]

[Felix is almost relieved when he manages to evade the vacuum from hell... and then that bullshit happens.]

Oh, you've gotta be--

[And yeah, that hose is making it really difficult to move around. He just... positions himself right at the door, waiting to avoid this thing until its path leads right into the closet. Maybe he can just... trap it in there? Somehow?

Look, none of his training prepared him for shit like this, okay?]

[beastofasister]

[Alas, the vacuum's trajectory isn't quite as clear-cut this time around. It does an admirable job of feinting and swerving in the tight quarters, making one false pass, and then another. But just as it's about to go in a third time, for real—]

Ah, Eclair! There you are!

[—the voice of a young girl sounds over the din of the vacuum's motor. Almost comically, the vacuum stutters to a stop, and then it just kind of...flops over, something orange and sparkly ejecting itself from somewhere inside it.

That something zigzags a path to the speaker, coming to a sharp stop above her cupped hands. It's only then that she looks up, her eyes following the path to the vacuum cleaner, and then to Felix.]

Oh! I'm sorry, was he bothering you?

[moneylogues]

[Felix whips around immediately at the sound of the voice. And then he just watches silently as the orange thing flies out and heads... for a young girl.

...What.]

Uh.

[It's not often that Felix is speechless, but wow, here's a rare moment. Give him a second, he almost has his composure back. Almost.. Alllllmost...]

And this would be... your vacuum... possessing... something?

[What the actual fuck is today.]

[garbagechild]

Weapons?

Why are you looking for weapons?

Only stupid, feeble humans need those. What are you, a little human baby?

<sub>[The smug-ass edgelord voice mocking Felix's Gun Quest (tm) is honestly obnoxious enough just from the words alone, but just to make things extra surreal, said voice is definitely the high-pitched squeak of an elementary-schooler.]

[Sure enough, looming overhead is... a ten-year-old of indeterminate gender perched on top of the shoulders of a Kangaskhan and smirking like they just delivered the sickest burn of the century.]</sub>

Weapons. Pffahaha.

[moneylogues]

[...Felix just turns, slowly, at first convinced he can't actually be hearing what he thinks he's hearing. But no. The big creature is unexpected, but that is definitely a freaking kid.

It does make sense, those insults are absolutely at a kid's level. But then again, considering some of the grown adults he's met...

Either way, he just... tilts his head. Because really? Really?]

Really, you're asking if I'm the baby? Really, don't you have an adult who should be keeping an eye on you?

[He is kinda wondering what the fuck a kid is doing in what is clearly a criminal base, but also wow he doesn't wanna deal with this, so who cares, right?]

Seriously, kid, no one asked you.

[garbagechild]

<sub>[YES, FELIX. IT IS TRUE. The spirit of preteen mall goths is physically present and being a little bitch in your direction.]

[No one can claim Wolverine Jr. here doesn't uphold the Team Rocket aesthetic, though.]</sub>

An adult? That's what Mama is here for.

_{[The Kangaskhan lets out an affirmative rumble.]}

And anyway, who were you asking then?

You were just looking into the closet and talking, and there's nobody else around.

[moneylogues]

[Felix just looks at the Kangaskhan for a moment.]

...Yeah, really not what I meant, junior.

[God. Okay. So now he's gotta deal with this. This day just keeps on getting better and better.]

Oh, see, the answer to that is simple. I was talking to "business". First name "none of your".

Christ, what kind of a criminal organization has kids running around the place?

[garbagechild]

<sub>[Wrath pauses, visibly turning that name over in his mind. His main thought? That he doesn't know any Rocket named Nonovyor Bisness.]

[Wrath and snarky puns are not really compatible at this point.]

[He does, however, know enough to take offense at the rhetorical question that follows, and he sniffs haughtily.]</sub>

I'm as good a Rocket as anyone! I am loyal and can fit into small spaces, like vents and washing machines. It's a unique talent.

_{[AKA that is what an Admin said, dubiously, while filling out his last evaluation, and he took it to heart.]}

What do you bring to the table?

_{[WEAPONS? Oh wait they're not allowed to have those.]}

[moneylogues]

Considering what I've seen of these Rockets so far? That's really nothing to brag about. But hey, good job buddy, you've found yourself a niche. I'm sure you're a valued member.

[There are so many things wrong with this. Just... so many, he doesn't even know where to start.]

See, here's the thing? I'm not interested in bringing anything to this particular table.

I'm already bringing plenty to a whole different table, thanks.

[garbagechild]

Oh, I see.

_{[Wrath tosses his head with an infuriating "knowing" smile on his wolfish little face.]}

Well, I used to be with a different team too.

But Team Rocket is much better.

Here, you get paid, and also given food and a place to sleep.

It's pretty great!

_{[Yes, he IS trying to sell this organization based entirely on the fact that they provide completely basic necessities. To be fair, he literally doesn't know any better.]}

[moneylogues]

[.........]

Kid. Back where I was, I had a job that was going to pay me so much that I would literally never have to worry about money ever again. You have no idea just have filthy rich I was about to be.

[And right when he was so close, he ends up in this shithole.]

I mean, it's great for you that you don't have any standards, but I do have them.