AETHER VS. ULTRA

[indigo_league]

Who: The Aether Foundation, the Ultra Beasts, and YOU!
Where: Aether Headquarters on the Sevii Islands.
When: October 30th-31st, immediately after the Emergency News Bulletin
Summary: Showdown at the Aether HQ! The Ultra Beasts have found what they were looking for...
Rating: PG for action violence.
Log:


If there's one thing that can be said about several weeks straight of chaos, it's made the general response-time of rescue teams and emergency services across Johto and Kanto alike extremely quick. Within moments of the urgent news bulletin regarding the Aether HQ going live, relief efforts start taking off from every feasible point. With volunteers eager to watch the Aether Foundation go down in flames help any way they can hopping on board with the rescue forces, aid is coming, and fast.

... But not as fast as them.

At the exact moment of the broadcast, almost as though heralded by some unknown frequency, every Ultra Beast in land, sea, or sky drops whatever they're doing and turns their heads (or... headlike appendages, in most cases) to the south. And then they'll take off, pausing ONLY if they happen to have befriended a human or two over the weeks. These ones will gesture-- beckoning, dancing, even dabbing (because you KNOW at least one person taught one to dab)-- anything at all that they may have picked up throughout the month in order to communicate with the "aliens" they've met in this world.

Wherever they're headed, they want their strange allies to come with them.

And, if their invitation is accepted, they will sweep a trainer or two right off their feet and shoot off for the Sevii Islands.

_______

The temporary Aether Foundation HQ, a rather advanced building considering it went up in a matter of weeks after they first arrived that year-and-a-half-or-so ago, sits on the water's edge with its floating Pokemon sanctuary (which many consider to be the Foundation's crown jewel) neatly attached.

It's normally a pretty peaceful place, with volunteers coming and going as they please. While no small amount of property damage and general chaos has gone down on the mainland over the course of October, at no point had the marauding Beasts launched a concentrated, or indeed deliberate-seeming, attack against any one location at all.

This is clearly no longer the case.

An explosion sends billowing smoke (and a fancy white golf-cart) high into the air above the palm trees surrounding the building. Local islanders and wild Pokemon spill onto the beach to escape what has seemingly become an all-out warzone between Aether agents and Ultra Beasts of all shapes and sizes...

But while there is definitely fighting going on, taking a closer look will tell anyone that the Beasts are focused mainly on the building... and not just destroying it, either. The battering they're delivering seems to be with the intent to find a way inside, only stopping to attack humans and Pokemon who try to get in the way.

But why?

What's in there?

Whatever it is... those Aether agents who haven't already fled aren't keen to let anyone, human or Ultra Beast, too close!



[Happy Halloween! See the updated info post for more info... and comment below to join the fray...]

Comments

[cyclonely]

The taking-the-shades-without-looking-at-John was honestly kind of smooth. It's the first 'cool' thing Dirk's done that John wouldn't call tryhard.

"They might just take you to another pokemon location that is still a pokemon universe but not this one... which would be pretty cool, actually." He's kind of outside of the complicated Alpha Drama ever since he promised to ease up on confronting Dirk over it so John's just trying to ignore it and pretend this is a normal friend conversation now. A bit awkward but...fine.

"Try not to die, I guess--maybe you'll also end up with weird zappy powers! Those would be useful for solving canon relevance I bet. I probably fucked up Rose's instructions." That's why he ended up dead, right.

Fast forward to 24 hours later on the Sevii Islands,

[uber_marionettist]

Oh, it still hurts where she slugged him, all right. He's just a pro (literally) at pretending it doesn't. Or ignoring that it does. The difference is, at best, semantic. Helps that John went and got his shades for him, preventing him from needing to walk or anything, where that might be more apparent.

That said, he is cognisant enough to realise that a better person would have asked if she's all right sooner (or... literally at all). Too late now, if he was planning to care about that. He's also petty enough to wonder, irritably and perhaps hypocritically, when he's ever 'come crying' to anyone.

"What would you like me to do instead?" he's asking out loud as a kind of detached hypothetical--and apparently totally tuning John out temporarily in the process. "I'm assuming the answer is 'go fuck myself' but I'm afraid I've met me, so that one's not on the table." His brow furrows again, which to say one line appears between the two halves of his face. He shifts to addressing John without actually turning to address him, like an immobile robot.

"There are many ways to 'solve' that problem, but only one of them fixes it. And I can't do it from here."

[cyan_maid]

"Why ask me? I was under the impression that my opinion meant less than diddly squat to you."

Basically: do what you want, Dirk, she is going to think you're stupid no matter what, but she's not about to stop you. And really, that's all Jane has to say about the matter.

[cyclonely]

Oh jeez. John wishes that Jane had also just pretended this was a normal friend conversation. Living somewhere without a lot of constant messy interpersonal drama must have pushed her away from the favoured Crockerbertlishly method of Fake It Til You Make Everyone Believe Everything Is Actually Fine Including Kind Of Also Yourself. John guesses if he's learned anything from therapy so far, it's that that isn't the best way to live? He just wishes it had taken place here. How is he supposed to not get engaged with the Alpha Problem like this???

"How is solving different than fixing?" he tries and then gives up, finally leaving his post just behind Dirk to stand facing both of them, scowling. "OK actually I am sick of playing this game where both of you pretend you don't give a shit about each other. I know why Jane is doing it but it makes no sense from you, Dirk. You are both lying! It is not that easy to suddenly not give a fuck! This is stupid! This is all so stupid!"

Can't they all just enjoy the shenanigans caused by cool stunts going wrong? Isn't that enough?!

[uber_marionettist]

....

See. Here's the thing.

The Kartana are back from wherever they'd split off to--probably just checking it out ahead, and they'd begun filtering in between Dirk and the parasympathetic pair, darting up and sideways in sharp, cutting little motions. And Dirk was 99.97% ready to bounce on this conversation, for once vaguely satisfied with its conclusion. That his little side issue was settled.

And then John opened his fat fool mouth.

He doesn't have to turn to stare at John, but he doesn't move his head at all. His hand finds the back of the much-abused chair and closes over it.

"Neither of you are playing the game any more," is what he says--his voice is cool, unyielding, solid like a metal. "Which is obviously for the better. I've chosen to play. I also chose not to give a fuck. I've also chosen not to lie to you, which is a courtesy neither of you requested nor expressly deserve, but which I fucking chose to extend for the sake of time and clarity."

If John doesn't want to play, then Dirk can just as easily take his ball and go home.

Proverbially speaking. And perhaps soon, literally.

[cyan_maid]

"John-"

I mean. He's right. He's right and he should say it, and Jane knows this in her heart and really, she...she's just trying not to get hurt again. Not like before. But by gum, it's so stupid, and this isn't the time nor the place to hash it out-

...

She lets out a long, tired breath. Closes her eyes. Counts to five.

"Why the fuck would I play a game that doesn't matter here, Dirk? Why in the heck would I bother?"

[cyclonely]

John desperately longs for the days when he could just, like, canon-zap people somewhere isolated to have a chat. That would be so great right now. They could have a conversation and then come back to this at the same time they left it! Though he guesses if he had his powers, they wouldn't be having this problem at all because he could just zap Dirk back to canon events and be done with this.

"Ok well considering that I did play the game--I even picked it back up after years of not playing to play it again to protect the truth of reality--that isn't super accurate, Dirk? The only reason I am even here is because I played it all the way to death! I'm not keeping you here, dude. Jane isn't keeping you here!" He feels his nose prickling, which is just great. Wow, he wishes he could also go back to the days where he didn't feel like crying all the time? This isn't useful to anyone.

He breathes in deep and digs his fingernails into his palms before continuing.

"If we're not playing, you're not playing. You're here, aren't you? You're stuck here too. I get that you have to go back to save canon and that's great and really fucking noble or whatever and I hope jumping in a random wormhole works out for you but canon crapped out me and Jane into Pokemon Land when it was done screwing with us so maybe you could try being mad at canon for doing that to you instead of taking it out on...I guess just Jane!? Sure, I like it here but I hate that I am stuck here! I hate that I can't see any of my non-Jane friends again! This is bullshit! I get it! I get it! But you being a jack ass over something we literally can't control is messed up!"

[uber_marionettist]

"Wow."

Is what Dirk says, after John has finished his piece. That was a lot of repressed angst, and he hadn't asked for any of it. Just when he'd finally gotten Jane to see things the right way. His way.

And now John's throwing a tantrum. He considers it for a moment. The game John had played to death wasn't his game. Not really. It was just part of clearing the board. The setup stage, doling out the fistfuls of pretend cash before another miserably imbalanced game of Reality Monopoly.

There are a lot of ways he could respond, if he wanted to. 'Maybe if we had more time...' for example. But nah. Not even then. Maybe he is taking it out on John, maybe not. He'd like to think he's past that kind of juvenile projection. Perhaps John is the one projecting? He'll let John stew in it.

"Good luck with that."

Dirk nods to Jane, kicks off the spotless Aether floor, and hops onto his chair, the Kartana sweeping him up in a whirlwind and off down the hall like a rifleshot, leaving Jane and John and John's emotional baggage make three.

[cyan_maid]

. . .

Well that sure was a lot of emotions from John, and...Dirk just...fucked off. Not even answering her question, though in all fairness it could've been interpreted as rhetorical. Damn, she couldn't even be petty at him for that. Fuck.

Jane looks down at her shoes, brow furrowed. This so isn't the time for introspection, but now...now, she can't stop feeling crummy. Like she's not enough for John, who of course would want to see his friends from his universe, right? Not just be limited to her. He deserved to be with his actual friends he got to know after all he'd been through, not just his weird alternate universe Teen Nanna.

God, this isn't the time. This really isn't the time. They have weird shady Pokemon shit to uncover. Jane swallows hard, but when she opens her mouth, she can't find any words to say.

[cyclonely]

"Yeah, that's right!" yells John, literally shaking his fist at Dirk. "Run away, asshole, don't bother answering anything difficult! I hope you end up zapped into an even dumber game!" He glares off a moment longer and then turns back to Jane.

"Aw man, are you ok, Jane? Dirk is a big jerk, I'm sorry."

[cyan_maid]

"...Hm?"

She looks up, blinking, but that expression on her face is a little harder to shake.

"Oh, um...yeah. Yes, I'm fine - we've got an organization to be a pain to, right? We, um, ought to...do that."

[cyclonely]

John nods and then swoops in for a bear-hug before actually responding to her. Jane still looks unhappy and he feels bad about all this. Maybe it wouldn't have gone south so quickly if he hadn't busted in. Oh well, no way to know now.

"Yeah, you're right! Don't push yourself too hard, though, you really got bowled over!"

[cyan_maid]

Wait wh-

"-!"

Jane doesn't stiffen, but she sure didn't expect a hug out of nowhere. At John's words, she manages a weak "hoo" and tries to pat him reassuringly on the arm. "I-I'm fine, it's fine...I'd rather be bruised than have a broken bone."