Zinnia's Multiverse Madness! (Roleplay, March 4-13)

[Fusion]

[[We could either ask one of Virgil's peeps now, and he could answer in the morning, or we wait until tomorrow to ask him. But that's just how I think we should do it, I dunno what yall wanna do]]

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Lyle blinked as sure enough, the topic of conversation turned to Truth or Dare. Was that just some sort of trend for these gatherings from in between worlds?

It wasn't his turn, though something about what that Floatzel had said earlier struck him as odd.

He'd said that he was from a merchant crew, but a Rover from it, right? It hadn't caught his attention at first, but that didn't seem right for a 'mon on a merchant ship.

After all, a 'Rover' was a wanderer. ... Maybe he was just biased from hailing from a world with a sea with an unfriendly land on the other end of it, but he was pretty sure that merchant ships usually had fairly predictable ports of call.

... Unless he meant 'Rover' in a different way. Maybe he was overthinking it a bit, but as a 'mon used to having to keep an alibi, he was no stranger to wordplay for the sake of not being caught in a lie. And if Rodion didn't mean 'Rover' as a 'wanderer', then wasn't the next most likely meaning that he was a...?

"Psst, hey. Rodion, was it?" Lyle asked. "What did you say it was that merchant ship of yours traded in again?"

 

[Virgil134]

[[ I think there's some confusion, since I just asked if I could go after Venia got his turn ]]

Rodion hung back and watched as the others continued playing games. It seemed like Lyle was right about them playing Truth or Dare after all. While it did seem a bit strange to him that someone would gather others from different worlds just to play a game that 'mons usually played at school, he couldn't deny that it all reminded him a little of his own crew during their sillier moments. Besides, it did look fun and it definitely worked as the break of reality he was hoping to get when he came here.

"Psst, hey. Rodion, was it?" Lyle asked. "What did you say it was that merchant ship of yours traded in again?"

"Hm?"

Rodion looked over towards Lyle and paused a moment, before speaking up in reply.

"I mentioned that we're free traders," the Floatzel answered. "We visit all kinds of ports and tend to sell whatever looks interesting and we can get our paws on."

 

[Venia Silente]

[[ I think there's some confusion, since I just asked if I could go after Venia got his turn ]]

[[ Me misread a grant total of like, two words in Virgil's req, yeah. Fixing that now. ]]

“Kalas, was it?” Winona pointed at the Fearow. “do you want to go next?”

The larger bird hopped closer to Tiana and the two of them discussed things briefly, they hushed and chirped in their own little bird-language.

In the end, Kalas nodded at Winona and turned to Zinnia. "I can go in. I'll be taking a Truth, please."

 

[Venia Silente]

“All right then… What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done?”

Kalas thought back to his off-screen life for a moment. His neck and back feathers stood on end as he recalled some particular cases in his life.

"Shortly before I retired, there was a Kadabra that went around infiltrating jails and police stations and attacking some of the Pokémon prisoners. My partner and I got locked in a room with her while trying to protect two witnesses in the Mad Mothim case... We tried to fight, I swear. It's just she flung us from wall to wall, she flung us at our prisoners, she choked us with her eyes; we were so desperate that it was just a few seconds in but we were down to just tossing ourselves at her, to clamp and clutch at her we could reach just so she could not fling us around. Not even escaping into a vault helped. Fortunately a few trainers with Absol came in."

He preened one of his wings nervously. "I'm a bird, I like to be able to just fly out of a bad match. Being enclosed with such a monster... it hits different."

 

[Fusion]

Kora winced, imagining how bad it must've felt to be ragdolled so easily. For her , the idea sounded fun, honestly. But it obviously wasn't for them. "Yikes. That's pretty rough," she whistled, then tittered. "Whenever I get thrown around, I don't really feel it, but even then get really dizzy afterwards. That stops being fun after, like, five minutes at least."

"Why didn't you guys have those trainers and that Absol join you in the first place? Kinda sounds... stupid in hindsight. And risky," Vix asked.

 

[Venia Silente]

Kora winced, imagining how bad it must've felt to be ragdolled so easily. For her , the idea sounded fun, honestly. But it obviously wasn't for them. "Yikes. That's pretty rough," she whistled, then tittered. "Whenever I get thrown around, I don't really feel it, but even then get really dizzy afterwards. That stops being fun after, like, five minutes at least."

"Why didn't you guys have those trainers and that Absol join you in the first place? Kinda sounds... stupid in hindsight. And risky," Vix asked.

Kalas could not *not* show some admiration at the idea of lasting five minutes in a fight. "Oh believe me, there's much stronger and better prepared Pokémon and humans where I come from, I was with Detectives, wasn't really what you'd call a SWAT mon."

[[ Yeah because alas Fearow are not very viable in the metagame :p ]]

"As for why the Trainers weren't there before, mostly because where I come from, humans and Pokémon have separate jurisdictions I guess. Besides," he added with a shrug, "it's kinda difficult to predict where a teleporter without a known agenda might show up."

"Gosh," Winona gasped, shaking a little and leaning against Wallace for reassurance. "That's... that's terrifying."

Tiana chimed in for a moment without thinking. "Those were stressful things around the city. Even papa was ruffled at the idea of being a target one day. He said the Family was lucky to be all Murkrow."

Kalas turned to Winona and gave his best smile. "We got out alright. I got a paid license leave!"

 

[Dragonfree]

"...o-ok. Thanks," Gen said, his trembling slowly beginning to subside. He hugged Jean for a few more seconds, before letting go, waddling over towards Dave, and attempting to hug him, too.

Dave looked down as the Oshawott... tried to hug his leg. Well, that was awkward. Was there a way to make it less awkward? Not like fucking picking him up like a teddy bear would be great for his human dignity. What a fucked-up state to put a random anxious teenager in against their will, just because some entity had some unfathomable desire to have him, precisely, and not any of the probably seven billion more willing and qualified people in the world, save the universe.

He exhaled, looking away. "You'll be fine," he said. His gaze found Zinnia. "Hey, Bagon. If you can zap people over here, can't you do anything for this kid?"

Kalas brushed his wings and assumed a more laid-back posture, he tried to word things out as he remembered them. "It's something I saw a lot when exploring the streets, catching a glimpse of people within the houses from the air. A good amount of teens fancy the form of some Pokémon, play pretend that they have our powers, or even dress like us, quite elaborately. I even saw one hugging a Gardevoir-shaped pillow in their sleep, once."

Jean blinked. Dave glanced over, narrowing his eyes at Kalas. "Why exactly are you trying to explain the furry fandom to her?"

 

[IFBench]

Dave looked down as the Oshawott... tried to hug his leg. Well, that was awkward. Was there a way to make it less awkward? Not like fucking picking him up like a teddy bear would be great for his human dignity. What a fucked-up state to put a random anxious teenager in against their will, just because some entity had some unfathomable desire to have him, precisely, and not any of the probably seven billion more willing and qualified people in the world, save the universe.

He exhaled, looking away. "You'll be fine," he said. His gaze found Zinnia. "Hey, Bagon. If you can zap people over here, can't you do anything for this kid?"

Zinnia shook her head. "Nope, can't do that. Overseers'll get mad if I do, plus he has the Hero's Aura."

Gen whimpered, clutching tighter onto Dave. "O-oh..." he said.

 

[Fusion]

Zinnia shook her head. "Nope, can't do that. Overseers'll get mad if I do, plus he has the Hero's Aura."

"Oh, huh, I didn't know that hero whatever stuff was still a thing off Cibus," Kora hummed, crossing her arms. What a weird... complicated thing. But it had to have been a good thing, there's no way Kora met two whole teams with hero auras and it was a bad thing. "But I'm pretty sure that means Gen can't fail, cuz heroes always win. Which means he's definitely gonna get back to being a human sooner or later, and the world that needed him will be alright in the end, and his friends will be ok too!"

 

[IFBench]

Gen thought about that for a bit, and a small smile appeared on his face. Maybe...maybe things really would be alright.

He let go of Dave, before waddling over to and attempting to hug Kora. "Th-thanks, Kora."

 

[Fusion]

Kora knelt down and hugged his otter friend, snickering. "I dunno what I did but you're welcome!" he beamed.

 

[Venia Silente]

[[continuing from the game, can I have Kalas ToD someone else?]]

Jean blinked. Dave glanced over, narrowing his eyes at Kalas. "Why exactly are you trying to explain the furry fandom to her?"

[[ Back or forth in time at the point of that conversation ]]

Kalas cawed. "...Uh... The furlowhat? That trend has a name?"

He made motion to explain himself to Dave. "Erm, kind of came up? Not what I wanted to draw attention to, however. I mean, I guess, there's lots of reasons to wish to be someone different," he added with a rather stiff wave of his wing, "even if in different worlds it is a dream within one's grasp."

 

[IFBench]

[[continuing from the game, can I have Kalas ToD someone else?]]

[[Yes]]

 

[Venia Silente]

[[Yes]]

[[ You fools, you have unblocked my power to write short posts! That I wish I could use more often ]]

Kalas gave out a sigh after a moment. "Enough of me, detective work is not that 'lit' as the fledglings say." He looked around checking the other contestants, until his eyes sighted Rodion. "Your world sounded interesting... Rodion, was it? How's about you, Truth or Dare?"

Rodion looked over towards Lyle and paused a moment, before speaking up in reply.

 

[Virgil134]

Rodion looked up from his conversation with Lyle as Kalas addressed him, and crossed his arms as he began to mull over what to say in response. He could choose 'Truth', but that meant potentially exposing himself as a pirate in front of this detective and everybody else. Of course he could always lie if it really came to it, but aside from it beating the whole purpose of the game, would it really be safe to do so? After all, this Zinnia had brought them here to this strange, otherworldly location with the purpose to play Truth or Dare, so who knew what would happen if he tried to lie here? Besides, he did come here to have fun, and how much fun would it be to do nothing but sit back and talk the whole time while he was here?

Having made up his mind, the Floatzel shot Kalas a small smirk.

"I'll take a dare."

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

"Hm?"

Rodion looked over towards Lyle and paused a moment, before speaking up in reply.

"I mentioned that we're free traders," the Floatzel answered. "We visit all kinds of ports and tend to sell whatever looks interesting and we can get our paws on."

Lyle blinked at the Floatzel's reply. Maybe he was tripping, but that explanation sounded just like one he'd given for helping to fence loot in the past. Was this 'mon also an Outlaw of some sort?

Lyle opened his mouth to speak, only to overhear Kalas speaking up and already getting the 'mon into a truth or dare of his own. The Quilava bit his lip, before murmuring under his breath. Eh. He was sure he'd have chance to find out what the story behind that Floatzel was.

"A dare, huh?" Lyle remarked. "Certainly a bold one there. I tend to find truths easier to deal with."

 

[Venia Silente]

Rodion looked up from his conversation with Lyle as Kalas addressed him, and crossed his arms as he began to mull over what to say in response. He could choose 'Truth', but that meant potentially exposing himself as a pirate in front of this detective and everybody else. Of course he could always lie if it really came to it, but aside from it beating the whole purpose of the game, would it really be safe to do so? After all, this Zinnia had brought them here to this strange, otherworldly location with the purpose to play Truth or Dare, so who knew what would happen if he tried to lie here? Besides, he did come here to have fun, and how much fun would it be to do nothing but sit back and talk the whole time while he was here?

Having made up his mind, the Floatzel shot Kalas a small smirk.

"I'll take a dare."

Kalas gave an energetic nod at Rodion and put his mind to work fast. "Just hold right there for a mo'" he said, then he took flight and glided to perch on top of a tall security booth overseeing a ball pit, all conveniently located no more than one paragraph of walking away. "Here, I have one for you!" he waved from his new position.

Kalas made motion for Rodion to climb up. "I dare you to do the thing, you know, the helicopter thing that Buizels and Floatzels do with their tails? From up here and into the ball pit."

"A dare, huh?" Lyle remarked. "Certainly a bold one there. I tend to find truths easier to deal with."

Tiana happened to hear that line and shot the Quilava a comment with a snicker. "Or maybe he just knows his bounds. Family always says the truth is natural, but lying takes effort, and grows you older fast. Older and ugly," she remarked.

 

[Virgil134]

Rodion stared at Kalas for a moment, before raising a brow.

"Our... 'helicopter' thing?"

 

[Venia Silente]

Rodion stared at Kalas for a moment, before raising a brow.

"Our... 'helicopter' thing?"

"Yeah," Kalas answered heartily. "You know, when you want to imitate a helicopter to look fun to the hu—"

He suddenly cut himself short and facepalmed with a wing. "Riiiiight, different universes. Uhhh... there's this thing some Buizel back home do for entertainment, jumping into the air and swirling their tails high-speed to glide like Pachirisu can do." He let out an innocent smile. "Looks fun and you're going to end up butt-tired after doing it, which is why it's a dare."