2023-12-27: Crime And Punishment
- Log: Crime And Punishment
- Cast: Magilou, Anne Aomori
- Where: Aomori Pokemon Lab, Viridian City
- Date: December 27, 2023 (505 PC)
- Summary: Magilou, seeking information, breaks into the nearest building. That building happens to contain Anne Aomori's office. Bienfu has his first (and last?) Pokemon battle.
<Pose Tracker> Magilou has posed.
"I'll scout ahead," is what Magilou said to Velvet, shortly before jumping on her shikigami doll. "I'm much faster than you, after all!" And so, NYOOM, off she goes --
Night has fallen, by the time Magilou sneaks out of the forest. All the good children are obeying curfew, and so the streets of Viridian City are empty, as Magilou and Bienfu stroll into the outskirts.
"Huuuh," Magilou remarks, a glowing white dove on her head to provide light. "This place is..."
"Pristine!" Bienfu chirps.
"Creepy," Magilou fills in. "Hey, what's that?"
What that is is clearly labelled: Pokemon Research Laboratory. Reading the sign out front, Magilou peeks over it, with a sly grin. "You know what's in a lab, Bienfu? Books. This is our ticket to figuring this out!"
"But, Miss Magilou, it's closed..." Bienfu adjusts his very fine hat.
"So?" Magilou demands--
~*~
-- "Aaah!" Bienfu yelps, not long later, as he's shoved unceremoniously through a window they've painstakingly jimmied open.
"Shh!" Magilou shushes him, as she shimmies in with far more grace. Her voice is low, at least, as she chastises him: "Be a quieter robber!"
"What about you, Miss Magilou?" Bienfu pouts, as he picks himself up.
"Don't worry about that," Magilou mutters, her glowing dove dimmed to provide a robber's level of light. It's enough to read by, at least, as she moves to a shelf and picks up a book. "You're on lookout," she tells him, as her eyes scan through it.
Evolution...?
<Pose Tracker> Anne Aomori has posed.
There are books in the lab.
The Pokemon Research Laboratory is not Anne Aomori's sole province, but she is the head researcher around here. And it's closed, not because it's empty, but because she's working late. This will be more important later. Right now:
The window leads into a corridor, lined with bookshelves. The office Anne is in is past a corner, so she doesn't notice the appearance of ROBBERS. How-e-ver...
A large creature turns that corner, and pads towards Bienfu. Magilou has a chance to read, but Bienfu?
Bienfu is faced down by something that resembles an extremely large ferret. Specifically, a 1.7 meter creature of cream and dark blue, that approaches Bienfu and Magilou, showing big teeth.
Flames alight on its back. "Tyyyyyyy," it greets them.
"Phlo..."
Is it laughing? It might be laughing.
<Pose Tracker> Magilou has posed.
"B..." Bienfu stammers, as a gigantic ferret pads down the corridor towards him. "Biennnn!!!" Ah, it's a Bienfu!
"Miss Magilou?! Miss Magilou!" A talking Bienfu, who hisses urgently as he backs up.
"Hang on, there's something about... oh, what is it?" Magilou demands, still reading right up until she looks up.
"Huh," she remarks, as she snaps the book shut.
"That weasel is on fire."
"Miss Magilou, it's a-- EEEeek!!" Bienfu just saw HOW big those teeth are, so he scrambles to hide behind his witch, rattling like a maraca and yelping just a little too loudly.
"Oh, don't be such a scaredy-cat!" Magilou proceeds to punt him back out, towards the fire badger. (It's a ferret, Magilou.)
<Pose Tracker> Anne Aomori has posed.
The creature has never seen a Bienfu before. Its eyes focus, firelight dancing on its back. It glances at Magilou, but Magilou isn't what really interests it. It's Bienfu. The talking Bienfu.
Weasel is fair. It's very big for such a creature regardless, and as Bienfu is kicked back towards it, it begins to rise up on its hind legs. "Phlo-ho-ho..."
It inhales--
"Laqui," a woman's voice comes from down the hall, "What are you doing?"
Step, step, step. Heels click against floorboards. Then, a woman in a white labcoat peers past the huge ferret, and regards...
"Hm. A break-in, is it?"
"Laqui," she directs, "Take him out."
"Shunnnnn," the creature says, and then lifts one of its paws. A ball of dark energy begins to coalesce in its hands--
And rockets for Bienfu!!
"I've never seen a Pokemon quite like that one," she says, and reaches up to adjust her wide, circular glasses.
They glint. "Let's see what it does."
<Pose Tracker> Magilou has posed.
"Ah, dang it!" Magilou clicks her fingers, hand swiping down. "Now it's an assault and break and enter! Bienfu, this is your fault!" Wait, they're going to beat the woman who lives here up?! What kind of fiendish fiends are these people?!
"But I get it," she grins. "'Pokemon', nothing... that's your spirit, isn't it? He's a weird guy, but if you don't want to get your hands dirty..."
Magilou pushes Bienfu forward. "Go on, Bienfu! You can make fire Seraph miserable!" No, she clearly said he was a Pokemon.
"Biennnn?!" Bienfu Biens, as he gets thrown right into the ring with this fiery panda. (It's a ferret.) He proceeds to flap his majestic little wings... to run and hide behind a bookcase, as that dark energy careens past. "Biennn-ennn-ennnnn!! You're such a bad-bad lady!!!"
"Knock 'em dead, Bienfu!" Magilou cheers him on, grinning with too many teeth, even as Bienfu pulls out a book almost as big as he is to hide behind.
<Pose Tracker> Anne Aomori has posed.
"Assault? That's rare."
The woman in the glasses grins back at Magilou. "Why should I?" she says, of getting her hands dirty. "Laqui here can handle anything your little Bienfu can..."
Pause. Bienfu dodges the attack, but mostly just seems to want to hide. She lifts an eyebrow. 'Laqui' meanwhile just tilts its head. "Ty?"
"...No," the woman says, "That's probably enough."
*Typhlosion has gained no experience!
"...Hm." She focuses more sharply on Bienfu. "Cowardly little guy, isn't he? I guess I don't blame him. That attack would've been particularly potent against a spirit like him."
"No battle for you today, Laqui." The creature seems almost to sigh, its shoulders sinking a little. It looks disappointed.
"So," the woman says. "What brings you to break into my lab?"
"Miss... Bad-Bad Lady?"
A laugh. In the light, she's easier to see; apparently an elf, maybe 40 if Magilou can judge ages. Big glasses. Gray hair, blue eyes.
"And bring out your Bienfu, I want to see him up close."
<Pose Tracker> Magilou has posed.
"Ehh? You nerds are really sheltered, aren't you?" Magilou, who is the biggest nerd just by virtue of lifespan, exclaims on the rarity of assault.
"Biennnn!" Bienfu sobs, cowering behind his book. "Don't hurt meee!" And, somehow --
-- the nerd listens to her! "Huh?" Bienfu blinks, peeking over his book. "You're really letting me go?! Wow! You're such a nice lady...!"
And as it happens, Magilou doesn't have to bring Bienfu out, because Bienfu brings himself out, putting his book-shield aside to flap up to the nerd's shoulder and rub his cheek against hers. "Miss Magilou is bad-bad the WORST! One time she dangled me out the window so much my tears became icicles on my poor little face...!"
"That's not going to work, Bienfu," Magilou yawns, stretching her arms uuuup and out. "She's at least old enough to be wise enough to your sob stories."
Bienfu wibbles, turning back to her. "But she's so cute..."
"Get down, you weird old man," Magilou waves a hand at him, dismissively.
Bienfu definitely doesn't look like an old man. Or any kind of man. Magilou doesn't particularly look like an old woman, either -- she's surely somewhere in her twenties or thirties, isn't she?
"Anyway," Magilou brings her palms up, with a broad shrug, "I'm Magilou, and that pervert on your shoulder" "HEY!" "is Bienfu. We're natives of Lunar, but I'm going to go out on a limb and guess we're not in Lunar, any more. If I had to guess, I'd say... extremely elaborate prison?" She taps her finger to her temple, and grins, merrily. "You guys didn't have the Ten Wise Men break out just recently, by any chance, did you?"
<Pose Tracker> Anne Aomori has posed.
Another data point.
"Am I?" the woman answers Bienfu, and smiles at him. It shows teeth. He rubs his cheek against hers. That's adorable. "Did she now?"
Magilou and Bienfu are quite the pair. The woman laughs. "You're not my type," she tells Bienfu. "If I wanted a weird old man I've got plenty of pickings in this field."
"Even if you are pretty cute."
Another data point, and another.
"Lunar, is it? So you're some of our visitors, then." She's heard a little. But this is an opportunity to hear a lot more. "No, you're on a world called Energy Nede, and it's not a prison--it's a park. A beautiful, well-manicured park."
"And the Ten Wise Men are indeed our problem. And yours, by the sound of it. Professor Oak's sure going to want to talk to you."
A wicked laugh. "But I got to you first! Come on back to my office. You're going to need a real Pokemon if you're going to travel around here. And I have just the one for a criminal like you."
"I'm Anne. I'm a researcher around here. I study Pokemon behavior. That is, animal behavior, as you'd know it. Laqui here is my partner. And no, he doesn't get to eat Bienfu."
The creature looks a little disappointed again.
"But, I should say it properly."
Anne spreads her hands apart once they reach her office. "Welcome to Energy Nede! We've conquered need, want, and conflict!"
A wicked look, "Except that our old history is coming back to bite us!"
"And you," she says to Bienfu, "Little one, are you volunteering to be part of my research?"
<Pose Tracker> Magilou has posed.
"Whaaa?!" Bienfu slumps down, shattered. "Miss Magilou, you made me strike out again...!"
"It's for your own good," Magilou assures him, in the sort of tone used by people who aren't working for your good.
The witch pulls a face when Anne describes the world as a park -- but before she can protest that, she says something much more interesting. "So you're the ones who dumped your problems out on us! But why in the Gods' great Stars is your professor a tree?!"
"I think that's their name, Miss Magilou..."
"No, an oak is definitely a tree, Bienfu."
Bienfu, at least, is polite enough to interrupt this banter to say: "But it's nice to meet you, Dr. Anne!"
"Oh, come on, she gets to be a Doctor but I don't?! I have dozens of PhDs!" There's no way she's a philosopher of that many doctorates. She'd have to be ancient. The letters beside her name would be as long as her name. Her full name!
"Also, your weird prison-park sounds like a total drag, so we're just going to figure out how to kill the Ten Wise Men and get out of here before we break out in hives," Magilou deadpans, turning back to Anne. "Also also, you seem to be under a teensy-tiny misconception here," she adds, as she reaches over and scruffs Bienfu, dragging him back over to her.
"You don't get to torment Bienfu," Magilou clarifies, which might at least suggest she has some form of moral compass, even if she's clearly a horrible person.
"On the other hand, your introduction to the prison-park was on point," Magilou adds, tapping a finger to her chin as Bienfu flaps down to walk beside her. "You're clearly a villain of some renown yourself, aren't you?" Why does Magilou leap straight from theatrics to crime?! Maybe it's the jester's outfit. (SHE'S DRESSED LIKE A WITCH!) "So all right -- I'll play ball. What's a 'Pokemon', anyway...?"
<Pose Tracker> Anne Aomori has posed.
"That's right. We had them all sealed up, and then they got loose. But the details on that are very hush-hush government stuff. Which makes it very interesting that there are a bunch of unattached aliens just walking around knowing all about it!"
"The Professors might as well be trees," Anne grumbles. "For all the moving their fields they do."
It's nice to meet her! That's nice. "It doesn't count if you just stole the papers," Anne explains patiently to Magilou about her PhDs. "And it's Anne, Miss Anne, or Dr. Aomori. ..Nice to meet you, Bienfu."
"That easy, hmmm?" Anne wonders of Magilou. "Well, don't let me stop you. I hear the universe likes continuing to exist, after all."
But--
"Awww," she says. "But he's so cute!"
She doesn't try to take him back, though. Instead, she considers Magilou a little longer. "Playing ball is right." She reaches into her cabinet and pulls out a small, red-and-white ball, turning around to toss it up and down in her hand.
"This world is full of creatures called Pokemon. They're the wildlife of Nede. Some people play with them, or battle with them. Me, I study Pokemon as a researcher."
"The product of untold years of development, Symbological study, and genetic adjustment, Pokemon are creatures of wide variety. Laqui here is a Pokemon; Bienfu there is not, I've gathered. Any animal you can imagine from your world might be a Pokemon, and then some."
"We've mostly done away with war and armed conflict, but Pokemon battling is still common as a means of competition and growing closer to your Pokemon. You clearly have some amount of magical power yourself," she says. "We don't do that kind of thing here, as a rule. If you need to fight someone, need to take something, or generally need to do most anything... Instead of relying on that power, we rely on Pokemon. And I have one in here that I think could look after you fine." She holds up the orb in emphasis.
"He's a troublesome little guy. Think you can handle him?"
<Pose Tracker> Anne Aomori has posed.
"That's right. We had them all sealed up, and then they got loose. But the details on that are very hush-hush government stuff. Which makes it very interesting that there are a bunch of unattached aliens just walking around knowing all about it!"
"The Professors might as well be trees," Anne grumbles. "For all the moving their fields they do."
It's nice to meet her! That's nice. "It doesn't count if you just stole the papers," Anne explains patiently to Magilou about her PhDs. "And it's Anne, Miss Anne, or Dr. Aomori. ..Nice to meet you, Bienfu."
"That easy, hmmm?" Anne wonders of Magilou. "Well, don't let me stop you. I hear the universe likes continuing to exist, after all."
But--
"Awww," she says. "But he's so cute!"
She doesn't try to take him back, though. Instead, she considers Magilou a little longer. "Playing ball is right." She reaches into her cabinet and pulls out a small, red-and-white ball, turning around to toss it up and down in her hand.
"This world is full of creatures called Pokemon. They're the wildlife of Nede. Some people play with them, or battle with them. Me, I study Pokemon as a researcher."
"The product of untold years of development, Symbological study, and genetic adjustment, Pokemon are creatures of wide variety. Laqui here is a Pokemon; Bienfu there is not, I've gathered. Any animal you can imagine from your world might be a Pokemon, and then some."
"We've mostly done away with war and armed conflict, but Pokemon battling is still common as a means of competition and growing closer to your Pokemon. You clearly have some amount of magical power yourself," she says. "We don't do that kind of thing here, as a rule. If you need to fight someone, need to take something, or generally need to do most anything... Instead of relying on that power, we rely on Pokemon. And I have one in here that I think could look after you fine." She holds up the orb in emphasis.
"He's a troublesome little guy. Think you can handle him?"
A beat, "And while we're discussing it, you can tell me what you were hoping to gain breaking in here."
<Pose Tracker> Magilou has posed.
"Oh, trust me, we didn't know all about it," Magilou shrugs, lacing her hands behind her head. "Which is to say, I'd heard about it," when Ghaleon asked her about them, "but I know things. And even I didn't know just what they were about before they showed up to ruin everything. Have you ever heard of the Sorcery Globe?" Beat, "Because they had."
She pouts, though, when Anne barbs her about her research. "I might steal a lot of things, but research isn't one of them!" Magilou huffs. "You'll find you're talking to the premier scholar of omnielemental magics and elemental blending! Leaving aside my peerless work in nullification and absorption, which is a precarious field, I'll tell you now, and my advances in channeling! AND THAT'S NOT EVEN GETTING INTO THE ARCHITECTURE!"
She did architecture, you know. And law! Bienfu is still, legally, a lawyer. They never took his piece of paper away.
Magilou does have to grin, though, when Anne called slaying the Ten Wise Men 'easy'. "The Lord of Calamity herself woke from her thousand-year slumber to consume them," she says, "so they're not long for this world. And even if they are, I win either way -- because I bet they'd kill her where she stood!" And Magilou's position vis-a-vis this Lord of Calamity (surely a nice figure) remains painfully obtuse.
She listens quietly to Anne's explanation -- "Some amount?! I'm the most powerful Sorceress of Lunar!" mostly quietly -- with a hand resting on her hip. A world without war, she considers, her two-toned eyes lidding with lazy interest.
"Heheheh..."
Magilou grins, all too savagely.
"Then I guess you'd better call me a Pokemon, too. Though, it wasn't Symbology which made me..."
She must surely be joking, because she breezes past it as easy as anything. "As for what we were looking for, why -- books! When you're lost in a stifling existence, the first place you should go is the library!" What, to replenish the books in her skirt? "But you've provided an admirable explanation, so I suppose we've no more need to rob you blind. What a shame."
She gestures, out, to the Pokeball. "Let's see this troublemaker!"
<Pose Tracker> Anne Aomori has posed.
"That's what you call a Quadratic Sphere, is it?" Anne says of the Sorcery Globe. "The Ten Wise Men are good at ruining everything. The stories go that they ruined things for us long, long ago, but we were able to seal them away. Not anymore, it seems."
Anne lifts an eyebrow at the huffing response. "Is that so?" she asks. "Well then. Maybe I should've required some of your books before I let Bienfu go."
A beat, "Hmmm. You're a strange young woman, you know that?" Anne comments on the Lord of Calamity business.
But, "Oh, so? Good to know. We still don't do that kind of thing around here, though now I'm curious about more than just Bienfu," she admits. "If you weren't on your way out, I'd ask you to come by for tea."
A Pokemon, is it...? "Hmmm." That's too interesting to pass up, but Magilou breezes past it. Not Symbology that made her? Anne thinks about opening the subject back up--but instead, "I see. Not a bad impulse."
"Stifling existence is right. Maybe that's why I'm helping you; I think you might make things more interesting around here."
She gives the Pokeball to Magilou. "Hit that button," she says, "And you'll meet your newest friend."
The creature beside her tilts his head at Anne, and she shakes her head. "It's fine," she says. "That Pokemon needs a Trainer with a sideways perspective on life. And this jester is definitely sideways."
<Pose Tracker> Magilou has posed.
"A Quadratic Sphere, huh?" Magilou smiles. "So they were sealed away... perhaps that's why the first things they did was unseal one of the greatest dooms of our world. Someone re-sealed him, but it was a fluke of luck, really!"
Magilou proceeds to unhook one of the books at her belt, scandalously revealing her hip and the hot pants she wears beneath, handing it over to Anne. "Here, have some knowledge on the house." She'll find that it's...
... a fresh layer cake?!
There's just an entire layer cake in here! This isn't a book at ALL!
"Enjoy!" Magilou chirps, cheerfully.
She does not correct Anne on her age.
Magilou proceeds to hit the button --
-- and a green kitten springs from the ball, onto her shoulder. "Spri!" He meows, as he chomps onto Magilou's fine witch's hat
and proceeds to steal it and run down the hall.
"GAH! IT'S A NAUGHTY KITTEN!" Magilou yelps, as she and her now hatless head of white-blonde hair scramble after Sprigatito. "Get back here--!!" But he's already jumped right up onto the shelves, dangling Magilou's hat high above her, given she's quite short.
"I am not a jester!" Magilou huffs. "I'm a witch! Behold!" And lo, does Magilou pull out her paper doll and elongate it, hopping on to surf up into the air and grab both the naughty kitten and her hat. She puts her hat on, and --
-- out pops Sprigatito, underneath it. "Spriii!"
Magilou hops off of her shikigami, and reaches up to finally get her hands on the naughtiest kitten, holding him out in front of her. He dangles, looking up at her with a catlike grin, on account of him being a cat. "You are just as bad as Eleanor's old tuxedo cat," Magilou huffs, as she scrutinises his face. "So I'll call you... Tuxedo Mask."
"Tii!" Tuxedo Mask mews, reaching up to paw at her face. "Tito!"
"You've got a weird meow for a cat," she remarks, as she hugs him to her chest so he can't get into any more trouble. He wriggles a paw free, and starts batting at her hair, while she tries to look over to Anne. "You're sure you're not just offloading this guy onto me before he shreds your entire office?"
<Pose Tracker> Anne Aomori has posed.
"...Sorry about that," Anne grimaces. "A little mischief is one thing, but Nede's problems were supposed to have been bottled up away from the rest of the galaxy a long time ago."
Then, there is... A...
"Huh." Anne looks at the cake. "Well, I was hungry."
She sets the cake down on her desk. Why not?
But then there is a kitten, and--
Chomp.
Anne laughs at Sprigatito's immediate theivery. Anne is rather taller. SHe could get the hat. But she doesn't need to, because Magilou has that paper doll. "Oh, excuse me," Anne says. A witch!
"No refunds," Anne replies pleasantly to Magilou about Sprigatito. But she didn't charge??? It's fine.
"Besides, he likes you. ...The ball's pleasant enough for him, when you need him out of your hair." Literally. "But having him out and hanging out is obviously a better way to bond with him. I'll give you the lowdown. He's a Grass-type, which means he's got trouble against bugs, fire-types, Flying-types, Ice-types, and Poison-types. At the same time, his natural abilities are strong against ground-, rock-, and water- types. He absorbs sunlight for energy, so as long as you let him out now and then you don't have to feed him. But he's very attention-seeking, so he'll... Well, you'll see."
"I hope you have a lot of exciting adventures together."
<Pose Tracker> Magilou has posed.
"You guys really aren't used to this kind of carnage any more, are you?" Magilou reflects, seeing Anne actually grimace. "Well, it's a little strange, but I guess I can play along." Now, whether she can get Velvet to play along is another matter entirely.
She's the Lord of Calamity, you know.
And Magilou... now possesses a cat she can't give back! "A villain like this will do fine for me! Witches need evil cats to do their bidding!" Somewhere behind her, Bienfu adjusts his hat with a grumpy scowl. He's her cat!!! "But wait, how many elements --"
Magilou looks back over her shoulder and calls: "Bienfu, write this down! You have a LOT of elements to catch up on!"
"Biennn..."
"Gatito!" Tuxedo Mask meows, insistently, before he starts... chewing on Magilou's hair.
"Gah! I thought you were a plant-cat! Don't eat that!!" Magilou yelps, and reaches up to free her hair. And scratch him behind the ears. "Looks like we are," she says, looking down at him. "Come on, Tux. We've got to go make a demon sneeze."
"Sprii!" Tuxedo Mask Sprigatitos, rubbing his paws together.
"Oh my Gods, hayfever and cat allergies. You're perfect."
That's one way to bond with your Pokemon.
<Pose Tracker> Anne Aomori has posed.
Not that Anne has mentioned her own flavor of villainy. It's fine. She'll get to that later. She seemed fine being called one, in any case.
"We're not," Anne admits.
The professor smiles at Bienfu when he grumps, and doesn't elaborate on the elements for now. Magilou can find a trainer's school like anybody else, or more books.
In the meantime it's fun to see such a new bond being formed...
"Heh heh."
"Come back and see me sometime after you get the explanations from the higher-ups. ...Have fun out there!"
The creature--the Typhlosion--watches them. He seems... pleased.
<Pose Tracker> Magilou has posed.
"Sure thing," Magilou agrees. "Thanks for the cat! Soooo..."
She pauses, and turns to Anne, Tuxedo Mask gnawing on one of her fingers.
"Do I, like, go out the door, or back through the window, orrrr..."
It's so awkward breaking into a place and NOT murdering everyone inside.