Prison Break || Garth & Crash [MISSION]

[TOBIAS]

'Why didn't you just take the road to Lilycove instead? Idiot.' The white-haired young man sighed, shivering under his breath as he tugged his black-collared coat higher to his face, then bowing his head slightly to mask the lower half of his face while he waited. The wanderer looked as out of place as a discarded match in the snowbank here, standing in the dark, freezing hallway with his back leaned against the rocky wall with his arms crossed. The cold had never been his strong-suit, but now he was forced to wait it out in this bloody place? At the very least, he was smart enough to buy a coat before he arrived. Hoenn region seemed like a good place to visit at the time, but maybe he should have re-thought the trip a little better beforehand. Tobias was under the impression that this area would have been well-rounded for work, that his presence wouldn't be nessessary for the time being, which was why he'd planned to take his time making his way back to Sinnoh. Well, that's what he thought made sense, anyway. This all seemed like a case of 'the wrong place at the wrong time', but he was unfortunate enough to be caught in the area when he'd been given his orders. 'Conditional duty for an officer unable to make it for the bi-monthly facility assessment'---or so his orders were put, "replace someone taking a sick day". Though Tobias didn't know what to expect from these orders exactly, he wasn't about to back down once he'd been contacted by his superiors. One day, what was the worst that could happen? Here was where he'd found himself, Shoal Cave Prison, the frozen hellhole hidden away in Hoenn's coast that anyone would be smart to avoid like the plague. It didn't take long for the wanderer to understand why the other guy played sick, it figures he was the clever one after all. 'I guess that makes me the sucker, then.' Tobias let out another sigh, looking to the ground with an unsettled bitterness as he stood chilled to the bone and waiting in silence. Upon arrival, he was given the brace around his ankle for the security procedures of the prison, but it only annoyed him further that he had to wait for his contact within the facility to show up and let him begin his inspection. The young man's eyes raised from the frozen floor and looked around harshly, his gaze about as sharp as a knife that could cut down anyone close enough to piss him off further. As long as the day went smoothly, he might not regret missing out on a bloody battle at that point. The shuttering sound of metal slamming at the far end of the hall sent a sudden cold wind whistling down the corridor and blew razors of chill across his side, the sound slamming again as the entrance to the outside shut once more and multiple footsteps were heard coming around that dim hallway. The voices of three other men echoed through that hall, as their footsteps grew closer to the white-haired stranger, they fell silent before Tobias backed off the wall and stood to meet the men. Two of the men seemed dressed well for the cave's low temperatures, wearing their heavy dark suits and helmets while the man walking before them looked unprepared for his visit. The first, most-likely Tobias' contact within the prison to escort him on his task, while the two guards behind him looked about as friendly as pitbulls. It was a small comfort in knowing that the freezing temperatures didn't piss off more than just Tobias alone. The man in the business suit and light jacket looked him straight in the eyes, his expression seemed more serious than it needed to be, but firm in a way that any warden of a prisoner-of-war hideout should appear. "You must be the replacement sent for the evaluation, I heard you were chosen last-minute so I'm here to help your visit run smoothly." The man's voice was stern and straight-to-the point, but it didn't feel like that warm of a welcome; not that it mattered much. "You can call me Tobias, and I'll be happy to get this done quickly so I can submit the report and take off." His arms fell to his sides, his breath clouded in the cold air as his expression faltered from the annoyed glance he'd been sporting since he arrived. It seemed almost ironic that neither of them appeared to want to be there, but the older man smirked slightly after sharing that same sentiment with the young man. "Excellent. I'm Mr. Edwards, now please follow me so we may begin." The suited man raised his arm in an off-welcoming fashion, setting Tobias into a stride with the man and two guards behind them. At the end of the impossibly long labyrinthine hallway was the entrance into the central catacombs of the facility, where the inner-workings of the prison could be better observed. All the white-haired young man had to do was check the place out and report back to Nox officials back in-land before he turned into a block of iced angst. That would be easier said than done. _________________________________________________________________ Words: 874 Notes: I hope this works! :3

[Hunter]

It was a relatively calm and clear day at the western entrance to the Shoal Cave Prison, in fact, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The only thing that the two guards at this entrance could make out was a small blue speck that could be seen high up. As the guards noticed, the speck began to grow larger and larger, as it began to descend towards where they were standing. When it was only a short distance above them, the could finally see clearly that the 'speck' was in fact a Salamence, with a purple haired man perched on its back. The guards were confused by this development, as they had not been informed of any potential arrivals at this entrance today.

As the Dragon Pokemon landed, one of the guards stepped towards it and said to the purple haired man, "Who are you? What's your business here?" A slight smirk appeared on Hunters face. Being threatened was nothing new to him, and his casual response would suggest as much, "Oh not much." The Sentinel then proceeded to take a Pokeball out of his pocket and continued by saying, "Just looking to help out some friends in need." He then tossed the Pokeball and then said as he did so, "Bronzor, use Hypnosis!" The ball opened up, and Bronzor appeared in a flash of light. The Bronze Pokemon's eyes began to glow a bright red as it stared directly at the two guards. The effects were immediately felt as the two guards began to feel drowsy, as their eyes slowly slid shut. A split second later, both guards collapsed to the ground, fast asleep. So far, so good. Everything had gone according to plan so far.

Hunter then caught sight a ring of keys attached to the belt of one of the guards, and promptly reached down, unclipped them, and placed them in his pocket. The Sentinel then turned towards his Salamence and Bronzor, and held out two Pokeballs and the two Pokemon were quickly whisked back inside in two streams of red light. He then proceeded to walk inside the cave. It was important for him to walk rather than run so that he would be able to keep his ears focused on any footsteps that could be nearby. If even one prison worker caught sight of him, the operation would be as good as over before it even began. As he reached the end of the path that led into the cave from the entrance, the Sentinel down both the left, and right diverging paths to see if anyone was there. Seeing no one, the Sentinel now decided that it was time for phase two. He reached into his pocket and took out a two way radio. He held it up to his mouth, and talked into it, in a quick and urgent tone saying, "I'm in."

[Phobos]

"Roger that," Phobos responded. He was far away from the Shoal Cave prison for the time being, having waited near the water's edge on back of his Sharpedo. The tiny creature shook and snarled, eager to fight, but was "calmed" by a clumsy pat on the head from the ex-Cipher's massive, metal hands.  It looked up at him, glaring a bit, but settled down slightly when he heard what the man had to say. "You'r up soon, Country Joe.  Sending in Agent Butterfield!

The Sharpedo and trainer were hardly the focus of this little raid.  Instead they were the distraction, and what better distraction than sending a giant balloon whale right at the prison?  Their massive companion arose from the deep, letting out a low moan as he began lazily floating toward Shoal Cave.  There was no malice in his eyes, or any delight.  Only the same, unchanging expression of placid stupidity he always wore.  He didn't know he had any orders, and even if he did he was quite a bit too far to hear them.  He only followed his one biological imperative, a possibility Phobos was banking on for this mission; the urge to splash around in the waves.

Of course, when you're the largest Pokemon to ever roam the world, your Splash becomes surprisingly effective.

Butterfield leaped high into the air, waves splashing in every direction upon impact.  Each bounce brought about more waves, a very cheerful whale sitting in the center of this little storm.  He clapped his little flippers against his blubbery flesh as he bounced, making keening moans the whole time.  It was a horrible mess of splashing, noise, and perfect chaos: surely what Hunter would need for a distraction!

[TOBIAS]

This place started off as a bad idea that only grew worse once he entered the grounds, but after exiting that huge hallway and walking into the inner sanctum of the frozen caverns, Tobias' instinct to leave only piqued ever closer to the exit. Why would anyone want to be caught in such a bloody frozen hellhole? The gusts of bitter air moving through the air were about as welcoming as rabid houndours nipping at your heels, while the entire place had that horrid dank feeling of misfortune. Though a Nox operative through and through, not even Tobias wanted to be here. As unfriendly of a place as he thought it was, he probably wouldn't want even his worst enemies thrown in here to rot. These ideas perused around in his mind as the guarded men and Edwards made their way across the hard frozen floors, Tobias began to tread carefully with that brace around his ankle making him feel on edge. If he hadn't been wearing a coat and been given the specific task to fill in for another member of Nox, he'd of sworn he was quietly being thrown into this prison himself. Shuddering slightly from the cold as the men reached a set of stairs heading onward to a lower floor, Edwards took note of the temperature, almost nodding in a discomforted empathy. "Just below is the entrance to the heavy-security cell blocks, I suggest you get used to the cold while you're up here." Glancing to Tobias as the young man's head shuddered, Edwards took the first few steps down with another fine word of caution. "The further down you go, the colder it's going to get." Glaring harshly to the older man as Tobias followed after Edwards and the guards urged him forward, part of his instinct to push him down the stairs was tugging away at him all the more now. 'Great.' The group made their way down the stairs, just before hearing a voice call through the halls and another guard came running towards Edwards, causing them all to halt in their tracks. "Sir! There appears to be a disturbance outside the perimeter, should we dispatch some agents to deal with the matter?" Tobias watched the new guard to arrive as he spoke, then looking back at Edwards with his still-annoyed expression. "A disturbance? This had better be important." Edwards snapped, the guard holding his ground towards his superior. "Y-Yes sir. There's a very large pokemon causing a commotion outside the facility, bringing about huge waves that could flood the entrance if left unchecked. It's getting closer to the island, sir." Tobias flinched slightly from hearing this, it could have been a good enough excuse to get out of this freezer for a little while and get some air. Edwards seemed quick to think things through, but general concern began to show on his face as the guard finished. For an island this size to be overcome with large amounts of water would mean a serious hazard to keeping the entrance and exit secure, but a pokemon getting too close to a Nox hideout could mean enough of an attack to stir problems for them later if they did nothing about it. Edwards finally turned to Tobias with an annoyed placid frown of his own, then turning to send away the two guards at their backs. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to make you wait for a short while. It seems I'm going to have to check into this after all." Edwards began walking back up the stairs as Tobias followed closely, pressure in the wanderer's chest began to mount when he'd hoped he might get to find some action or get the hell out of there. "If it turns out to be a small matter, I shall deal with it quickly and return. If not, well, I trust you'll stay here until I can come back, hmm?" Tobias was about ready to run for the exit by this point, but knowing his orders would count on him sticking out the cold a while longer, the young man simply relaxed his expression a bit and nodded in compliance. "Yeah, I'll wait." He replied, then looking away to the floor in an almost abrupt excuse to not punch the old man in the jaw. Taking off without another word, Tobias found himself left in the empty hall while the rest of the party headed through another corridor far to the right, where he assumed the important offices were located. After standing there for only a few seconds, Tobias began heading down the stairs again to the lower areas, keeping his movements quiet before he would be discovered by any free-roaming guards. The last thing he needed was to be grabbed and thrown into a cell for wandering around, but he'd be damned if they'd throw a fellow Nox member into an ice box with bars just for wanting to get his job done faster. "There's no way in hell I'm waiting for your pampered ass to babysit me, old man." Hushed to a whisper, the youth continued his way into the colder, darker depths of the cavern passageways. _________________________________________________________________ Words: 873 Notes: N/A

[Hunter]

Hunter heard the words crackling over the radio in response. He was pleased. This meant that the message had been received, and that phase two of the plan could now begin. As he began slowly walking again, deeper into the cave, he remembered that there would be no way for him to discern whether or not the distraction was working, given the size of the complex, without contacting his partner over the radio again. After all, the distraction was meant to draw the prison guards away from where Hunter was going and if it were possible for him to make out the noises of the guards trying to deal with whatever it was that Hunter's partner had cooked up, then that would mean that he would be too close to them for comfort, and no where near where he needed to get to to break out the prisoners. In short, Hunter simply had to trust that his partner would distract the guards long enough for him to get the job done. If he didn't...well then there was a very good chance that Hunter would never see the light of day again.

The Sentinel couldn't help but shiver slightly as he made his way deeper into the prison complex. Even for a guy like him who had spent many years living on the cold streets of Opelucid City, this was quite cold. It was beginning to make perfect sense to him about how, before Nox had taken this place over, many Ice-type Pokemon had made their homes here. Even so, this was a good sign. Hunter had been told before he had come here, that the prisoners were housed in the deepest, darkest, and coldest corners of the complex, and the fact that it seemed to be getting colder, likely meant that he was getting warmer (no pun intended) in trying to find the prisoners. He figured that all he had to do was keep walking to where it felt colder and he'd eventually find what he was looking for, the guards, and their Pokemon notwithstanding of course.

Of course it seemed to be mere coincidence that just as Hunter was thinking about the guards, he just happened to turn the corner of one of the passages and come face to face with someone who in all likelihood was one of them. It appeared that the person was a young, white haired man with red eyes, and catching sight of him just about set off a panic button in Hunter's mind. How could he not have heard this guy coming? Was the floor here made of some cushy, clay-like substance that absorbed noise? In any event, such a matter was unimportant now. The fact was that Hunter had now been spotted, and now the entire operation was at risk of falling apart. He had to do something, but what? Should he just go for broke and try to quietly take him out. Such a move would be extremely risky, as 'taking him out' would not be something that would be easily done in silence, if not impossible. The chance was very high that the noise would alert some of the other prison personnel, which would undoubtedly leave him thoroughly screwed.

Instead Hunter decided to try for a more subtle approach, if such a thing was even possible in this situation. He immediately stopped moving and stood upright and stayed as still as a statue as he raised his right hand up to his forehead in a saluting gesture, in the hopes that somehow, this was what was customary for prison personnel. Admittedly, this tactic was probably as doomed to fail as any other, but the Sentinel had only had a split second to think of something, and this was what had popped into his head in that extremely short time span. Hunter fully expected to find himself making a break for it in a matter of seconds.

[Phobos]

Whale? Whale? Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaale.

Butterfield really had no idea what was going on. He didn't really care, either. So long as the water was cool and he was bouncy, all he really needed was enough space to splash around in. And boy was the ocean BIG! So many different places to splash, such little time! He bounced around, his priority changing from splashing in place to going all around the prison. He didn't even notice the waves he was kicking up in a constant frenzy, or the panic these tsunamis were causing. All he knew was the sweet, relaxing smell of the ocean.

Phobos smirked, looking at his Sharpedo. "You're up, Country Joe. Hop up on land and bite the fuck out of anyone who tries to stop us. Me? I'm goin' to the skies!" The red light of a Pokeball illuminated, and before Country Joe could react his trainer was flying away on back of his Steelix, Sly. The Sharpedo watched as Phobos went higher and higher, only to shake his head and begin stalking toward the mainland.

It was going to be a long wait before anybody came into view, and in the horrible chaos caused by Butterfield shaking it Country Joe's fin was nearly unnoticeable.  He waited near the doors that marked entrances, hoping for a Noxie to pop out so he could eats its legs.  The poor dear was getting quite hungry, after all.

Phobos, meanwhile, continued climbing higher into the sky on his Magnet Rise Steelix.  His big, metal hands clumsily wrapped around a crag in its thick neck, barely tight enough to Phobos to avoid falling off.  He wasn't one to panic, however.  Instead he decided to just enjoy the ride, waiting to reach max altitude.

The fall would come soon enough.  Butterfield was merely the distraction FOR the distraction.  Phobos and his Steelix hung in midair, waiting for any signs of resistance down below.  This was gonna be one hell of a drop.

[TOBIAS]

The small puddles in the dungeon-esque halls began to quake with an unnoticable rhythm, along with a strange banging sound coming from the far-above halls of the cavern. Tobias stopped for a moment to look to the ground by his side where the ripples of the water shuffled about on the floor, the gurilla also noticing how the banging overhead was steadily growing louder when the walls were beginning to subtly quake following each slam. The young man stared coldly at the wall, though at odds with himself about what the meaning could imply. Was this place coming under attack, or was this just the reprecussions of a storm that had arrived outside? His guard had to be up, the pounding sounds now echoing through the complex sounded something like the beating of war drums that steadily grew louder and more violent. If the guards and personnel were handling the situation, shouldn't they be dealing with whatever it was outside? Shrugging off the notion for the time being, the white-haired young man continued down the long corridor until suddenly noticing a strange colour among the monochrome halls of dim greys and whites. Something... purple, caught his eye. Halting dead in his tracks and turning towards the tunnel's turn-off to face a new figure now standing just a few feet away, Tobias looked the man over with scowling eyes. This man wore nothing but black, his long spiked violet hair stood out the most from the desaturated surroundings as they both met with unmatched glances. The strange didn't look like anyone who would be used to these cold temperatures, or even one of the guards or higher-ups running this prison's protocols. Tobias stood his ground to this strange man, though relaxing his suspicious glare when the purple-haired stranger stood at attention with his hand held precise to his forehead, then not moving or flinching in the slightest. The gurilla failed to falter from his position for a moment, his expression never changing as he countered him with the same salute and lowered his arm once more. Introductions weren't exactly an art within the same factions, but Tobias didn't see people skills to be very important when the only people he'd need to greet were the opponents on the battlefield. The man stood very still upon lowering his arm as well, the banging overhead became louder and in slightly faster intervals, the walls overhead sounding like they could crash down if it got much worse outside. Regardless of this, Tobias simply began to loosen up the air between them for a moment. "At ease. I suppose you're to be my escort to the lower levels, right? At least I hope so, with Jamieson taking off on me like that." Tobias watched in a strange quietness, not moving from his position even with the halls continuing to pound and shudder around them. Ironic, that the seemingly colder man in the room would be the first to break the ice. _________________________________________________________________ Words: 493 Notes: ICE PUNS! >D

[Hunter]

Hunter was initially overcome with a great amount of relief when the man failed to see through his seemingly futile gesture, and saluted him back. Which is to say that the man did not begin to question Hunter on the basis that saluting everyone he saw would not be seen as normal and would warrant at least a casual inquiry as to why he was doing it. Granted, for all Hunter knew, saluting everyone could in fact be normal procedure for this. The mans reaction to Hunter's gesture suggested that it might at the very least be plausible, but that was something that the Sentinel would have to ponder for another time.

Of course, Hunter's initial sense of relief was all but shattered when the man didn't simply continue onward after saluting him back. Instead he suggested that Hunter might be the person who was supposed to escort him down to the lower levels instead of someone who this man had claimed had 'taken off like that.' This implied to Hunter that whoever was with this man was supposed to be working with him on something, but had abruptly left in order to deal with some unforeseen matter. Perhaps that meant that Hunter's mission partner was at the very least succeeding in making a commotion to throw the prison. In any event, Hunter needed to figure out some sort of response quickly, lest he arouse suspicion after his sudden saluting gesture had actually worked. He needed to find some way to convince this man to continue on his way, and to not follow him around,

"Lower levels? No I'm not here for that. There's something going on outside, and I was...uh...sent to find something to help...uh...deal with it." Wow, had Hunter ever botched that one. Not only had he not given any sort of description about what his partner might have been doing to distract everyone (not that he hadn't actually known what the partner was doing anyway, but he still should've been able to come up with something). But he had stuttered over his response. If this man wasn't already suspicious of Hunter's behavior, he probably would be now.

[Phobos]

Phobos had no idea what was going on down there. After all, he was many feet above the air hovering ona giant metal earthworm. His vision of the prison was obscured by a huge whale bouncing around and kicking up waves, and the only noises he could hear were alert sirens and the occasional scream of a Nox prison guard on patrol. "Heh. That's my team," he remarked at the cacophony of chaos, knowing that somewhere his undersized shark was bouncing about and spooking anyone who got too close.

But, of course, now wasn't the time to reminisce. Now was the time to act, in which acting was defined as dropping one of the world's largest Pokemon onto an active military installation. If this didn't catch Short Stuff and the One-Armed Bandit's attentions, Phobos didn't know what would. Sly hung above the air, turning to Phobos and flashing him a gap-toothed grin. Phobos merely grinned back, filling in the Pokemon's words for him. "You bet I'm ready, dudebro.

LET'S BRING THE WHOLE DAMN HOUSE DOWN!"

And with that Sly let out a whoop that wouldn't be out of place at a frat party, dropping down from the air and curling his massive body up for maximum density. Phobos was safely nestled within the Steelix's body: it was far from a comfortable nest, but being banged up on impact would be way preferable to falling from the sky on his own. He clenched his teeth and tucked his knees beneath his arms, waiting for the drop. It wouldn't be too high of a drop: certainly nothing that would cave the prison's ceiling in or anything. It'd just cause a rockslide and a very loud noise, which combined with Butterfield's splashing and thumping would make it wound like Lux was attacking on all sides.

Maybe this would get those annoying prison guards to all rush out and investigate. And with them gone, good old Hunter could get the job done without the least bit of resistance.

Speaking of Butterfield, the whale was continuing to not care about a single threat that came his way. A small group of watchmen were currently looking at the whale, wondering what he was doing and whether he was trained or wild. But he didn't acknowledge them or even seem aware of their presence. They were so small, after all, and he was huuuuuuuuuuge.