Scene #9169: *Sigh*... Saving Sundew

Owner	Pose
Sarracenia	Welcome to the Sundew Kingdom! The visitors today have all been here before, but it might still be impressive to see. It is a lush, thick jungle with trees the size of skyscrapers and underbrush that could hide houses. There is only one road that leads from the nearest crossroads between kingdoms through the jungle to the castle town, and despite it being a nearly straight road one cannot see the city until one reaches the shores of the lake it was built into. A broad, heavy drawbridge spans the lake so people can reach the city by ground. But, the easiest way to reach the city is by air! There is a bustling airport made of several levels of floating platforms that support various wooden airships and other aerial vehicles. Despite being dozens of stories tall, the airport still does not reach the tops of the trees. And neither do the towers of the castle. When the incoming tribble trackers arrive, there are two places of interest. One is the princess's chambers, which are in the highest room in the tallest tower of the castle. There is a balcony if anyone wishes to fly up, but the entrances into the room are sealed both there and inside the castle halls. There are four towers in total, with a hexagonal middle area that likely contains the throne area and dining hall. The other point of interest is the next tallest tower of the castle, judging by the flow of soldiers toward it and the flow of servants away from it. Something is happening in there, but talk from those moving to and away is that they can't get into it for some reason. The doors are either jammed or locked. Apparently that tower is where Sarra's stores of food and power-ups are kept. Those passing through the jungle road may notice large bug people on their way. Mantis-like in appearance, complete with scythe-like front arms except they all stand at least 7 feet tall. They are clearly tribal people judging by their lack of real clothing. What they do wear is things like flowers and bones, and they tend to carry long primative spears. They are watching the castle town warily and their antennae are wiggling, as if they can sense something is wrong.
Alexis	Look, Alexis can understand the facination with small cute fuzzy things. She knows how Sarracenia gets. Hey she has her own moments, when with people she doesn't feel the need to keep up all the tough tomboy attitude. It's how other people reacted to hearing about the things that got her a bit concerned. Sure, sure, Madeleine may not be on the best of terms with her friends right now. But she's still an experienced hero, and if she's concerned there's probably something worth being concerned about, a little bit. So Alexis isn't wasting much time, making only a brief stop at the airport platforms as necessary for arriving in the Kingdom. By this point she's well known to be one of the Princess' best friends/ladies-in-waiting and it only takes a brief check before she's ushered on her way, once more taking off upon her Flygon towards the castle. As they pass through the portion of jungle the tribal mantoids gathering near it's bounderies is hard to miss. That's... maybe nothing. But she's been told before they don't gather like that so visibly unless there's something important. But thoughts on the matter are quickly swept aside as Mirage pulls up to land on the familiar balcony outside Sarracenia's room atop the tall tower. Alexis slips down from her back, a green colored cat sitting atop her head as she walks over to the door... and of course finds it locked. Okay, now she's a little worried. Sarra typically doesn't lock that door, as it is the way Alexis usually comes and goes on her visits to not have to trudge through the entire castle. As if sensing the tension forming around them Catnip bristles a bit with a small mewl of concern. "Yeah... I'm hoping everyone is just overreacting too," she mutters up at the Sprigarito, then knocks on the door. "Sarra, you in there?! What's going on girl?"
Aidan Proudpick	Despite the worry of Captain Thorn, Aidan is firmly not worried. This is fine. Sarra has locked herself up in her room before, right? What trouble can she get up to? What was the last time Sarra did something c- Oh yea. THAT. Still, Madeleine is worried about this. So, rather than take his time to look as prim and proper to at least mirror some of the work Sarra puts into herself, Aidan is here from his exercise. A tank top that says 'Powered By Nuts', jogging shorts, a hastily holstered gun, and his shields as he leaps out from the warpgate and starts running. He grabs the first guard he can, pulling him close, "Heya, so there's a little thing going on, can you tell me where it is going on?" He is all smiles waving at the giant bug-people, nothing wrong here. Rather than going through the castle itself, Aidan takes the straightest course, gripping the sides of the wall and scurrying up. He expertly revolves around the tower, climbing up to join the guards at the top.
Madeleine Cadrasteia	On a good day, Madeleine might stop to compliment the insect people's spears - though of simple make, the designs are efficient and well-maintained - or maybe grab some ice cream. But today is not a good day. Madeleine is looking haggard, with bags under her eyes and hair that's hardly touched a brush in days. And her present condition aside, she's here on urgent business. The first thing she does is look for the captain of the guard who'd reached out over radio earlier. When she finds him, she has a barrage of questions. Where is the tribble crate? Has the princess said why she isn't opening her door? How many tribbles are in there with her? Have the tribbles had a chance to feed since they were located and secured? Assuming one tribble, multiplying with an average litter of ten producing a new generation every twelve hours, how many tribbles could be in that tower right now?
Sarracenia	The guard captain is found at the front gate of the castle itself, talking with a few other officers. The piranha plant officers are all in slightly fancier armor than the usual soldier or sailor with man-o-war hats that have a red feather, so they are easy to find. He turns as she approaches, standing slightly taller than most other piranha plants. Where is the crate? Locked in the dungeon. Has the princess answered them about opening her door? Only to say she is busy. How many tribbles are in there with her? They have no idea. Have they had a chance to feed? Again no idea. How many tribbles? Still no idea, but the tribbles were recovered over three days ago. The guards aren't the best at math, but that doesn't seem like a lot to them. It should be manageable, right? Alexis's knock on the door is met with silence. Even the curtains are drawn over the large intricate glass doors that form the balcony entrance. After a few moments, the side of one is pulled back enough for just Sarra's eyes to be visible. They widen when the princess sees it is Alexis, then what sounds like five locks are undone in an almost cartoonish fashion before she finally opens the door and quickly pulls Alexis in. "Forgive me, Mirage!" she says before closing the door again. Inside... ...tribbles are popping one by one out of Sarra's purse one at a time. She quickly runs to hold it closed again. "Alexis! Please, you cannot tell them! I only took one, but...somehow this happened!" There are at least a couple dozen already in the room, and judging by how the purse keeps bulging every now and then they are still trying to escape. Aidan is met with a different perspective. The tower he is climbing is pretty well secured from the outside, but there are windows every now and then that he could slip into. If he does climb all the way to the top he might notice...that the top of the tower is bulging upward. Suddenly, an alarm starts going off. Similar to an air raid siren. It is very loud, and moments after it goes off people and plants start pouring out of the tower. One of them is stopped by the guard captain as he is talking to Madeleine. "Soldier! What is going on in there?!" Thorn asks. "We broke open the door to the weapons room, and it was filled with...those things! And they must have eaten some fireflowers because-" He does not get to finish the sentence before the top of the tower explodes upward like a volcano. Or...really more like a popcorn machine. Tribbles go flying everywhere! Whatever their reproduction rate is supposed to be, there must be hundreds or even a few thousand flying outward. And nearly all of them seem to be under the influence of power-ups! Some fly away using raccoon ears and a tail. Some heroically fly off using capes. Some Bullet Bills fly out over the forest before exploding into tribbles that rain down on the jungle. Some are firing fireballs or ice bolts, some have on shiny black helmets and are somehow holding small hammers that get thrown about. The high power of the explosion suggests bob-ombs. They must have set off Sarra's stock of them. The height and arc means that the city only has a light amount of tribbles landing around, which the soldiers will easily be able to mop up. The real problem is the jungle. As tribbles rain down, chirping and buzzing fills the air. A chorus that most anyone would recognize as 'this means war' which is easily tracked to the bug people. "...the chief is really not going to be happy about this." Captain Thorn says, and runs toward the front gate of the city. Already there is an even larger bug with an ornate headdress of bones and feathers and piranha plant teeth. And she is glaring at the Captain and whoever else emerges.
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine is just about to enter the storeroom tower when the alarm sounds to evacuate. She finds herself caught up in the rush and carried away from her objective, just far enough to have a perfect view of the explosion, and the catastrophic swarm of tribbles it unleashes. This is really bad. Seeing the outpouring of tribbles into the jungle, Madeleine rushes for the city gates, ready for war (against tribbles) even before she realizes the possibility of war (with the bug people). She skids to a halt right in front of the insectoids' leader. "Okay so! Yes, this is bad, and yes, it's the Sundew Kingdom's fault. You handed a problem over to them and they made it a lot worse for you and for me. But right now isn't the time for blame! That can come later, and I promise it will come, but right now we have to deal with this emergency. There's, uh... oh LOOK OUT!" The huntress dives, barreling through and over the bug chief before dragging the mantis-woman with her into cover as a swarm of high-velocity tribbles bounces along the coastline. Though still soft, they're moving upwards of ninety miles an hour, having built up some serious velocity in their long fall from the exploding tower. "Damn it..." Madeleine curses, before spotting Aidan among the emerging fray. "HEY!" she shouts to get his attention before waving him over to where she shelters alongside the mantis chief. "We need to stop those awful bouncing ones! And then... probably the fire-flowers should be our next priority, we can't let them start a blaze in the jungle! Any ideas?" She glances between the squirrel and the bug expectantly.
Alexis	Alexis lets out a sigh of relief as Sarra peeks out, then the clicking of locks opening is heard. "Oh good you are up he--Ack!" Sarra grabs onto her and yanks her through the door before she can finish saying anything. Or before Mirage can realize what's going on, leaving the Flygon just to look confused for the moment. Though at least she got an apology! Poor Mirage may of been left outside, but Catnip is still sitting on Alexis' head so he gets by proxy pulled inside, and gets to see the same fuzzy apocalypse that has been forming in Sarracenia's room. "Myaa." Which is enough to still get Alexis to briefly pinch the bridge of her nose and muttering under her breath. "Yeaaaah, about that Sarra, your staff already saw you sneaking out with one." Okay monster trainer, time to do damage control. First Alexis notes Sarra holding the purse shut, and recalls what people were saying about the critters earlier when the crate was reported. "No, no! Let them out. Get them outta your purse, they're just eating all the snacks you keep in there and multiplying faster than a Ditto in the Daycare!" Of course there's already the ones loose in the room. Alexis flicks open her Pokedex in one hand and starts skimming through the mobile storage boxes app looking for certain Pokemon. "Catnip, I need a moment, do something to keep them from spreading." "Myaa!" The ivy colored feline leaps down from her head to land in front of Alexis, fur still bristled. Small glowing shapes almost like thorns burst from his form, launching at a few tribbles. Where on impact they quickly sprout out, spawning into a tangle of roots and vines in an attempt to bind the small fluffballs in place via Grass Knot.
Aidan Proudpick	Hm. Aidan flexes backwards from the tower, using his legs to hold himself in position and peer up at the bulging roof of the tower. In a movie, this is where the camera would zoom into his face as he murmurs 'what the' to himself. A furry little spheroid hits Aidan in the face, using his face as a launching board to fly up into the air on the cape. Another three in buzzy beetle helmets crash into him, pushing him down with each blow until he grabs the tower upside down, letting more tribbles fly away from him. A puff of air blows a hammer off course. A quick scuttle across the tower helps him avoid getting blasted by a fireball. He tilts his head downward as Maddy calls up to him. "Oh! There you are!" Aidan flips back down, facing the tower again before WOOSH. He blows out at the tower, flying into the air. Squirrels are exceptionally good at falling. Aidan spreads his arms and legs wide, like a skydiver, and his tail flutters out in the wind. He lands some way out in front of the group, landing into a loping run and then a skid to a halt in front of them. "Oh! Hey chief! Hey Madeleine!" He waves at the mantis with a grin before turning towards Madeleine. He turns towards where she is pointing. Hurtling like bullets, the tribbles are coming towards the group like a fusilliade of plush toys. A 'squeak' chokes out of Aidan's throat before he steps forward. White roils out of his mouth, tendrils of air lacing up into his fingers as he weaves a wall. With a rush, he pushes it forward. It's like passing through mud, the air barrier thick enough to slow down bullets. "Uh, ice! Can you do an ice wall?" He pulls the pistol out from his side. "You block them off, I'll glue them down."
Madeleine Cadrasteia	"Uh, ice! Can you do an ice wall?" Madeleine nods sharply and takes a deep breath of her own before blowing out a large cloud of misty vapor. Guided by Madeleine's will, it flows around the wind barrier and forms a wide ring of ice around the bounce-imbued tribbles. Their ricochets back and forth around the circle would eventually punch through the ice, were it not for Aidan's wind-wall. Instead, each time they pass over the center of the ring they lose more and more speed to the aerodynamic interference, until they drop out of the air to be left huddled at the base of the wind barrier. Without their initial burst of literal explosive speed, the superball tribbles will be stuck inside the ice arena for easy clean-up later. Unless the fireball-spewing tribbles get to it first. They appear to have little control over when or where they spit fire, instead coughing bursts of flame seemingly at random. Already a small patch of jungle is ablaze, and one of the big trees has been set alight. Madeleine has little recourse against wide-area threats like that presented by the Fire Flower-gorged tribbles, and doesn't seem inclined to risk her eyebrows today - instead she hustles off into the jungle, to handle tribble threats yet unrevealed.
Sarracenia	'Yeaaaah, about that Sarra, your staff already saw you sneaking out with one.' Sarra's expression sinks. "Oh...I see." she says. As the Sprigatito traps the tribbles in the room...the explosion rocks Sarra's room and the pressure in Sarra's purse disappears as she stumbles onto her bed. "What was that?!" Sarra exclaims, then opens her balcony to look outside. She sees all the tribbles raining down, then yelps and dives for cover as a Bullet Bill comes rocketing into her room. It explodes, sending more tribbles raining down on Alexis and her cat-mon. Sarra whines plaintively as several pieces of furniture are shattered. Most notably her luxurious bed. "Let them out...might have been a good idea..." Sarra says, peeking over her balcony railing at the scene outside. Captain Thorn skids to a stop alongside Madeleine, and the chief is just about to start talking when Madeleine intercepts the mantis's concerns. Then, tackles the chieftain! They tumble, and the chieftain rolls to catch her momentum and ends up with a scythe clamped down around Madeleine. Dangerous flying tribbles rocket by, leaving the mantis leader blinking (which consists of the dark area visible through the translucent lenses of her eyes appearing and disappearing) and she lets Madeleine go. "So, you know what you are doing? Unlike these interlopers?" she says, having a rather smooth and human-like voice despite her appearance. Aidan lands nearby and the large mantis regards him curiously. "...that is a rather casual way to address a chief." she comments, but does not seem too upset by it. "We will help where we can, but we are ill-equipped to deal with something like this. We do not use these curse-ed power-ups that the city dwellers use. They are false power, lost when one takes any sort of harm. And we would rather not harm these creatures if possible. However..." She raises a hand, and a couple dozen mantises wearing pitcher plants as large as themselves as backpacks emerge. "...we will assist you by containing them once their powers have been taken." The mantises start catching tribbles and throwing them into their plants. As pitcher plants are filled, they are sealed up and taken back to the lake's shoreline. As Madeleine dives into the jungle, the chieftain watches curiously. "I hope she does know how to handle herself. There are much more dangerous things than these fluffy creatures out there."
Alexis	The initial eruption also gets Mirage's attention as she's still sitting on the balcony. So she's also the first to see the chaos following it, and promptly launches herself into the air. So thankfully not on the balcony when the Bullet Bill comes hurtling up. But also not in a position to do anything about it. While Alexis is busy recalling Catnip and diving for cover as there's explosions and living projectiles. It takes a moment before everyone can regain their wits and Alexis steps over to the now open balcony. "... That's the tower the crate was locked in, isn't it?" she asks, although the answer is already kind of obvious. Then looks around. "Mirage?" Fortunately the Flygon reveals that she escaped the Bullet Bill bombarding as she flies around the other side of the tower. However she's still a bit paniced, pointing out where a part of the jungle has caught fire. "Sunnova... Com'n, lets go." She hoists herself onto the Flygon's back as she lifts off the balcony. This is exactly why she doesn't bring very many Fire pokemon out when she's in Sundew. But for the moment as Mirage dives towards the fire outbreak she switches track, grabbing two more Pokeballs and tossing them out. "Go, Mudslinger, Slosh! Get that fire contained before it spreads to more of the jungle!" The two pokeballs releases, and the larger form of her Swampert lands near the fire... while the Quagsire just bellyflops face first into the ground. Only to stand up afterwards, swaying a little for a moment but his derpy blank expression undaunted. It's Mudslinger that points at him, then points up at the air, before turning towards the fire. Slosh proceeds to cock his head back, mouth opening almost disturbingly wide as he makes some gurgling, gargling noises, and then spews out water high into the air. Which starts to fall down around them and the fire like a light rain. In addition to damping the fires from spreading Rain Dance also boosts the power of Water based abilities. So when Mudslinger starts playing firetruck by spewing Hydro Pump at the burning trees it's with even greater flame dousing capacity. But if she's dousing the fire someone else is going to have to worry about wrangling Tribbles for the moment.
Aidan Proudpick	There's always a certain joy in Aidan's eyes as he watches someone else's powers at work. A bit of 'the grass is always greener'. The arena of ice, a solid bowl for the bouncers to steadily work their inertia out in is a great trick. "So, you know what you are doing? Unlike these interlopers?" As Aidan pulls up his pistol, his ears flick backwards and his tail freezes. "You mean the fuzzy animals, right?" He says, hopefully. Please let her mean the fuzzy animals. The possibility that Aidan is going to need to sit down Sarracenia to talk to her about her kingdom incroaching on indigneous people's lands as WELL as the Ritescu talk sits on Aidan's shoulders like a ton of bricks. "Well, no." He pulls out a DRUM MAGAZINE from his bag and snaps it into the pistol. A shield slides over his free hand. "Usually I just figure things out as I go along. Just keep them gathered up and safe!" Wind doesn't go well with fire. And neither does fur. Besides, Aidan is a bit sensitive about his fur, there's a lot of it and he likes it to look good. Wielding a pistol with a drum magazine looks cooler than it is. White globs of sticky GLUE FOAM fire out from the pistol, slamming into soft fuzzy bodies, arresting movement with an unfortunate obeyance to the laws of inertia. He builds up into a healthy jog, rushing them down with the gun. Two quick shots at a time, not bothering to be stingy with the ammo. Fire bounces off his shield, splattering into the grass, over his head and face, threatening to singe his ears and eyebrows. Just as a lob of fireballs comes at him, coming painfully close to blowing off some of his hair, the water comes down in a light rain, quickly matting down his fur. "Thanks for the rescue!"
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Aidan's glue-foam proves rather effective at both pinning down the tribbles to prevent them from spreading out, and dampening their flames. With a whole lot of non-flammable material coming from his direction, and both a constant sprinkle of water and some focused torrents from Alexis's Pokemon, the fires begin to die out. In a matter of minutes the area is safe enough for the mantids to start collecting the de-powered, soggy tribbles in their backpacks. Then a great crashing is heard from the treeline, and Madeleine emerges from the jungle at a full sprint. The roar of something truly immense rings out among the chaos. A tribble the size of a large house rumbles out between two of the giant trees, crushing smaller vegetation under its enormous bulk. But that's not Madeleine's main concern. Without looking behind her, she cups her hands around her mouth and shouts: "They're coming out of the ground!" It's just enough warning to get the mantids scurrying for solid terrain - outcroppings of stone or freestanding boulders - as the earth begins to shake. Then, dozens of tribbles with wide, conical drill-heads bore their way up from underground, wandering aimlessly and heedless of the destruction they're wreaking on the soil. "We have to keep them away from the trees! If they chew through the roots they'll come down on us - and the city!" Madeleine points to one of the towering jungle trees, easily tall enough to cross the clearing between the jungle and the Sundew Kingdom and wreak havoc on both were it to fall. What's more, it's hard to get an accurate idea of how many drill tribbles there are, or where they are, because they keeping digging down in one place and popping up in another.
Sarracenia	'... That's the tower the crate was locked in, isn't it?' Sarra shakes her head. "No. That was the tower with all the food and power-ups stored in it." she says gravely. The fire starts up and Sarra gasps! As Mirage takes off, Sarra grabs on to the Flygon's tail. "Hey! You cannot leave me he-EEEEEEEK!" The Flygon takes off, dragging Sarra off the balcony and waving her up and down as it flies. Sure, Sarra is used to flying but it is usually under her own power-up or in a vehicle, not dangling precariously from a fan-shaped tail! Sarra climbs her way up to a more stable position, wrapping arms and legs around that tail, then pulls out an ice flower and joins in the fire-fighting. Ice bolts rain down, but are only a drop in the bucket against a growing forest fire. Alexis's water pokemon are much more effective. 'You mean the fuzzy animals, right?' "No, I mean the Sundew Kingdom. While it is true they have left us alone for the most part, they built in our lands against our will." the chieftain answers Aidan. "We have had a tense peace, but they are considered interlopers by my people." Captain Thorn grunts and folds his leaf-arms. "That was decades ago now, and the kingdom has paid your people handsomely." The cheiftan frowns. "Which is the only reason there was not a war in the first place." Tribbles are collected quickly by the mantids, so no one has to worry about them escaping to cause more trouble. The crashing in the forest draws the chieftain's eyes, and mantids are out of the way long before the tribble emerges. The drilling tribbles though, those are going to cause some problems. Not just with the trees, but if they make it to the city the foundations of the buildings would also be at risk! "Guards! Form ranks!" Captain Thorn calls out, and piranha plants in steel breastplates wielding long spears gather just off the end of the bridge to fend off incoming drills. "Lift the bridge!" he calls out. There is a heavy clank as the lock is presumably released, then the draw bridge starts to lift to try and ensure no tribbles can make it back into the city. Mantids help as well. There are not enough of them to stop the tribbles, but they catch and depower those drill tribbles that get close to them. "Mega tribble?!" Sarra exclaims from her spot hanging on to Mirage's tail. "That is one of the few power-ups that does not simply disappear if you are hit! We have to wait it out! Try and force it away from the city! Maybe down the main road!"
Aidan Proudpick	"That was decades ago now, and the kingdom has paid your people handsomely." "That's no okay! It's not something you can just pay out, you have to pay for your past crimes!" A sore spot for Aidan. Fantasy guns don't have dramatic quick releases. It takes Aidan a second to grab the drum off the gun and drop it to the side. With a fluid motion, he pockets the gun in the holster, using the other hand to start wiping water from his face. His ears stand up tall as his hand comes across his eyes. The slow painful CRACKING sound of trees, the rumbling of something massive moving forward. "They're coming out of the ground!" As everyone scatters, Aidan is already moving up towards a tree to get away from where he might become paste on the ground. The first sign of drills appearing gets another low whistle from Aidan as he comes back off a branch. "Wow, I didn't know you had THOSE, Sarra!" His hand fits comfortably into a cloth strap as Aidan leaps off from the top of the tree. A neat somersault to the ground turns into a back hand swing, bringing the shield down with a loud CLONK against one of the tribbles, batting it away into a harmless ball. A leap back from one drilling up into the air, then another CLONK. Ear flick flick. He can hear the ground rumbling. Aidan pulls the shield off his hand, snapping it out with a shot to clonk another trible at range, snapping it back with a rush of wind. He turns the other direction, hurling his shield like a warrior princess(and showing about the same amount of 'skin') at another, before whipping it back. "Alexis! I need you to take care of the big one!"
Alexis	"They're coming out of the ground!" That's enough of a warning for Alexis, use to dealing with all sorts of creatures with strange powers, to work with. Fortunately she's still on Mirage's back and the Flygon is mid-air, so they're safe. The pokemon on the ground, not so much. Even if the Tribbles aren't really directly trying to attack anything or anyone, collateral damage is still collateral damage. "Defensive measures!" she shouts at the two of them even as the ground is being burst out of and rubble flung about from it. Mudslinger steps back, holding his broad forearms up to shield his face as his fins spread fully. This generates some manner of aura -- Protect -- to shield himself from stray tribbles bursting out of the ground. While Slosh... just stands there, looking dopey. It's not until a drill tribble smacks into his face, almost comically, and he's totally unphased or undamaged by it as the tribble falls away is it more apparent what he did. Used Curse. Which boosts his offensive and defensive abilities at the cost of speed... which Quagsire already doesn't really care much about. Now they need a bit more oomph. But the Mega Tribble just makes Alexis smirk a bit in response to Aldan directing them at the big menace. "I have just the thing. It's time, Mudslinger." Alexis slides back one sleeve, revealing the glowing orb set into the back of her trainer glove, that she presses her other hand against to activate. Energy engulfs Mudslinger, crackling as what appears to be a DNA helix shaped like a flame briefly flashes upon the engulfing force, and then it shatters away. As Mudslinger roars, now looking more like a buffed bulked up gorilla-like amphibian in his Mega Swampert form. "Go get the big guy, big guy! Liquidation!" As a bonus the Rain Dance is also activating his Swift Swim ability, making the Mega Swampert more than fast enough to launch himself at the Mega Tribble with his massive fists forward, and all the force of a crashing tsunami wave, to push the giant furball away from the city! Meanwhile Slosh waddles seemingly indifferently over to Aidan, and starts spitting globs of frigid Chilling Water at the tribbles bonked by his shield throws to help incapacitate them by making them too cold to move.
Madeleine Cadrasteia	"Mega tribble?! That is one of the few power-ups that does not simply disappear if you are hit! We have to wait it out! Try and force it away from the city! Maybe down the main road!" Madeleine shoots a thumbs-up in Sarra's direction, then puts that hand back on her spear and turns to prepare herself for the mega tribble's approach. It's almost upon her - and she's starting to realize this may not have been wise of her - when Mudslinger slams into the enormous tribble. He braces his feet on the ground and the two behemoths grind to a halt. The mega tribble appears to have hardly noticed the opposition, and even though it's stopped moving toward the city it's taking all of the Mega Swampert's strength to keep it from doing so. "Let me give you a hand!" Madeleine calls, and pounces toward the tribble to join the assault. Rather than shoving and hoping strength is enough to steer the colossus away from the city, she lunges with her spear - it's unlikely that she'll inflict more than flesh wounds, but her real goal is to just inflict enough pain that the tribble even notices its opposition! Eventually, with Mudslinger keeping the creature in check, the huntress's goading begins to pay off as the mega tribble shifts its bulk and begins rolling down the main road, away from Madeleine's precision jabs. Meanwhile Aidan batters down the drill tribbles with his shields, and with the help of Slosh and the Sundew Kingdom's defensive line is able to corral and surround them, where they are easily hemmed in and stripped of their power-ups. With Madeleine and Mudslinger pushing the mega tribble back away from the city, it seems like another lull is impending, when- CLANG Aidan's shield strikes solid metal. A new swarm of tribbles, impossibly heavy, begin rolling out of the open tunnels left by the drill tribbles. Each of the new arrivals bears a cap with a "T" (for Tribble) embossed on it, made of the same reflective metal as their bodies. With their mass and iron-hard composition it may take something other than brute force to deal with this wave...
Sarracenia	'That's no okay! It's not something you can just pay out, you have to pay for your past crimes!' The guard captain is not a politician, so he just says, "Look, I am not here to argue the past or what fair compensation is. I am just here to defend the kingdom and its people!" he says as he smashes an incoming drill with his spear and sends the tribble bouncing into a nearby pitcher plant basket. "Talk to the royals if you want to hash that out!" 'Wow, I didn't know you had THOSE, Sarra!' Sarra finally drops down from Mirage's tail. "Thank you for the ride!" she calls up to Alexis and Mirage as she falls. She lands beside Aidan and huffs. "I do not have those. If I go drilling into the ground I would get my dress dirty! Those are for the construction and landscaping workers." Sarra says as she starts helping bat away drills with that hammer of hers, then prepares to help repel the Mega Tribble. That seems to be handled, though. Sarra blinks, then stands down. At least until tat heavy CLANG from Aidan's shield. "What in the-...metal caps?!" Sarra swings her hammer, and it similarly CLANGS against a tribble, bringing it to a stop but only just and sending the princess into a spiral from the backlash. She ends up looking a bit rattled and dizzy by the time she stops. Meanwhile, Guard Captain Thorn looks pale. "We can't fight these! Metal caps are nearly unstoppable!!" They almost made it through an entire ordeal being heroic, but...faced with an enemy they know they can't beat, the rank and file soldiers start fleeing in every direction, just trying to avoid getting squashed by a flying cannonball of a tribble. Even Thorn can't do much besides run, but it isn't just random. He at least tries to run in directions that if tribbles can chase him they will chase him the same direction as the Mega Tribble. "W-we...just have to hold out until the caps wear off!" Sarra says, still looking a bit woozy. She reaches into her purse to pull out...she blinks and reaches deeper...then slowly pulls her hand back. "I...am out of power-ups..." she says, something that has obviously never happened to her before. It isn't too hard for her to avoid the tribbles, but what is she going to do about them? The mantids let out shrill warning chirps as the metal tribbles emerge, then spread their wings and fly up to perch in the trees. "I am afraid we will be no help against these. It is best to just get out of the way of a metal cap." the chieftain says before she joins the others in the trees. "I just hope they wear off!" Sarracenia adds. "People cannot stay metal forever, but...these things are quite small! There is no telling how long the metal power will last! We need some way to trap them!"
Alexis	Rollin rollin rollin, keep the tribble rollin... Once the Mega Tribble is moving it isn't hard for Mudslinger to keep it moving, so we will let that just roll off-camera for the moment and let the Mega Mushroom eventually wear off. Besides, there's other things to worry about, as there's now several metallic tribbles. And this is a power up she's seen used before, so she knows how durable it can make things. "Just great..." But then she remembers something else. The metal powerup also makes the user heavier, and slower. "Mirage, to the ground, or you're gonna be vulnerable for this." The Flygon nods and hovers down, also making it a shorter drop for Sarra, while letting Alexis off her back. So she can recall both her and Slosh. "Good work you two, but we need a different approach for this. A... catty one." Poor joke, but it fits as she brings the Sprigatito back out, and her female Meowstic. It's the latter that makes a face at seeing the metallic furballs, and drolls telepathically "Oh, what encrouching doom is this? Metallic zombies? At least that is somewhat different." Alexis rubs her face. "Catalyst, don't start. Just help slow them down." Trap them is exactly what she intends to do. "Catnip, just like you did before." And then takes a few steps back herself. "Very well." Catalyst plants herself, spreads her dual tails for balance... and uncurls her ears. This might not seem like much at first, but it reveals the organs that channel her psychic powers, allowing her to use it's full potential. And what does she do with that power? She uses Gravity. Which does just as it suggests, increase gravity in the area to the point that it drags down and slows others. Especially ones that are already heavier, like being metalized. It also makes those slowed forms easier to hit, allowing Catnip to again spawn the thorns that sprout into Grass Knots to grappled onto the Metal Tribbles, farther restraining them until the power-up wears off and they can be collected. "Sometimes you just gotta play the stall game," Alexis comments to no one in particular.
Aidan Proudpick	Bouncing on his foot pads, Aidan brims with energy. A flutter of his tail with every swing. And then- CLANG! The shock rolls up his arm, causing Aidan to stagger back. Soothing the pain in his wrist, he whips his head around to see the be-hatted tribbles. Every movement makes a loud clang, like a hammer striking an iron. A shield comes next, hurled like a discus at the nearest tribble. It bounces off, whipping back towards Aidan and his hand. "Sarra! I want one of these! The hat, I mean." Oh, there's Sarra. A grin splits his face, "Sometimes you gotta get dirty to do the good stuff, Sarra. Just think how surprised someone would look if you could burrow up from underneath them." Watching her almighty strength unable to blast one of the tribbles even off the ground, Aidan takes one worried foot back, then another. Make it up and hope it works. Aidan flicks his hand out towards one of the mighty jungle trees. White wind lashes around it. Wind forms in his mouth, milky white tendrils shaving off little lines of energy. Little lines of white slam into the tree's trunk, tearing more and more out of it. The air fills with those gunshot sounds of wood CRACKING, chips of it flying off as Aidan pulls with air. His chest heaves with the strain of so much magic, his body twists against itself, straining to pull with the wind. "Watch out!" The tree finally snaps free, a horrible jagged line of a break. Wooden shrapnel fires in every direction like a mine going off as Aidan brings one of the jungle trees down into the Metal Tribbles. Not as a weapon, but simply as an annoyance.
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Catalyst's gravity does just the trick, playing off the only real weakness metal tribbles have - their own weight. Some of the larger ones can barely move under their enhanced weight, and even the littlest are slowed by a fair amount, making them easy pickings for tying up with vines. Then a tree comes down, its own weight enhanced significantly by the gravity effect. It slams into the ground - and causes the drill tribbles' tunnels to collapse under the tremendous weight. A great cloud of dust blows into the air and loose soil sprays everywhere, and the cacophony of the burrow-ridden earth collapsing under the tree's weight is deafening. For a moment that great impact may as well be the only thing in the world, because seeing and hearing beyond the immediate surrounds is impossible. After what feels like a full minute, but what must have been only a dozen seconds or so, the dust grows thin enough to allow vision again and the ground stops shaking. The metal tribbles lie huddled in a heap at the bottom of a sinkhole. The roots of the greater trees bulge like enormous snakes around half of the pit, with the other end of the roughly circular depression reaching out into the clearing between jungle and shoreline. That's one way to contain them, certainly. And they appear to be the last of the powered-up tribbles released in the explosion - that is, until Madeleine hurries back up the road, pursued by... boots? Green boots with wind-up keys on the sides, and little bits of fluff sticking out the top. "Where did they get shooooooooes..." Madeleine complains aloud as she hustles toward the battlefield, stopping just short of falling into the sinkhole. She looks at the other elites in shock. "What did you..." Then the tromping of two dozen individual boots catches up to her. She turns, sets her jaw, readies her spear. "Very well. If here I am to make my stand, then so be it. I shall face my end with dignity." As she prepares to be overwhelmed, the boot-clad tribbles stamp right around and past her and fall into the pit. "...Oh."
Sarracenia	Sarra watches with mild awe as Alexis's mon slow down the tribbles, then...Aidan tears a tree down. "Holy mushrooms! Be careful, Aidan!" Piranha plants are still running in fear, but as the tree comes down they all flee down the road. Getting bounced on by a giant fluff ball or a metal one seems better than getting crushed by a tree! Only to come running back right behind Madeleine. "Oh sweet shiitakes! This is it! We are done for!!" the piranha plants are saying as they run. "...where did they get shoes?" Sarra wonders aloud. She doesn't seem particularly worried about the shoes, though. Compared to Mega Mushrooms and Metal Caps, Giant Shoes are easy as pie to deal with. Especially when they just fall into the pit. Sarra watches them hop around ineffectually for a few moments, then hees and a devilish smile appears on her face. She hops down into the pit...and onto the 'head' of one shoe, then bounces upward and comes down on another...and another. And another! She continues the chain until every tribbled has been bopped out of its shoe. For some reason at one point a green mushroom appears over her head before she grabs it and stuffs it into her purse. Only for a tribble to pop out, causing her to growl in annoyance.
Alexis	"Okay, you can release the gravity Cat, there's no way they're climbing out of that." Then there's Madeleine running back, being chased by a pack of Tribbles in stompy boots. Which makes Alexis look down the road. "But where's Mudslinger?" To which Catalyst reachs out to sense for him... Shift view for a few moments, and we'll find him crouched in middle of the road, arms covering his head. See, when the stampede of Boot Tribbles charged them, and he no longer had the rain to boost Swift Swim and outrun them, he instead hunkered down and shielded himself with Protect again. But as he didn't take any damage thanks to Protect... "he hasn't realized the horde has passed yet." "Well at least he's not hurt." Alexis releases Mirage again to fly over and retrieve him. "So, what do you think of all this Catnip?" she asks, but instead of an answer notices a flicker of light off to the side... Sarra stomps the tribbles out of the boots. But then one last of the pest pops out of her purse. Oh no, is this going to be one of those comedic endings when the whole chaotic shebang starts over again?! ... Fortunately not, as before the tribble can get into trouble what appears to be a ovoid barbed bud on a vine zings past Sarracenia, snags the tribble, and yanks it away from her while wrapping it up in the vine. And comes to a stop thumping against a paw. The tied up tribble is dropped, and the barbed bud is pulled off. By a 3 foot tall, ivy green lynx that clips the bud onto the collar of the foliage that now hangs over his shoulders and chest like a poncho. The dark markings on his face that resemble a mask don't hide the playful smirk he gives Sarra, and a salute with one paw as a 'you're welcome'. Alexis laughs, and pats her hand atop his head. "I guess helping restrain all those tribbles was enough experience for you to evolve!"
Sarracenia	With the tribbles seemingly all handled, the Mantids come back down from the trees. Some look annoyed at Aidan for his stunt with the tree. There had been a few Mantids in that tree, after all. The chieftain lands near the pit, watching Sarra bounce between shoe tribbles for a few moments before looking toward the others. "It seems disaster has been averted. But, these creatures seem persistent. We will expect the Sundew Kingdom to ensure that every single one of these creatures is collected and removed. If they caused this much of a disturbance merely infesting the town, then I do not want to know what it would be like if they escaped into the forest." She looks to Madeleine. "You showed the skills and bravery of a hunter and warrior." she says, then looks toward Alexis and Aidan. "As did you two." Then...she looks at Sarracenia. "How did this happen, Princess? We entrusted the case of strange creatures to your people and this is the result." It is clear the chieftain does not think highly of the royals. Sarra winces lightly. "I...um..." Sarra takes a deep breath, then lets it out. "It is my fault. I kept one, thinking them completely harmless. And...while I still believe that is normally true, they got into my food stores and...other things" Sarra sighs again, then bows to the Chieftain. "I am sorry, Chieftain Sahira." The Cheiftain's wings flitter and she watches Sarracenia for a long moment, as if deciding how she should proceed with the princess. Both are distracted by that flick of a vine and retreival of the tribble, and end up looking toward Alexis and Floragato. "Oh! It evolved!" Sarra says excitedly, forgetting for a moment that they are in a potentially tense situation. "Congratulations!"
Aidan Proudpick	The WHUMP of the tree on the ground sends Aidan nearly an inch up off of it. Amid the shower of rocks and dirt, he leans against the tree. Madeleine's cry causes him to heave in a great lungful of air, grabbing one of the branches. With a mighty vault, Aidan lands on the other side of the tree, just as the shoes drop into the pit. "Oh. Well! Good job!" The grin on his face shows that he clearly believes Madeleine had pushed them into the pit trap. "So," he looks over at Madeleine, "How do you do stuff for this?" He looks over the pit. And at the various little fluffballs moving around and just sort of vibrating, shuffling in place, and carefully moving out from underneath the tree. "Get them ALL back home, I mean." A sheepish grin accompanies the Mantids glaring at him. "Figure it out as I go along." "You showed the skills and bravery of a hunter and warrior." An eager puff of the chest, "Thank you, Chieftain... Sahira! And for your help, as well." Aidan makes his best regal bow. When he stands back up, his eyes dart over towards Sarracenia. Then back at the Chieftain. "Are you happy-" he waves his hand towards the castle, "With this? Is there more they could do?"
Alexis	Alexis wouldn't make a big deal about wrangling a bunch of weird critters, it is kind of her lot in life. Instead she gives a short bow to the mantids in response to the compliment. "And we appreciate the help, Chief." Knowing they and the Royal Family don't entirely see eye to eye, she's not going to make a big fuss of the matter. Catnip also mimics her bowing by doing so. "We'll make sure this gets cleaned up with no more.. shenanigans." At least Sarracenia fessed up to the mistake. Though Aidan's comment gets her to eye him for a moment. What's he getting at? Then there's a thump to reclaim her attention as Mirage returns and plops Mudslinger down, who's reverted back to his still tough but less bulked normal form. "Good job tonight bud." She gives him scritch behind one of his sets of whisker-esque gills before recalling him. "And don't worry about the big ass hole, I've got more than a few Pokemon that can fill something like this in, no prob. Just need to wrangle the fuzzballs out of it first."
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine nods and smiles at Sahira's compliment. "Heh, thanks. Just doing my job." She brushes some dust from her jacket as if she wasn't just whining about a bunch of tribbles wearing shoes. "You're right, though - this is on the Princess, both personally and as a figurehead for her kingdom. I can stick around, call in some more people to help with the cleanup, but she'll have to - and she should - assume most of the burden here." A pointed look at Sarracenia accompanies that 'should'. "How do you do stuff for this? Get them ALL back home, I mean." "We don't," Madeleine says, her expression turning grim. "First, because that calls for knowing where 'home' is. Swindle hasn't been forthcoming about who he got them all from, let alone where that merchant picked them up. Tracing the line all the way back to their homeworld would require astronomical good luck and cooperation from a lot of people with no reason to not hide in the woodwork." "And second, because we have to prioritize the ecosystem under threat over the well-being of the invasive species. If we're lucky, some of the native predators will like tribble and some of the native plants will be toxic to them. If we're not, which is more likely, we'll probably have to find a chemical agent that either kills tribbles or stops them breeding, and which does minimal harm to the rest of the ecosystem. They reproduce too quickly and hide too easily in dense foliage for manual removal to work on its own." "In short, the time to send these critters home is past. We need to focus on curing the problem they present here, because it's also too late for prevention." Another subtle glare at Sarracenia. "This is going to be an ongoing effort, both in monitoring and in deploying control methods. I will expect the crown's cooperation every step of the way."
Sarracenia	'Are you happy- With this? Is there more they could do?' Sarra joins Alexis in giving Aidan a look of 'what are you doing?' and Sahira turns her head to him in curiousity. "Hmm. What more would you suggest they do" she asks. There is no judgement or suggestion, nor is there a tone that she thinks they should do something more. 'You're right, though - this is on the Princess' Sarra winces again, just listening with a downcast face to what Madeleine says. When Madeleine reaches the end, Sarra is trying not to cry. Of course, she used to make excuses and do everything she could to avoid responsibility. These days though...she's come to understand her responsibilities a bit more and takes pride in being heroic. And this was anything but heroic. She's embarrassed and not happy about it. "Of course. The Sundew Kingdom will do whatever is needed to ensure that the tribbles are removed from the region."
Alexis	"She's right. If their 'home' can't be found, they're going to have to be isolated or something to prevent them from throwing the entire ecosystem out of wack. Without a natural predator and how fast they can apparently reproduce?" She makes a face. "As much as I don't like the idea of 'neutralizing', sometimes it's... necessary." Her branching and dabbling into ecology has shown a few things she kind of regrets knowing now. That said, she walks over and puts a hand reassuringly on Sarracenia's shoulder. Her friend was going to take this rough, but she did the right thing by emitting the mistake. And it's a spot Alexis has been in herself many times, abiet not at that high of a social-political responsiblity. Doesn't change that the hardest part of being responsable is often just admitting that you're the one that FUBARed it. "Not that she'll have to do it alone."
Aidan Proudpick	Aidan looks at Sarra, then back at the Chieftain. "Hmm. What more would you suggest they do?" That seems answer enough for Aidan. He shakes his head, "I'm not gonna start a fight or a war. That you gotta ask is enough." For now. He can look into it later, but if there's no PRESSING issues, he won't add to Sarracenia's already full dance card. Madeleine explains how to deal with invasive species. She gets a bug eyed stare from Aidan, who tries to wrap his head around that. He frowns, trying to mull that over. A clear trust that Madeleine knows what she is doing. A sidelong glance at Sarracenia, trying to gauge her reaction to it. When she starts to cry, there's just a bit of relief that Aidan tries to hide. The barest hint of a sigh. He nods along with Alexis, "I'll help ya clean up." But most certainly not hand out poison.