RP Scenes - Making a Deal

Terrified as they were, Xol had enough presence of mind to know that whatever lay through that gate was unlikely to be any better than what was behind them. As much as they wanted to flee through it, they forced themselves to slow down, stopping at the base of flame-lit staircase, and looking back at the corridor they'd come down.

The chanting was only getting worse, and for a moment, they hovered, trapped between the advancing chanting ahead of them, and that ominous gate behind, cursing themselves for ever being arrogant and stupid enough to dive into MARK's mind, for daring him to show them his worst.

As they reached the end, they saw what looked like MARK, but with a spike pierced through his chest. Surprisingly, he was alive and calm, still with a smirking smile.

The calm smirk on MARK's face was somehow more unnerving than the spike skewering his ribcage, and Xol wasn't even sure whether this...this thing even was MARK at all.

  "I...I've seen enough." They said.

Despite their best efforts, there was no disguising the desperate edge to their voice as they spoke to the Slowking standing before them, the Slowking that was serenely ignoring the ever-growing blotch of blood soaking down his chest.

MARK opened his eyes as he looked back the Solrock. As he stood, the spike dissipated into the air and the ominous darkness and chanting followed, the world fading into a luxurious living room.

  "No need for tensing up now.... You're past the dark parts..." MARK said siting down on a cushioned chair.

Xol relaxed, just by a fraction - they still didn't entirely trust that this Slowking wasn't going to lull them into a false sense of security, before suddenly plunging them back into terror. Still, this room was pleasant enough...downright opulent, really. They cast a quick glance around the room, before settling into a lower, more relaxed hover.

  "Dark...dark is certainly the word." They said, shadowy figures and wicked smiles still fresh in their mind. "I'll confess, Slowking...when I asked you to show me something new, you didn't fail."

  "You learn something everyday..." MARK said with a sip of tea.

Xol sagged a little.

  "Please excuse my rashness earlier. Today...today has been a strange day. I'll admit I'm only just learning about this...World of the Mind, I think the Electrode called it."

Their eyes flickered up to MARK.

  "The Electrode said he learned his skills from a Shaymin. Might I ask how you learned to do this?"

  "I come form a family of mind travelers my good sir, its no surprise I couldn't do it." MARK smiled.

  "Oh. I suppose that makes sense." Xol said. "Forgive my curiosity, but didn't the Electrode mention some history between the two of you?"

  "Yes." He sighed. "It was when I interrogated him and his partner about the Death Smile, a vicious cult..."

  "Oh. So you've been probing his brain for information, then? Is that what he meant about you getting into his head?" Xol's eyes lit up with realisation. "That chanting...those drums back there...were they to do with this Death Smile Cult?"

  "Bingo." MARK said as he picked up a wooden and burnt figure off of a table. "I don't known what their goals are, but I do know they are from the East and really hate non-ghost type Pokemon..." He put the figure next to Xol.

"In my experience, some people need very little reason to hate." Xol said with a sigh, eyeing the burnt wooden figure for a moment, before continuing. "The city in the sea...I take it the cult is reason it's in ruins? Is that what you wanted to show me? That they took your home, and now you've made it your mission to find out more about them? To stop them?"

 "You hit the nail on the head Xol...." MARK grinned.

Xol toyed with the burnt figure for a moment, before setting it back down.

  "And you want information about the Electrode to help you with that goal?" Xol's eyes crinkled into a humourless smile. "If that's the case, then I have a proposition for you."

They reached into their mind, manipulating the mental landscape just by a fraction, to project an image from their recent memory. In the air between the two Pokémon, an image of Roller's journal appeared, floating and translucent in mid-air.

  "The Electrode said he keeps his secrets in a journal like this. I've seen it on him, and wanted to know what's inside myself. What do you say we take it from him? Oh, I don't mean harm him for it - I'm sure the two of us are more than clever enough to steal it away without him even noticing. We take the journal, we share its secrets between us, and if by chance he discovers it's been taken, well..."

The image of the journal shimmered as if caught in a heat-haze, before reshaping itself into the figures of a Sableye and an Aron.

  "...We already have thieves in our midst who can take the blame."

The figures vanished, leaving just Xol, looking across to MARK with a glint in their eyes.

   "What do you say?"

MARK frowned and shook his head

  "Done that and there's nothing interesting in that book... The only thing in it is just herbs, Pokemon he's met, and recipes... If you really want something interesting, try my journal." The haze soon changed to a black and gold book. "I'll share much more interesting secrets than the explorers, in return for a 'request' from you and the thieves..."

  "A request?" Xol said, hungrily eyeing the image of the journal in front of them, before giving a joyless little laugh. "Then name your terms. I've served countless rulers in my time - I doubt one more request will make a difference."

---

Another scene from an old RP with . Xol, having had a stressful day already (and perhaps feeling the teensiest bit inadequate after finding out that Roller has stronger psychic abilities than them), gets frustrated with MARK the Slowking intruding on a conversation and reading their mind. Rapidly losing their patience, they essentially say "come at me, bro", forcing their way into his mind, and challenging MARK to show them something they haven't seen before.

MARK obliges. Xol is not prepared for the twisted things they find in there, and despite their earlier posturing, is forced to swallow their pride and say they've had enough...leading to a considerably more civil conversation, and the two striking a deal.



MARK the Slowking and 50% of the writing above belongs to