OOC: Very well, we shall allow stealth to take preceedence. ^_^ And good job with the festival, I'll add some plot characters for the battle-thingie.
IC:
"Mii-ghty-eeena," (It's right there.) Nightmare replied sarcastically to Dew's comment "Mig-htyy-ena-mi-mi-ghty-eena-mighty-eena-eeenaa..." (You will see it if you just squint hard enough...)
"Well, I suppose a small break wouldn't hurt." Cid said, smiling as he watched the activities taking place all around them "And truth to be told, I'm not at all opposed to getting some rest for a change. Besides, this contest thing should be good practice for Tempest..."
"Did he say practice, Angelo?" asked a sceptical male voice from somewhere within the crowd.
"Indeed he did, Virgil." another very similar voice replied.
"How typically gauche..."
"Indeed it is."
"But one can hardly expect better from the unwashed masses."
"Too true, brother."
As Cid turned around it didn't take long for him to spot the hecklers; two middle-aged men who looked almost identical with their long, thin moustaches and garish magician's outfits, complete with cloaks and hats. The only noticable difference between them seemed to be that one's outfit was Black and dark blue while the other's was black and dark red, both of them were, nonetheless, eyeing Cid and the group scornfully and recieving a low, treathening growl from Nightmare in return.
"Uh...who are you guys, anyway?" Cid asked, feeling strangely offended by these people.
"Did he ask who we are, Angelo?" asked the one in red, acting as if he was too good to speak with Cid directly.
"Indeed he did, Virgil." Replied the one in blue, both chuckling at some private joke before finally replying to Cid's inqury.
"We, oh unknowledgable plebian..." began Angelo.
"...are the magical Fettucini brothers!" completed Virgil
"Angelo."
"and Virgil."
"Masterful magicians..."
"...and uncontested champions of the art of double-battle."
"The pleasure..."
"...is all yours."
They both bowed mockingly and chuckled again.
"Now who..."
"...are you?"
"I'm Cid Woodland and these are my friends; Amy, Jenny, and Nicole." Cid replied, gesturing at each of them in turn with a hint of annoyance in his voice "And what's with the tandem speech and superior attitude?"
Both of the brothers chuckled once more.
"Our way of speaking, oh uncouth one..." began Angelo
"...is just something we developed when we were small children." continued Virgil
"Each one of us always knew..."
"...what the other was saying..."
"...so we began completing..."
"...each others sentences."
"Our parents got used to it..."
"...and so did we."
"As for our attitude..." Virgil added, sneering at Cid.
"...we act this way because we are entitled to it by our superior prowess as trainers." continued Angelo, mimicking his brother's expression perfectly.
"Superior prowess?" Cid asked, this time doing some scoffing of his own "Any one of us could effortlessly take you two clowns down."
"Did he say clowns, Virgil?" asked Angelo
"Indeed he did, Angelo." Virgil replied
"Such a rude child."
"No respect for his superiors."
"No respect indeed, Virgil."
"Is that..." Angelo began, finally turning to Cid and replying to his statement.
"...a challenge?" finished Virgil, both their eye pairs glinting dangerously and recieving a defiant stare from Cid in return.
"Took you that long to figure it out, did it?" the boy asked.
"In that case..." said Angelo, nodding to his brother.
"...we will see you..." Virgil continued
"...and your friends..."
"....in the finals..."
"...if you think..."
"...you've got..."
"...what it takes..."
"...which you don't."
With that, both brothers promptly turned on their heels and dissapeared back into the crowd, their black cloaks billowing after them. Nightmare stared after the duo as it left, suddenly stiffening as he felt a strange but familiar sensation...as if they were being watched by someone and caught the briefest glimpse of red among the crowd...the feeling soon passed however, and the red glow was nowhere to be seen. The Mightyena frowned a bit but dismissed the matter, deeming it as nothing more than his mind playing tricks on him.
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Meanwhile, unseen in the crowd, a pair of unblinking, red eyes was indeed observing the scene in secrecy, much like their owner; a female Umbreon with a distinctly dangerous air about her. As the Fettucini brothers began to argue with Cid, the Umbreon picked up a strange emanation from one of the girl's in the group, or rather...her fanny pack.
"Umbree..." she muttered quietly, her eyes widening just a bit as she attuned her senses. The energy radiating from these four was now plain to her senses, and the earlier emanation had definitely come from the amulet. These were undoubtedly the ones...the master had to be informed immediately.
Within the blink of an eye, the Umbreon melded with the shadows surrounding her and dissapeared from view completely.
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"Worthless..." muttered a young man, apparently in his late teens, with pale skin and very light blue, nearly white, hair with streaks of grey amongs it, dressed in a black trench coat, a black t-shirt, dark brown shoes and pair of dark blue jeans, as he leaned against the wall of the 'authorized personell only' area. He spat reproachfully at the ground as he watched the amateur trainers mingling around the sign-up area. Their pok?mon...pathetic and weak, just like their trainers. His grey eyes narrowed a bit as he gave them another reproachfull look. Was he to fight with these-amateurs? These pathetic charlatans who lacked even the faintest grasp of the true art of battling? The young man frowned at the thought. He had expected the gym leader job to bring him some real competition, someone to go all out on, to hone his skills to the very edge of perfection, to prepare him for his vengeance. And what did he get? Hordes of snot-nosed rookies who thought they were champions.
"Nicoli, my boy!" boomed a male voice from behind as the announcer, an obese and cowardly man whom Nicoli had never held in anything but the greatest contempt but who seemed intent on pretending that they were friends nonetheless, approached from behind, interrupting Nicoli's thoughts. "It's going to be quite a fair, isn't it?" he asked, slapping him on the back "Skilled challengers for you, I think."
"What have I told you about calling me that?" the gym leader asked coldly, turning to face the older man who instinctively backed away a bit. "And are these what you call skilled challengers? These..." he made a gesture with his right arm that seemed to encompass the crowd in general. "...are nothing but pathetic amateurs without the slightest grasp of what being a trainer is all about." he concluded, his eyes narrowing a bit again "They are not even worthy of fighting me."
"Oh come now..." the announcer protested, beginning to sweat slightly "...surely the Fettucini brothers-"
"Are the most pathetic of them all." Nicoli finished the sentence "And what is worse, they are under the tragic illusion that they actually possess some talent. Let me make one thing clear, Horatio..." he locked his black eyes with the announcer's, who was now sweating profusely "I will face the strongest of these weaklings and crush them because it is my duty as a gym leader to do so, but do not for a second presume that I actually consider them worthy. Now get out of my sight..."
"Um...yes...I'll just..." Horatio muttered incoherently, stumbling out into the crowd again.
Nicoli suddenly felt a nudge on his left leg. Looking down, he noticed that Umbreon had returned from her scouting mission.
"Anything to report?" the gym leader inquired, raising an eyebrow inquisitively.
"Umbre..." the Umbreon replied in a serious tone "Umbre-oon-eon-umree."
Nicoli's eyes widened. "Chosen ones?" he inquired "Are you sure?"
"Eon." the dark pok?mon replied, nodding affirmatively.
"Excellent." Nicoli said quietly, an ambitious gleam igniting in his eyes. "It seems like I might actually be provided a decent challenger for a change. Hold watch over them at all times Umbreon, I think I shall have our dear friend Horatio arrange a seat for me." he grinned wickedly "I wish to see these upstarts who think they can thwart my plans."
"Umre..." the Umbreon replied, gaining a grin similar to her trainer's and dissapearing once more.
"I have a feeling..." the gym leader said for himself "...that the time of my vengeance is very close indeed."
OOC: Now there's foreshadowing for you. ^_^ Oh, and I was thinking of giving our heroes a taste of mortality by actually letting them loose in their first battle against Nicoli, (he would have been the sixth gym leader after all) I hope you are okay with that. Oh, and I'm thinking he could play a part in the save-the-world quest, as in; he's one of those who want to wake up whatshisface and whatsherface, although his motives aren't quite as simple as world domination. And Yibber, I challenge you to beat the length of this post.
