#theres something so human about seeing the bones behind someones creation

[lgalacticjayl]

Having a lot of goth thoughts tonight

[isaacathom]

i mean why did Elliot leave anyway. whats his deal. couldve at least called the cops.

like thats the thing. hes a mixed man, did a terrible thing and works with it, tries to be a better man, cool. but he did just like. straight up run. and did nothing about it except lie. how do you even get out of that? like the thing is, aside from getting Seren killed (in a practical sense if not in the actuality of it), he’s also almost singlehandedly responsible for team whatsit getting away. because after he ran and the grunts left seren for dead, they ran and informed their higher ups and everyone got out (who hadnt already been tipped off by the Org, anyway). but if elliot had stuck to his guns or even come back with someone, its likely they would have caught some of them and caused the whole scheme to unravel, or at the very least wouldve captured Jun as he went back for Seren, and Jun wouldve spilled. but nope. Elliot just ran! the fucks up with that.

like. ok. hes a coward, and i get that. hes my character, i should. so hes a coward, and when faced with a physical confrontation and not a pokemon battle, he absolutely fucking panics. hes got his sphere of influence, pokemon, and the idea of fighting a human being (w or w/o pokemon involvement) terrifies this man to his bones. possibly out of some past shit, or just a general cowardice. but he did also leave a kid to die. and lied about it. and again, didnt fetch anyone. is it a fear of prejudice? possibly. you gotta save face. the idea of a proud man, who prides himself on his bravery and skill (despite lacking the former and losing the latter as soon as shit gets tough) having to tell someone he fucked up is, well, pretty bad for that man. really brings him down. so what does he have, if his pride is his life? he runs. he runs, he runs, and he doesnt look back, until he reports Seren missing the next morning and pretends he has no fucking idea he knows where she went. because if Seren is missing because of his deliberate action, taking her into a dangerous attack on a dangerous group and then leaving her behind, it makes him look like an idiot, a cunt, and a coward.  but if seren is missing because he left her home alone while doing something dangerous but for the good of all, and he hasnt got an idea what happened, then he seems like perhaps a fool, who made a mistake, but not even remotely malicious. a victim of circumstance, but not one of his own creation. after all, as far as eyewitnesses say, they didnt see anyone enter or leave his house except for him, who returned late in the morning, after supposedly dealing with team whatsit. how he pulled THAT off is also the thing. like..... what happened there

like. alright. so lets say they enter at midnight. 10 minutes later, elliot enters with seren (who he went to collect from his car). maybe 10 minutes after that, they get caught in the ambush. they squirm, Seren manages to free Elliot by kicking the grunts hand, and Elliot runs. so, thats like... 12:25, 12:30 at the latest. seren is probably out cold at 12:30 or 12:35, depending. grunts run up the stairs, inform Jun and his crew. Jun collects Seren at 12:40, and leaves the building via the secret exit by like, 1am. then he goes off. how long he takes to return depends on where the base is (its either desert in the north west or forests in the east. im leaning desert). the assumption there is that the people connected to Jun and above him in the floors managed to get out via the back exit by like, 1:20. where everyone else is at this time, im unsure. the others entered in groups. at least one group went to scope out for exits (which they failed to find because the tunnel is Quite Long and deliberately winding so as to hide lights and people). was every gym leader there? likely not. maybe theres like, 4 groups total. one scopes back, elliot goes in a side door with seren, and the other two groups take two other entrances, with one taking the front door. so where were they? they DID capture some grunts. its possible they didnt really prepare adequately, or werent capable of moving forward without risking the grunts fleeing. so one group, lets say, beats up some grunts and holds them down while waiting for the Org grunts to arrive and help. one might have tried to go on ahead but decided it was unsafe due to a litany of traps. the second group, perhaps, finds the Dud entrance. the one that looks perfectly normal, with noone around, but just like. a normal house or something. they get a lil lost trying to find people inside, fail to do so, and thats them done.

that works. so, all the Team (except the grunts caught by the one group) have left the building by 1:20. when do the people inside realise this? possible its when the Org grunts arrive (conveniently after the team members have either entered the tunnel or left already). so they get that group. the group that got lost is scooped up. so how is Elliot hiding his cowardice? perhaps he left the building, waited for a bit (like 20 odd minutes) and then started wandering the outside of the building, until he caught up to the group searching for exits. and he explains that his opening was a dead end. and, quite conveniently, it is! because after Jun collects Seren, he locks all the doors behind him. so actually Jun is the last to leave. but the door is locked, and maybe even barricaded, so Elliot ‘couldnt get through’. ignoring he probably has some brute force motherfucker, like a ryhorn or a tyranitar or smth. its like smashable rocks logic. or elliot could say he didnt wanna risk building damage in case it put everyone at risk. OOH. perhaps he fetches the group and explains the dead end, and thats where the Org grunts find them, puzzling over the locked door and trying to break in without hurting themselves. Jun’s a thorough man. probably got some grunts to barricade it, maybe even used like, a fire type to meld some shit, you feel me. he wants to get home safe. if absolutely gluing this door will do that, he will.

so that explains that. so, at around 1:30, the org shows up. first goes for the grunt group, then for the lost group, and then finally meeting up with the dead end crew. so around 2:00, everyones sorted. they probably try for the dead end, maybe even FINALLY brute force it, and explore the now empty labs, which have been nicely destroyed by Jun and his grunts while they left. theres very little there. noone suspects Elliot fucked up. if they explored the dead end, then they probably didnt finish up till 3, since they gotta explore it all and go through the tunnel and search the immediate surrounds. ignoring the fact that, had elliot not distracted the outdoors crew, they MIGHT have seen the fleeing team whatsit grunts and found the exit.

elliot then drives home, in his empty car. takes longer than necessary, maybe stops somewhere for a coffee to try and ignore his pain. gets home around 4:30. goes straight to bed to forget. maybe when he wakes up, Seren will be in her bedroom, or crashed on the couch. of course, she isnt when he wakes up, and its late, around 10am (later than normal for him, ofc) when he finally calls up to declare her missing. after first calling her orphanage and the local hospital just in case. the org police arrive soon after. his story is set.

actually that all... basically works? basically. like it works for what i need. its a man with such great pride, such bravado, who cant bear to admit his greater failings and hides them behind smaller ones. after all, whats a dead end to a dead kid?