Ozzy Hendrix's Story

Blake had in hand a phone, offering it out to Ozzy. "Mission from the boss. Some guys coming through with a bundle of Terra-side captured pokemon that they're transporting to Ruula. One of the drivers was sick so they need a replacement." The phone had all the details of when and where. "Looks like we're the bosses best men now. Anyway, what am I never gonna believe?" he asked. Bonce was in his lap, the Hoppip's leaves spinning around on its head joyously.

Ozzy's eyes go hard as he takes the phone from his brother, surveying the details. It looked simple enough, nothing they couldn't handle. "Looks easy enough," He admits, copying the details to his own work phone, before turning with a grin at his brothers question, he teases the moment out for a second. Scratching the Bonce on the head, and letting its leaf play through his finger momentarily, just when he saw his brothers patience growing thin he continues.

"The girl man, she asked me out." He put extra emphasis on the me, clearly pleased with himself. "I hadn't been planning on asking her out for a few days," He admits, waving a hand through the air for emphasis. "Didn't want to scare her off you know? Anyway, and out of the blue, BAM! She asks me. Damn I'm good."

Blake listened the entire time, then slowly grinned. "Y'know she's like... Fourteen, right?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, "Fifteen tops. I think she might be outta your dating range. No offence." Judging by how wide his smile was, he was having a hard time keeping in the laughter. Bonce responded to the leaf playing, then tilted back to wiggle its stumpy little legs and nibble harmless on his finger.

Ozzy grins wryly at the point, letting Bonce nibble on his finger, before waving his hand as if its but a small thing. "That's besides the point, the point is my end of the job is going excellently. How're things here?" Standing up he walks over to the surveillance equipment, taking a look through the telescope.

"Anything interesting happen?"

"Not a god damn thing," Blake said with a sigh, "The Charmeleon's gone. The girl comes and goes with her bodyguard. The boy still has a gun and seems to be getting supplies. Like, not camping supplies, but supplies to make you comfortable." He turned his head towards Ozzy. "I think they have a base of operations around here. Maybe you can try to wriggle that one out of your girlfriend."

Ozzy nods at his brothers words, noting down their routine for future reference. "The boss sure knows how to pick'em, being reliable is a bitch y'know?" He laughs sardonically at his own joke, before standing, cracking his back with a groan. He snorts when he talks about his 'girlfriend' "Yeah, we'll see." Waving it off, he flops back into a chair thinking about plans for their current and pending jobs.

It was out in the woodlands sprawling around the base of the mountain with winding hidden roads and nature trails that a convoy of three trucks had been parked. Each truck served the simple purpose of carrying a series of cages filled with pokemon under the cover of darkness to the Terra-Ruula portal and quickly transporting them to the other side. The pokemon on Terra were at least partially exotic and were valuable to sell. And if they didn't sell, many of them were good workhorses in the machine that was Maycross Industries. Originally the scheme had been tried Ruula side, but too many curious people kept interrupting. Terra was just convenient because less people cared.

Of the three drivers, one of them was currently lying down asleep, nauseous, drowsy and in no condition to drive causing the whole convoy to come to a halt until a replacement driver showed up. For the time being the other two had a gas stove out and were cooking an easy dinner of sausages leaving them in good spirits. Hell, they were getting paid by the hour and their boss told them not to go anywhere, so it was an easy day for them.

Ozzy approached the convoy quietly, observing the attitude among the men. It was typical. The average grunt would take any opportunity too slack off. Snorting quietly, he rubs his palm down his face before stepping confidently up to the fire, bringing himself to a stop next to the men cooking sausages.

"Hell gentlemen," He starts, arms crossed staring down at the two men with a grimly amused smile. When they react he continues. "don't let me interrupt, it's not like we have several truck full of highly illegal merch to move or anything."

"Well if it isn't the man himself," said the first grunt, raising his head with a grin and jabbing at one of the sausages with a pair of tongs, "Do you want a sausage? We've got plenty of spares and the first few are almost done. No bread or sauce though." He seemed calm and casual, despite Ozzy's tone and words. "If you want to take off on your own, go ahead. We'll catch up, but either way we haven't eaten since the sun first came up so we're taking it easy. Trucks are that way." He gestured a thumb for a small incline that left the trucks just out of sight of the main road, but still safe solid ground.

And standing motionless in the trees was a lone figure known as 'Sparky'. Natasha was starting to move slow as they approached from the opposite side of the slope, keeping cover amongst the trees and stopping occasionally. "I do not think I can go any further," she nickered irritably, "I will compromise the mission with my light. But there, the three metal boxes. Can you go get a closer look for me?" However as she spoke, it almost sounded like she said 'Can you take a closer look, for me?'.

Ozzy grins down at the grunt, not surprised by his attitude, not pleased either, but not surprised. "Don't come crying to me when a wild animal rips your throat out, or when the boss catches wind of you holding up his operation." Ozzy begins walking away slowly, drawing his work phone out of his jacket as he goes. He stops and says "Of course I have a direct line to the boss, I have to send him updates on how this is going after all," Sighing in an exaggerated manner he holds his arms out wide, and shrugs. "Oh well, it's not like I'll catch any flack over this, it's you all who mucked it up." With a last grin, content that he'd gotten his point across Ozzy makes his way to the truck he would be driving for the job.

Bic was in his element. Stalking prey, his eyes track the movement of every human he can see, and he carefully scents the air for those he can't. The scent of pokemon is heavy in the air, but it was palpable with fear and resignation. He grits his teeth in anger a near sub-audible growl rumbling in his throat as he moves along, coming to a stop as Natasha does, nodding at her points he looks to his own tail flame with a grin, he could easily take care of that. "I'm on it." He states confidently, flashing the Rapidash a grin that is nothing but daring and teeth. Shoving his tail flame into his mouth to mask the light he moves in for a better look.

As Ozzy walked off the last thing that might have been heard was, "Naw, fuck that guy man," as the other suggested moving.

One of the bushes Bic passed was a little fuzzy and oddly shaped, but out of the corner of his eyes he might have caught it moving. Yellow and black, the Galvantula went from motionless to darting up a tree like lightning, then stopped perfectly still to stare at the Charmeleon. "Careful," they said in a subtle whisper of a tone, "Poachers near. Turn about."

The trucks nearby all had the same back, a latch down the bottom with a door that slid up into the ceiling. They were lined up expertly and all currently off. They were also soundproof, albeit that was hard to notice from the outside.

"Idiots," Ozzy mutters under his breath. Putting the phone away as he hops into the truck that would be 'his' for the duration of the operation. Only an idiot would contact the boss in the middle of the night for anything less than an emergency, and the grunts being a bunch of lazy cunts was anything but. He noted it in the corner of his mind to report later, before turning the key intending to get it warmed up.

His eyes narrowed in concentration and keyed to the slightest change in his immediate environment Bic watches as the bug pokemon dart up a tree, listening for a beat to it warning before his claws are out and he climbs silently up a tree near it. Watching for humans he waits with baited breath as he hears one the machines come to life. From the height he could clearly see what was going on, and he didn't like it. He carefully notes their positioning and the location of the pokemon, waiting to see if a human would see him, before heading back to report. He would like nothing better than to jump down and storm in rending the humans with his claws and turning their bones to ashes, but there was more at stake than just him.

When the truck started up, the Galvantula suddenly tensed, staring in alarm. "One of them's leaving," he stated, "Hey, can you use your claws to get it open?" He didn't actually know Bic was going to be there to help, he was just acting out of desperation. A leader he was not. He was here to provide recon. Without showing it, the pokemon was preparing to be as fast as possible into that truck the moment the door was opened, but unfortunately he lacked any way to really open it.

Nodding sharply, unable to talk due to the tail filling his mouth making smoke curl out of his nose from the flame on the tip of his tail. Bic slides quietly down the side of the tree after checking for humans. Using the noise of the truck as cover he moves as stealthily as possible to the back of the running truck. He looks at one of his constant nemesis. Damn doors! He growls in his mind, he'd yet to master doors, and it would seem there were ever more varieties of them to be found. Growling quietly around his tail in irritation, Bic fiddles with the latch for a moment until it moves slightly. keeping up the same motion he works at it until it comes loose. Easy - He grins to himself, prepared to open the door and start the liberation.

The door would slide up and out of his grip if he couldn't keep a hold of it, or would only be held down by his weight if he did. And immediately inside the sight of rows of cages could be seen, each with a pokemon inside. Each cage looked like it was a simple latch-bait trap with a door that would fall down when the bait was grabbed. The pokemon inside were unfortunately not that clever. The Galvantula was darting down the side of the tree it was in, scurrying over the ground near Bic and looking to climb inside.

Bic barely manages to keep hold of the door as it slides up, letting it use up most of its force before letting it go to settle softly all the way open. Having been expecting it somewhat, he is still lifted off his feet by the force making him bite his tail slightly, but he doesn't make a sound as he surveys the Pokemon inside the human machine. He can smell their fear as they look at him, and it sickens him. His teeth curl back from his lip in anger, light spilling out through his teeth from his tail flame, and his face is lit up for the pokemon to see. Motioning for the large spider to get in, and completely out of his own element, Bic moves forward silently as possible to the first cage, seeing if he can work the latch and start setting the pokemon free.

Something didn't feel right. Ozzy thinks to himself, while impatiently tapping his knuckles against the wheel of the truck. Nothing ever goes this well he thinks, nothing. Checking his phone, he grits his teeth at how long they've been sitting here waiting on the grunts. He rubs his face in agitation, when he feels like his head is swimming for a moment. Wait, he stops, completely still. Did the truck just move? He checks his mirrors looking behind the truck, not seeing anything his eyes narrow and he's about to step out of the truck when a gust of wind blows through and rocks the truck. Laughing softly at himself for his paranoia he settles back into his seat, deciding that if they weren't ready in five minutes he would leave without them, and let the boss know that he wasn't liable for anything.

"Hey good job," the Galvantula as they scrambled into the back of the truck with him, then seemed to turn into a statue again. The damn thing just went from skittering and chattering to statue whenever it felt like. "Do you think you can get some of these cages open?" he asked in a low tone, "Just break the hinges or lift 'em up. I'll keep watch." He scuttled back to the door and froze again, many beady eyes staring into the darkness.

Natasha in this time had become impatient, concerned the truck would drive off and grew ever closer, flames flickering amongst the trees as she slowly stepped down the slope to the parked vehicle.

Bic nods at the strange spider creature, unsure on how to classify it. It as an individual wasn't food, of course. As a species though? He wasn't so sure. He'd have to ask the thing after the mission. Moving up to the first cage he finally lets his tail fall from his mouth. The flame lighting the back of the truck in flickering light, enough for him to see what he was doing, he does his best to tamp the brightness down as much as possible. Trying to smile reassuringly at the mon in the cage, he's not so sure how well he did when the thing cowers back. "Stay calm, don't panic, we're here to free you," he says as he opens the first cage, before moving onto the next one.

Time was ticking by as Ozzy sat anxiously in the cab of the truck, his thumps beating a staccato beat into the wheel. "I hate waiting," he grunts irritably. Getting ready to leave when out of the corner of his eye he catches a light in the woods moving towards them. One that seems oddly familiar. "Son of a bitch!" he swears, why can nothing ever go right? He's out of the truck in the next moment, coming around to the side of the truck facing the light, his sidearm in hand held toward the light, but pointing towards the ground for the moment. As he waits to see if it's just one of the idiot grunts coming back from a piss or something else.

Natasha neared closer by the moment, head low in a failed attempt to hide her burning mane. She hadn't seen Ozzy yet, but she was getting closer and closer to the back of the truck.

In the cages there were mostly smaller docile pokemon, the sort trainers mostly discarded. But they seemed to get the message and hurried out, taking as stealthy an approach as they could under the direction of the Galvantula. The last cage, deepest in the truck, was a scyther that seemed to be staring at Bic with curious comprehension, like one hunter studying another.

Bic growls low in his throat as the small pokemon, the majority cowering away from the obviously predatory Charmeleon as they leave without so much as a thank you, prey, his mind tells him as they move past, telling him to grab one and clamp his jaws down as they squeal. Their life essence giving him strength until finally they stop moving and he devours their flesh. Suppressing his instinct to grab one and eat until he is to fat to walk he continues on, freeing them one after the other. Moving swiftly towards the last of the cages furthest into the truck, Bic scents the air as he paces in front of the cage, eyeing the green thing carefully, taking note of its great claws, and wings it obviously built for speed. A near challenging growl bubble forth from his chest as he approaches the cage, his claws and flame ready to strike at the first sign of aggression, Bic recognized another predator when he sees one, and his instincts told him to kill, but he didn't, he'd learned enough from the surface to know you can't solve all problems by burning them. Just most of them. He grins a grin that is nothing but threat and teeth. "Attack me, and all I'll leave for the scavengers is ashes." Moving forward he opens the cage, and that's when he hears the gunshot.

"That fucking Rapidash." He says astonished, the words whispering out his mouth near silently, Ozzy raises his gun up level with the pokemon's left flank, not trusting his aim enough to try for her head. He hadn't expected to see the Rapidash again so soon. Especially after Blake had killed her rider, but if things were coming full circle he wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. Taking careful aim he fires aiming not to kill but maim and make it hard for the beast to run, at the last second something startles him and he jerks. Where he hits, or if he hits at all is unknown to him.