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Skarada winced at the pressure on his throat, readjusting to the discomfort and maintaining his swagger. It seemed Zack at least had the physical strength to back up his threat, yet with only one arm his grip was compromised. Ska knew he could turn the tables with that disadvantage in mind, only if he did he'd be at the Gengar's mercy.

"Shanties, that's a good one," Ska wheezed. He took a step forward. The other pirates tensed up. 241's head tracked the captain's movement, and Keasbey watched it all with his bird's eye view. Looking at the scene, he failed to notice a shining red object high in the clouds above...

Skarada had decided the only way to safely remove himself from being Zack's hostage was to remove himself from Hazard's immediate line of fire so his Pokémon could attack without worrying about him. And so, with his second step, he activated the Hurl Trap.

Click. "Yo-ho-yo-ho."

Skarada's whole body was instantly thrown back by the trap, consequently flinging himself and Zack backwards towards a parked car on the other side of the street at jet ski speed. The impact would hurt them both, but with Zack acting as a cushion for the captain, it'd hurt the trainer more.

When that happened, Keasbey made his move and 241 followed suit. With priority on his side, the Murkrow spoke at Hazard. [Brawwk, I s**t on people for fun sometimes!] At only level 25 he could not keep up with Hazard in real combat, but being a Prankster kept him in the game as support. Hazard would not be able to concentrate as well after being Confided in, which would drop her Special Attack unless she could do something about it.

At level 55, higher than any Pokémon Ska actually owned, the Gardevoir was not hampered by the need to play tricks. One psychically assisted step thrust her at Hazard, and her other leg went up for a flying kick at the Gengar's facechest. The leg was surrounded by a swirling purple and pink energy like a spiritual fire, a Psyshock greave that enveloped her whole kick. 241's attack was accompanied by a powerful "Whah-CHA!"

Assuming his reckless Trap scheme worked, Skarada would break away after the collision, recovering while stepping back to make distance between himself and Zack and grabbing three more cards from his deck. In his other hand was Zack's notebook, opened to a random page. "Dear Diary," he mocked. "I cried after Ska kicked my a**!"

His taunt would be accompanied by throwing cards. One Fire Trap angled in front of Zack, setting on the ground a step away, and another was a Steel Card that cut through the branch of a tree on the sidewalk. If Zack didn't deal with it the branch would fall on either his head or the trap, causing a pillar of flames to erupt at Zack.

While all this happened, Ska's pirates would use the turn to release their Pokémon: Simipour, Pelipper and Swellow in their late 20's, all Pokémon suitable for sea or air piracy.

And Durendal would drop onto the scene from above like a cannonball, landing in the middle of it all. The Pawniard had been looking through the skies for Skarada at Salieri's behest, and after finding nothing for an hour he started looking for a private spot to use the bathroom.

Having seen Zack and Ska's encounter from up above, he decided his bladder could wait long enough for him to help out Salieri's new ally. He looked in Zack's general direction to see if the trainer wanted his immediate help, and if no orders were given, Dune would start fighting the pirate thugs.

Shalour City Beach

Oberon gulped as Reynard’s wave loomed higher and higher before crashing down on the battlefield, covering all three beached Pokémon with a heavy Surf. Salieri held up a hand to stop the water from blocking her vision. When the Surf receded back into the ocean, Reynard stood proudly at the center of the beach. Both of Grant’s Pokémon had taken major damage, and Oberon laid on her back with swirls in her eyes. “Piiiii~”

“Reynard, you connard!” Salieri scolded while returning her fainted Cleffa. “You gotta watch your teammate’s back!”
Her Vaporeon turned up her nose and pointed her paw at Mandibuzz and Audino, confident she could take them both on by herself at this point. [Who cares? I’m still winning.]

Salieri was going to continue arguing with a Pokémon whose words she couldn’t understand when hands suddenly obscured her eyes from behind. “Guess who-“

Her elbow snapped into Matheson’s gut, leading to her fist rapping against her face and finally to her flipping him over her shoulder and onto the sand while yelling “Seismic Toss!”, defeating her hookup and giving her experience points. When she saw what she’d done, she covered her mouth. “Merde, Math! Sorry!”

He had finally arrived at the café she proposed to meet at, and saw her battling on the beach. Math thought it would be fun to surprise her. He would never make that mistake again. Winded, he hissed a slow, “Why?” before looking at Grant from his upside down perspective. He waved at the fellow sponsored trainer. “Hiiii, I’m Matheson.”

Salieri grabbed his free hand, feeling even worse about her judo flip since he still wore a cast, and helped Math to his feet. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” he winced.
“Don’t sneak up on me like that!”
“I wanted to surprise you!”
“Well, it worked. Are you sure you're okay? I have a pretty mean Seismic Toss."
“You're tough but let's not get carried away here.” Matheson assured, secretly feeling pain all over. He looked at the battle, and at Grant. “Uh, is this part of the pirate hunt?”

Sal was about to answer when she saw a shining red object over the inner city. “No, but maybe Dune found something.” She waved her Pawniard over, and the red object changed course towards the beach.

That is, until it suddenly took a nosedive into the middle of the city. Sal stared at where Dune just was. “I think he found something.”
“You sure?”
“I don’t know, we should check.”

The bandanna girl returned her reluctant Vaporeon while running back towards the café. “Hate to run Grant, but we’ll pick this up some other time!” she yelled over her shoulder. “Math, get your Magic Door Key!”

Matheson awkwardly waved goodbye at Grant while running up the beach after Sal. “Maybe he just had to pee!”
“Could be, but we gotta check!” Sal called back. “I’m tired of waiting!”

Knowing full well the radius of his Fire Trap Cards, Skarada was still moving back after throwing down his attacks. The exploding car was a bonus, until it came his way and became a detriment. "Bugger," he growled, releasing a Pokémon while taking cover behind another parked car.

Sergio landed on one foot and twirled. The Lopunny's pirouette gave way to a spinning Return kick that flung what was left of the car into a running shoe store across the street, where it continued to smolder through a broken display window. Sergio looked to where she could see the Charmeleon's head, her Lopunnite encrusted collar shining from the fire's glow.

The bottom of the ocean. Skarada mulled what Zack said over while he clicked a red button on his wrist bracer, an extraction signal beacon that would be sent to his airship. His child's Sablenite, on the bottom of the ocean. That was something he refused to accept. Clearly it wasn't on Zack's person, but if his dinky notebook survived the swim then the stone could be somewhere else too. He remained optimistic.

"Erin's gettin' us out, Sergio," Ska told Sergio. "Keep 'em busy with me." Sergio gave her captain a thumbs up and he stood up, standing close to her so they could protect one another.

One of her large ears curled up into something vaguely resembling a fist and delivered a Sky Uppercut into the car Ska had gone behind, serving it up in the air. Its shadow would fall on Zack and Malis, and soon the car would as well if nothing was done about it.

Ska steeled himself as soon as his cover was gone, prepping two more cards and throwing them in Zack’s direction. The Plant Traps would set at Zack’s feet if they weren’t intercepted. If they were tripped, they’d burst with spiraling vines that would ensnare and bind anything close by. If the car landed on them, it would be lifted and bound in the air.

Meanwhile, having no quick ways to escape from Hazard’s superior speed, Keasbey was struck by her Payback tackle, flinging him higher into the air. A Thunderbolt was coming in his near future if 241 didn’t save him first. If she did and he had time to recover from that huge blow, he’d fly back over to Skarada’s shoulder and Roost, ready to support his captain next turn.

241’s empathetically sensed the new arrivals of Durendal, Malis and Lethal, a trait carried over from her earlier stages and honed by evolution. The attack didn’t take her by surprise, but it was enough of a problem that she didn't plan on dealing with it by herself. Instead, she Telepathically coordinated with the speediest ally she had who could.

The Swellow dove in front of Lethal’s charge with a Quick Attack, blocking the Clawitzer from going any further. The tradeoff of power was not in the Swellow's favor, causing it to receive heavy damage in the process, but it allowed 241 to continue her Psyshock kick at Hazard before the planned Thunderbolt could so much as spark.

Now engaged with Lethal, the Swellow flapped backwards. Its wings then hummed with power as it attempted to rush the living bazooka with a "Wing Attack!"

The Simipour and Pelipper were excited to get in on the action too. Heaving its wings, Pelipper flapped a Hurricane into existence, which started small and whirled bigger and bigger on its way to Lethal while Simipour Worked Up.

Or it would have, if a red blur crackling with crimson electricity didn't zoom around the Flying attack in the opposite direction, stopping it before it really got going. Combining Rock Polish and Fleché, Durendal unwound the Hurricane and skid to a stop, blocking their progress towards the rest of the brawl.

“The hell is this thing?” one pirate asked another, who only shrugged. “Beat it, tin man.” Dune shook his head no. “Fine, we ain’t tryin’ to be fair. Two against one is fine with us!”

Durendal sized up his opponents. He decided that if he took ample time to analyze as usual, his victory was guaranteed. But the little knight had urgent personal issues to attend to. He had to help Zack detain Skarada, before it was too late. He ran at his opponents head on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Merde!" Salieri shouted while running up the beach, seeing the tower of flames and explosions in town from her position. Her hunch was verified in that instant. She and Matheson bolted up the white sand as fast they could towards the café, where there was a door with a keyhole to access.

"Yep, definitely something!" Math chimed. Salieri released Biz Marquis when they got to the door, while her noble friend went deep into his pockets trying to find the Magic Door Key. "...are you kidding me right now..."
"For real, Math?" Sal asked in exasperation. She ran in place, too antsy to stay still with her eyes on the orange horizon.
[What's going on?!] Biz asked. Confused, he covered his arm with his wooden cannon barrel technique. [Am I supposed to shoot something, what am I shooting at?]
"It's gotta be here, I just used it." Math checked his jeans again, then his orange Devon Co. sponsorship jacket pockets.
"Did you drop it?" Sal asked, hoping the answer was no. "On the beach, when I flipped you?"

Math looked at her in a very telling way. They swore in unison while running back down to the beach.

Swellow was fast, yet still not fast enough to change directions now. It painfully and literally soaked up the Water Pulse, flying back at 241. As coldly as she had mentally hijacked the pirate's commands, 241 swung her leg out in the air, kicking the incoming Swellow in the face with Psyshock before she got to Hazard.

Having diverted her attack, 241 was too late to stop the Thunderbolt from happening, but her makeshift projectile was just in time to respond to it. The unconscious Swellow spiraled up into the air, careening into Keasbey and knocking the Murkrow away. Now it was this bird getting struck by lightning instead.

"Connie!" Swellow's trainer cried, returning her to her ball. Fainting was one thing, but sustaining that kind of damage after the fact would require serious medical attention. "What's your problem you piece of s**t?"

241 paid the pirate and his cussing no mind while she passively Traced her opponent's Levitate. Keasbey was a better resource in this battle than Swellow and that was the only reason he was saved. She felt compelled to assist Skarada in his endeavors and defeat his enemies, but she didn't know why. She just knew there was no camaraderie between herself and these pirates. No love lost at all.

Escaping the jaws of defeat thanks to a cruel rescue, Keasbey flapped higher into the air and saw Lethal rising on a Water Gun. Deciding 241 could be the one to deal with the seemingly scarier Gengar, his eyes glimmered in Lethal's direction. The Clawitzer hadn't seen the Quash before, so he felt he still had the element of surprise. As soon as he caught Lethal's eyes, he'd attempt to Quash that Pokemon with a stare before he could Swords Dance. If it worked, Lethal would freeze up and fall for four seconds til he hit the ground. A simple distraction, but one that would buy him time to either fly over to Ska or Roost somewhere else if he wasn't attacked first.

Now Hazard had a choice to make: To Shadow Ball, or not to Shadow Ball? 241 wouldn't give her very long to decide now that she was close enough to engage in the hand to hand combat she seemed to prefer. In order to finish closing the distance, 241 summoned raw telekinetic power in the shape of a fist that shot off from her arm, a flying Psychic punch aimed at Hazard's face.

While all this happened, Durendal was engaged with Pelipper and Simipour. A butterfly kick served as the end of his Swords Dance as he flipped over the monkey's Low Kick and spun away from Pelipper's Water Pulse. Momentum on his side, he whirled a crescent Psycho Cut blade at Pelipper, knocking the bird down the street and maybe out of the fight. All that was left was a nervous Simipour.

Trying to stand its ground, Simipour held up a hand and beckoned for Dune to come closer with the symbol for 'bring it'. Dune, not a fan of having his favorite symbol reappropriated, also tried to get Simipour to bring it. Simipour, feeling entitled because it beckoned first, once again signaled for Dune to bring it. About ready to pee on the street, Dune gave up, switched on Flèche, and brought it.

Meanwhile, Skarada dusted his hands, pleased with himself. Zack was tied up and his Charmeleon didn't seem to mind. This could change within seconds, so Ska didn't ease up entirely and Sergio remained alert. Still, they had a second to take a mental step back. "Wanna see how this plays out?" he asked Sergio, flipping through the notebook looking for doodles. His Lopunny shrugged and nodded.

Ska took a second to look at the rest of the battle in time to see 241's ruthless play. "It's mutiny, captain!" yelled the pirate who owned Connie.
"Tch." Ska grit his teeth together. There was no bond between him and 241, but when Bryony loaned him the Pokemon he was promised obedience. "Hired guns are never trusty, Sergio. Wonder if we can brainwash her again on our own..."

His attention returned to Zack, helpless at the mercy of his own, indifferent Pokemon. Unable to help himself, Skarada began to laugh. "I know I shouldn't be fighting children, but it was worth it for the laugh." Still keeping his distance from Malis, he joined the Charmeleon in observation. To show how little he cared, he held up Zack's notebook for the trainer to see, then tossed it over his shoulder onto the ground. "That's about what you amount to, Zachary. A joke. If you had my stone maybe you'd be more."

The door to a deli opened up down the street behind Ska, and out walked Salieri. She took one look at the situation, saw Zack, and put a finger to her mouth so he wouldn't blab about her entrance. Biz Marquis came out behind her, closed the door, and shuffled off into an alley to get into position. Then she cleared her throat.

"Hey! Dickhead!"

Ska twitched at that familiar voice, pure agitation tingling up his spine. He and Sergio turned to face the rebel teen standing down the street. The allies turned enemies took the sight of each other in. It had been nearly three years, after all.

"Salieri! Growing up are we?" He nodded at her. "How's the arm?"
"Attached," she replied, shaking out her arm in a reflexive response. "No thanks to you. How's the eye?"
He pulled back the lock of hair that covered his prosthetic, an eye made of Keystone material. No matter the angle it was looked at, a translucent helix would show inside it. "Can't say the same. It's a point of contention. Here to watch your friend squirm? I was just gonna leave him here."
"I'm here to ask some questions." Sal's eyes narrowed. The fake eye creeped her out. "What are you doing in Kalos? You said you'd never step foot in my country, Skarada."

Salieri was also here to distract her former captain while Matheson and Rhea came out from another building behind the vines and totaled car. He tiptoed up to the Plant Trap and his Vespiquen made a jagged saw out of rock hard sap extending from her arm. She started hacking away at the vines.

"Psst, hi," Math whispered. "Thanks for saving my life yesterday, I'm Matheson." He held out his hand for an inappropriately timed handshake, waiting for Zack's good arm to be free.

241 empathetically sensed Hazard's actions through her emotions, much like how an Aura user would. Predicting the attack only gave her foresight, not the reflexes to dodge something that fast. In a way, knowing it was about to happen made it worse. The only thing she could do was try to make the Shadow Ball as painless as possible and make her next move count.

The one action 241 could take in that timeframe was to tilt her head down at the smaller Pokémon so the Shadow Ball burst on her helmet and not her exposed chin. The faceplate shattered as she braced herself so she wouldn't go flying, cracking the lens and exposing one of her bright green eyes. It was vivid but there was also something empty about it, as if the soul behind her eye was subdued.

Her helmet did not do much to protect her. In fact, it was to keep her in check and protect other people from her instead. And so the Shadow Ball, while not critical, still took a good chunk off of her hit points. If she could feel respect for anything, she would have felt it for Hazard's technique.

Unflinching in a way that would make a Fighting type proud, 241 saved time and space by taking the hit and not using a move. It put her in the perfect position for a point blank speedy response, and she was on it as soon as the Shadow Ball hit her. With one arm she would grab the top of Hazard's head to keep the Ghost in place, and with the other she'd press her fingertips lightly into Hazard's chest while that arm became enveloped in a Psyshock molded like a gauntlet. Unless Hazard could escape this time, 241 would belt out another "Whah-CHA!" and unleash a psychokinetic One Inch Punch that would throttle the Gengar down the street and end their scuffle.

More Kung Fu action had taken place elsewhere, but it was much more one sided. Simipour laid defeated on the ground, but Durendal could not bother being around afterwards. As soon as the monkey was knocked out, Dune used another Rock Polish and dashed into the nearest building, hoping there was a bathroom.

From across the street on a roof, Biz Marquis got into position and aimed his wooden cannon at Skarada's Lopunny. He had witnessed Dune's swift beatdown of Simipour and his flashy exit. [Such sweet moves,] Biz sighed like the fanboy he was. [What a badass...]

Meanwhile, Skarada folded his arms at Salieri's question. "Even a country as shitty as this has treasure for the taking. That's the only thing I'm here for."
"What kind of treasure?" Sal asked, dead serious. Her arm tingled just looking at him.
"It's funny you ask, cause I was about to explain each step of my plan so you could stop me. Again." Ska flipped his lock of hair away and it landed right back where it started. "Not making that mistake twice, mate."
"Is this part of your plan?" She gestured wide at the burning cars and broken buildings. "Picking fights with scrubs?"
"You know I don't want no scrubs, Sal. I thought he had what I wanted, he didn't. The fight, well..." His grin was on full force. "Good way to kill time."
"You never used to fight for nothing." Salieri gave him a look of pity. There was some remorse mixed in there too. "What happened to you, Skarada? You were never good, but you were better than this."

For a moment Ska's grin faltered as he became perplexed as to why she'd even ask that question. "You serious? A mutinous b***h who stabbed out MY EYE doesn't get to take the high road. Not ever."

As the old acquaintances spoke, Matheson took Zack's shoulder clap as a sign of friendship. Then he saw they had matching slings from the same hospital and he gasped with sparkles in his eyes. "Sling twins!"

Close by, Keasbey wondered what he should do with Lethal. He was very tempted to just poop on the Clawitzer like he was wont to do. It was a good thing he didn't, because out the corner of his eye he saw Matheson and Rhea cut Zack down. The Murkrow settled for shooting a Thunder Wave from his beak at the temporarily trapped Lethal, not sticking around to see if it worked as he flew back to his captain.

"Brawwk! Hash this out, hash this out!" Ska and Sergio looked to where Keasbey was indicating, and Ska's lips curled into an annoyed frown.
"Tch. Gettin' too crowded for my taste." He held up his lock of hair, exposing his Mega Eye which began to glow. Sergio's Lopunnite collar responded in kind. "Let's take out the trash, mate."

That's when a snowflake fell from above. It was followed by more, until a winter wind and fresh snowfall was occurring in the middle of the street. Salieri looked up to see the source, a purple portal that had opened up in the sky.

The pirates returned their knocked out Pokémon and ran over to their captain's side. Pink bubbles of Telekinesis floated down to envelop the pirates. Unless they were interrupted, they'd be carried off and they'd disappear through the portal, flipping off Zack, Sal and Math in the process.

Ska tasted a snowflake on his tongue while he waited for 241 to return to his side. The Mega Evolution was put on pause, though their stones still glowed. "Snow in the summer. Don't say I never showed you anything nice, Salieri." He nodded at Zack. "By the way, Zachary. If the rest of your Pokémon care about you as little as that Charmeleon, you may as well mail me any more Mega Stones you get your hands on. I'll save you the performance issues."

"HEY! We're not done here!" Salieri looked to the boys while Ska grabbed a Pokéball off of his belt and two more Trap Cards from his deck. "Guys, we can't let him escape!"

Matheson pulled Metis out from the inside of his coat, clutching the Klefki tightly while commanding a "Fairy Lock!", something that Keasbey saw and answered with a Thunder Wave. The two Pranksters had their split second duel, which ended with Metis being Paralyzed and neutered before her lock ever began.

"Now!" Salieri called, and Biz Marquis fired a Seed Bomb at Sergio. At the sound of Salieri's order, Sergio snapped to attention, and with the same grace as before she Returned the Seed Bomb back at the sender with a spinning kick.

[Ah s**t,] Biz groaned when the Seed Bomb blew up in his face. He flinched, then remembered that his Bulletproof hide made him immune. [It's cool, guys, I'm okay.]

Levitating back over to Skarada, 241 waved a hand through the air. Her Telekinesis pulled on the winter winds, and the pirates who were flung this way and that by the Explosion Punch's shockwaves were caught in her miniature tempest. Helplessly flailing, they got flung back up into the portal along with the flames that had drifted to and fro on her air currents. From this side of the portal, panicked shouting could be heard, as well as the sounds of a fire alarm and streaming water.

Skarada blew a raspberry at Zack as an answer to his goading, and Sergio put an arm around his waist so she could jump them both through the portal. Salieri grit her teeth, clicked on her rollerblades, and rushed at them with the understanding that Biz would provide cover fire. "Not yet, Skarada! I need answers!"

241 Teleported right in front of her and grabbed her by the neck, making another Psyshock gauntlet with her other hand and holding it up for a punch. With the two of them this close together, Biz didn't feel comfortable taking the shot. A Seed Bomb could blow up in Sal's face, and he felt useless at that moment. "Salieri!" Matheson yelled, feeling just as helpless from where he stood.

Ska scoffed. "Leave her with one eye, 241. Then we'll be even."

Salieri gripped at the hand on her throat in a futile effort to remove it. She looked 241 directly in her visible eye, but the Gardevoir didn't return the stare. Instead, she was looking at Sal's blue bandanna, the one that was once her brother's. And suddenly Salieri felt like this Gardevoir's eyes looking very familiar. "No way...you aren't..."

The Gardevoir hesitated, her Psyfist wavering. It was long enough for Durendal to fly through the window of the bathroom he was in out into the street and ram himself into the distracted 241 with a Pursuit attack. She dropped Sal and stumbled backwards, more out of shock than pain. The Gardevoir's footing became unsteady as she looked at her hands like she had never seen them before.

"Really now?" Skarada rolled his eyes. "Defective again. We're gonna have to put you back on the program, 241." He returned the Gardevoir to her ball.
"That Gardevoir..." Salieri started, rubbing her throat. "Ska, no-"
"Oh. Right. Funny thing, actually." He smirked at the rebel. "241 is a Pokémon I borrowed from Team Flare, but she didn't start as theirs. I checked her OT, and you would not believe who it is."
"No." Her throat ran dry. "The original trainer, it's not-"
"Mozart Soledad? Yeah. It is. Small world, huh?"

He gave them all a quick salute, and Sergio jumped him up into the portal while Keasbey flew next to him. The portal closed behind them, and just like that, they were gone.

The tree that had been burning before finally fell over, making the only sound on the block. Soon the sound of police sirens followed, and then the sound of Salieri screaming as she kicked the car next to her.

"YOU THINK?" Salieri snapped at Zack, shoulders heaving with each huff and her hands balled into tight fists. She stopped herself short of screaming more, choosing to pace instead while returning her Pokémon. "You should have called me."

Matheson watched her seethe and was reminded that the pirate man claimed she stabbed out his eye. The girl he was hooking up with stabbed out someone's eye. It was hard to wrap his head around. Unfortunately, given what she told him about what she did to Faust, it was believable. They were going to have to have a talk. But there were priorities. "Is everyone okay?"

Salieri was trying not to be livid, so all she could do was nod.

Matheson leaned out further into the street to listen for the sirens. "Uh, guys, the cops-"

"He got the one up on you, you would've been barbecue without us!" Zack was right of course, she had failed at her assigned task. Realizing that only made Salieri madder. "What were you fighting him for, anyway? Now he's not gonna tell us anything."

"Yeah I'm also gonna need some elaboration on the eye stabbing thing." Math chimed in while getting his Magic Door Key out from his pocket. "Trying not to freak out here. No offense, but uh, what the ********?"

Salieri flopped her arms at her sides, not sure how to respond. There was a good reason for her to do it, and she hadn't walked away from that event unscathed, but she wasn't ready to justify herself. She was too shocked from running into her brother's Gardevoir, and too mad that she lost Prou as soon as she found her. "It's a long story, but I'm sure you wouldn't hear it with your head up your a**-"
"Try explaining it to me, then," Math said, feeling locked out of the increasingly ridiculous loop that was Salieri's life.
"I'm not explaining myself right now, Math. I can't even..."

She ran a hand through her hair and looked down the street for any sign of the pirates, to no avail. "How do we find them now? Did he tell you what he wanted? Anything?"