#Palkia was pulling some strings to make it so she could

[sincerely-sofie]

Brainstorming a protagonist for the Dugtrio Day AU

Meet Echo, everybody!

[unmeisenshi]

Arceus floated in the vastness of space, still lost in thought. They closed their eyes, and when they reopened they saw a Ceruledge standing before them. They had regular hands as opposed to sword hands, but both hands were covered in different colored flames - their left being a dark black and their right being a bright white.

"LaPlante... What are you doing here...?"

The Ceruledge, or LaPlante, chuckled, their voice sounding feminine. "I'm only checking in on my brother Zappa. Is that such a bad thing?"

Arceus looked up. "Yes it is. You aren't supposed to be around anymore. I-"

LaPlante chuckled again. "Yes, yes. I know. Don't think I haven't forgotten that you exiled me from Gaea after I nuked the 2nd one. Took away my Giratina body and put me into this, and made it so I can't get within Earth's space. Though you were foolish enough to leave me with some of my abilities. Enough so that I've been... Pulling strings."

The deer God's eyes shot open. "What do you mean...?"

"Why... It's been me who's made everything here happen. Not necessarily you bringing humans into our world - that's your own doing. Which... Even by your own standards makes you... What did you call me? Full of sin? Wasn't it your own rule to not mess with the fabric of reality?" LaPlante looked back at Arceus. "I've caused many of the disturbances on that precious Gaea of yours. Even down to that Marowak Zane's death. I wanted to break you... To expose to that world the false idol you are... And it seemed to work."

Arceus reared onto its back hooves, ready to strike at LaPlante. But the Ceruledge held her black hand out, and seemed to freeze Arceus. The God looked down. "How..."

"The... Issues I sent to your planet kept you busy. Busy enough that I took out Dialga and Palkia, and took their power. I now control time, space, and antimatter." LaPlante casually floated up to Zappa. "That nebula has power... The energy of Necrozma. I plan on forming Infinity... And I need the power in that nebula. You will take me to it. And if you don't... Then I'll just vaporize you. I'm already more powerful than you. You know this."

Arceus looked down, tears in their eyes. "You... You made sure that Zane... You... You're a monster..."

LaPlante stood with her arms crossed. "So... What will it be?"

Arceus looked down. They didn't really have much of a choice. "Fine... Could barely do much to you the last time... You can't form Infinity... I'll see to it that you're stopped."

LaPlante laughed, and began to float towards the Earth with Zappa in tow. "What... From that rescue team you always seem to flock towards? My dear brother... I've taken out two of your Gods, and I have you in the palm of my hand..." She chuckled, and gave a menacing glare to Arceus.

"I've already won."

-

LaPlante, Fallen Angel of Calamity

LaPlante is Arceus' sister, and was siblings with Dialga and Palkia. Originally a Giratina, her form and godly title were stripped after she caused the second calamity that made humans extinct. Arceus switched her physical appearance to that of a Ceruledge, and banished her to Midnight City, a settlement on a distant planet. Even though she was banished far away from Gaea, her control over Antimatter allowed her to manipulate the events happening on the planet. She is the cause of everything, and shortly after the Clairvoyant Disease crisis she killed her siblings Dialga and Palkia and stole their powers over Time and Space. She now plans to absorb the power of Necrozma and form Infinity, then destroy the third Gaea.

[the-third-shadow]

Search For the Lost (Part 2)

[WAIT! Have you read Part 1 first? Don’t forget to check it out!]

Loca had been at this for ages!

Not literally, of course, considering time was nearly meaningless for a cartographer Celebi like her, but it certainly felt like it. She never liked spending too much time in one place, but she'd been getting readings around the time stream near Dahara City for weeks now, trying to find the one thread that would help her find her friend.

She'd pulled a few strings, asked the right Pokemon, and they'd all contently let her work in the range of the considerably awful place. Most legendaries and mythicals were still sore about the incident a few years back where a Hoopa had found their--- or, his, as he was going by these days--- Prison Bottle and gone berserk. Rumor had it that the destruction done to the fabric of space was bad enough that The Old One had to show up and stitch it back together.

Loca shivered, despite the desert sun beating on her tiny body. It was bad luck to think about Them at all, but Dahara was rife with symbols of their presence. They were known to make trouble as of late, and that trouble meant the other legendaries and mythicals sweeping up after them. Loca didn't want to be mapping Dahara City until she wilted, so she shifted her focus to being productive and tried to ignore the copious presence of armed rings.

The last time she'd seen Miscellaneous, he had been leaving on an adventure to go seek out the world, promising he'd visit every few weeks. He'd been avidly making sure he did so--- until three months ago. Radio silence since.

Click “Read More” to continue!

Loca buzzed her legs together as she flew into the temporal dimension, opening a time ripple and feeling rejuvenated by Dialga's presence. She could sense it far away at the center of the dimension, comforting like the temporal catalogue it was. She hoped at least some of the information she'd been gathering in this barren search would help it understand the tracks of time better than it already did, but she couldn't say what use mapping the futures of Dahara would have other than merely towards finding ways to minimize more duplicates of the catastrophe of years past.

Another her mapping the area came in from some other time, looked at her, and smiled before continuing on her way. Loca was in a place frequented only by herself, so in this sector of the temporal dimension, she was all she ever saw darting around. As a rule, one was usually not allowed to talk with theirself in the temporal dimension (anything could be misconstrued as a warning and turn into a Paradox, so it was usually better to be safe than sorry), but at the very least the smile felt comforting and encouraging.

Loca sighed. She really missed the more bustling parts of Time, especially on jobs like this one. Like she had each time before, she found the pathway back towards the central divergence she was looking to map: when Misc left. Obviously she knew better than to look for him then. That path had already happened, and so far she'd seen no evidence of any branches that started with her getting desperate enough to create a timeline. She didn't want to have to go appealing to Dialga just for a timeline to figure out where Misc was--- that sort of thing could be considered an abuse of power and get her retired. She really didn't want that, so by the books it had been.

No matter how she spun it, though, Misc was just gone. She sat by the opening to the moment of his departure, frozen in-between time like a paused screen in the middle of being rewound. The hoop he had open was to some place she'd never been, but that wasn't saying much, and each time she'd gone back to his caretakers describing "a place with bright steel buildings that glow like Volbeat," they'd insisted Loca go back and find more out.

But she squinted over and over at this moment in time each time she passed by it in the time stream, and never was she any closer to seeing just where Miscellaneous had gone! Her wings fluttered in frustration, and she slunk further back in the time stream until she was at the point of divergence she'd been mapping out.

She took a seat, noticing yet another her at this memory of time, and made a gesture to let it resume. She and herself watched the her of then, on the outskirts of Dahara City, speaking with Misc on the day of his first departure.

"So you're going on a trip then?" asked Loca (the sound was always eerily crisp, eerily clear, with only the faintest of echos if one listened close enough. She pulled out an Oran berry from her bag, peeling it as she watched and offering half of it to her fellow her.).

"Yeah! Everyone keeps telling me about the world outside, you know?" Misc smiled at her. As of late, he'd stopped concentrating as much on holding his form so cleanly together. His hair and tail bounced like wisps of smoke as he floated beside her, enjoying the cool dusk air. "So I'm leaving Dahara City. Tonight, actually. I want to see everything. I want to make lots of people happy--- I mean, think that's my purpose in life."

"And your folks?"

"Both approve. They're staying here, though." His smile faltered. "I guess I'll have to come by and visit every once in a while, hope they're alright. You know."

"I map the area--- I can pop by every once in a while to see them."

"But you're not allowed to ever tell me anything, and you're usually here anyways. Don't worry." His grin cropped back up like an unruly weed on his face. His hair bobbed--- Loca had a feeling that he'd never make it in a place that required him to look stoic if he couldn't get that back under control. "I'll just have to visit for you and them both!"

"Alright…" She hesitated, slowing down. "Hey, Misc?"

"Yeah?"

"I get that you want to make Pokemon happy--- really, I can understand that, but you've never been outside of the valley before." Loca fidgeted with the strap of her bag. She knew that Misc wouldn't want to hear this, but she'd seen plenty of things that never quite left her. She thought of the desert-filled Orre region, the horrible misuse of Reshiram and Zekrom from their slumbering homes deep in the Relic Castle in the heart of Unova's deserts, and even the abuse of Pokemons' powers here in the Arche Valley for greed. "Misc, I need you to promise me that whatever you do--- wherever you go--- you'll never trust a human, okay?"

"Oh..."

His frown told Loca everything she needed to know. She didn't even need to follow him into the future--- he was going to get hurt, she just knew it. She followed his gaze towards the expansive sight of Dahara, gleaming against the sandy desert. He was thinking of the folks who always came by to the cave, the rare ones who were allowed to know that a Hoopa was still in town.

"Well… I'm off then," he said in a gloomy voice. With that, he disappeared, skulking through a hoop and leaving Loca to her worries.

She looked at her counterpart, sharing in a sour scowl. She reached towards the glowing display of light and spun it forward. The next few times were much of the same. She skimmed over them inattentively, watching how each time his form became just a bit less stable, a bit less Hoopa and a bit more something only pretending to be one.

The other Loca stopped the view on the final visit he'd had before going missing completely.

"I'm ba~ack!" he hummed, twirling in front of the usual location Loca visited by. He didn't need to announce it--- she'd seen in the timelines that there was an 85% chance of his return on this day and time--- but she smiled anyways when he popped a hoop over her head and showered her in confetti. "Did you miss me?"

"Yeah," sighed the Loca sitting beside herself. She nodded in agreement.

"Not really," Loca said. "I'm busy enough without you around, y'know?"

Misc shrugged it off with his usual enthusiasm, darting by her to give her a great hug.

"You won't believe where I went this time!" He'd grown an awful lot of personality since she'd seen him last.

"Was it Sinnoh?" She flicked the hoop in his hair, and it made a sound like a tuning fork. She couldn't help but laugh.

"Did you cheat?" Misc asked with a grin her way.

"Of course I cheated, Misc. We've been through this before. I map timelines, so I saw this happening way ahead of time."

His grin grew, but it took her a moment to realize why. She sputtered a half-chuckle, half-snort out at the doofy look he gave her until he caved with a laugh of his own.

"You know you could've just asked me more about Dialga, right?" she teased, watching him open a hoop to their favorite spot to lounge and chat. She took his hand and followed him through to the top of the cliff looking over the Arche Valley. "I would've told you everything I'm allowed to."

"You have, plenty of times!" Misc opened another hoop as the first one closed, eyes glowing as a blanket and a picnic basket flew through. The hoop closed behind them as they settled on the ground.

By now, she was used to Misc's eccentric visits taking this kind of form--- his caretakers had three days, one for both of them and one for each of them, then he'd always take a few hours of the last day to catch up with Loca. It was a nice regularity in an otherwise dreary job of irregularities mapping the timelines around deserts like Dahara.

"Then why go to Sinnoh to learn about them?"

"Because it's so interesting seeing the different Sinnohs and how they each talk about Dialga, Palkia, or Giratina. Sometimes it's not at all, and in one of them---"

"All three are spoken of, I know."

"Don't you think it's so cool that there are dimensions that are whole other timelines, Loca?"

"I guess--- I mean, it means less mapping for us Celebi whenever someone else can do it."

Misc opened the basket and offered Loca a berry, which she took after sitting down on the blanket.

They watched the sunset and chatted about Misc's voyage until the stars glittered above them. Seeing Misc open a hoop, Loca made a questioning hum.

"I know you usually don't want me getting you things since your bag is kind of small, but I brought you a present this time." He dug a hand around, before Loca saw a scaly blue hand pass him something on the other end. Misc grinned at the half-awake Druddigon on the other side guarding his spoils of exploration.

His hair was starting to do that thing, where it twisted and flickered up top like a pacing heart monitor.

"Well, I saw this and just had to get it for you," he said, pulling out a smooth wooden stick with a carved curl like a knothole on one end. "I know you like collecting wands, so I did some favors and pulled some strings and got you this! But, uh, I actually have no clue what it does. I don't know how to use wands."

He offered the item to Loca, who took it in ginger claws. She turned it over in her hands, admiring the petrified wood underneath a thin resin, and the ornate little sprout branching just before the knothole-like curl.

"If you don't want it that's okay, too! Like I said, I know you don't like carrying lots of stuff with you and you probably can't because of the temporal laws or whatever but---"

"Misc," Loca said, interrupting him.

He shyly grinned.

"Thank you." She grinned back at him. "I mean it."

"Yeah. Thanks for spending some time with me, Loca," he said.

"Always."

They shared a quick hug before Misc pulled back, smiling.

"I'd better get going now--- I have only a few more regions I need to check out," he said.

"Right." She got up, letting him pick the blanket up with Psychic to put it and the basket away. "So, when do you think you'll be back next?"

"You don't know?" he teased, smiling at her as he passed the basket and blanket through to their Druddigon guard. His hoop returned to to its perch on his left horn as another opened.

"I've been busy mapping timelines--- it got a bit ahead of me," she admitted.

"I'll try to be back in about a month, same as usual." His face was illuminated by yellow lights casting a haze through the open hoop. Loca could just barely make out a spire of light towering over everything else, but it didn't look familiar to her. "Take care, Loca! See you soon!"

"Take care, Misc." Loca smiled at her friend. "See you soon."

Both Locas in the temporal dimension shared an exhausted sigh at what had turned out to be a lie. She had no clue how many the one beside her had searched, but she herself had searched an albeit small but exhausting amount already in search of the missing Miscellaneous. In the first 90 timelines she checked, there had been no sign of him not 3 days from now, not 3 months from now, not 3 years from now, and not even 3 centuries from now. That represented only the first cluster of timelines branching out which was liable to just be an unlucky cluster where he never came back, but at this rate, Loca was beginning to feel a sense of dread rivalling only her summons to Relic City to reverse time on those poor Shadow Pokemon of Orre.

She waved farewell to her fellow Loca, trying to shrug the feeling off as she slipped back along the path to the future, closing her eyes and concentrating on another untrekked path. Once she was sure she was along it, her antennae twitched and she set to looking for important events to report to Dialga, divergences from other timelines that could Beautifly out into even more divergences.

But most importantly, she kept her eyes peeled for any sign of her friend, Misc.

Loca is now open for asks!

[umbrahighpriestofgiratina]

Rude Awakening Chapter 3

Against my better judgement, this chapter involves a musical number.

Chapter 3: Meet and Greet On the outskirts of Yilissitol, the four disguised Legendaries followed the four members of the Shepherds they had met into a decently sized set of barracks. ~So, there are more of them than these four?~ said Dialga. ~A bunch, and we still have to make sure we make a good impression on them too before we're fully clear,~ said Palkia. ~I promise Wuzzles won't eat anyone now he's gotten his snack,~ said Giratina. The bear in question roared. Hoopa winced and edged backwards, almost colliding with Lissa. ~I'd still keep a tight leash on that thing.~ Thankfully, Wuzzles was stowed away in a stable before the four of them were led inside; upon reaching the interior they discovered they indeed had an ensemble before them. People of various shapes and sizes, all performing various tasks like polishing weapons and armor and sorting spellbooks, not in immediate rush for war, but constant readiness for trouble. Palkia was barely able to contain another fangirl squeal until she unleashed it upon her companions telepathically, much to their annoyance. ~Aaaaaaaa! They're all here! Well, most of them - a few don't show up until later, but still, this is so exciting!~ ~So do we introduce ourselves or wha-~ Hoopa started to say. ~I've got that,~ said Palkia. ~Kinda.~ She scooched over to Robin and tapped him on the shoulder. "Er, your name is Robin, yes?" Robin turned to her and nodded. "Yes it is!" "Um, could you introduce us to everybody? There's a lot." "Hmmm... Alright. But Chrom should probably start that off." Chrom nodded and turned to the busy Shepherds. "Everybody! We have some new recruits!" The others all raised their heads and looked toward Chrom as he gestured to the disguised Legendaries in turn. "These are Quentin, Valentia, Howard, and Bartimaeus of Cincinnati! They're looking forward to meeting you all!" The other Shepherds stared and muttered amidst each other quizzically. ~I don't believe they like us...~ said Dialga. ~We oughta fix that,~ said Giratina. ~Easy guys, we haven't made the rounds yet...~ said Palkia. The four were led over by Chrom over to a woman in a witch-like outfit. "This here is Miriel, one of our mages..." Miriel gazed the new arrivals up and down analytically. "You Cincinnatians will be useful for cultural research at the very least..." They moved over to what appeared to be a demure blonde woman in priestess gear. "And this is Libra, another healer..." Giratina wiggled his eyebrows. "Hey gorgeo-" "I'm a man," said Libra, immediately cutting Giratina off. "Oh," said Giratina. ~Right.~ He looked at Libra from another angle. "...Still pretty ho-" "Gi- Er, Howard, what did I tell you?" said Palkia. Giratina immediately fell silent. Libra simply raised an eyebrow in response. Awkwardly, Chrom shuffled over to a teenage boy in villager clothes and a pot on his head. "Er, and this is Donnel!" Donnel looked at the group nervously. "My folks always warned me about strange people like these..." Palkia smiled. "Don't worry, Donnel! You've got nothing to fea-" She noticed a presence approaching her. "Bonjour, madamosel-" Without another word she backhanded the offending blue-haired man in aristocratic clothing, knocking him to the floor. Chrom frowned. "Virion, what did I tell you?" Virion groaned. "In my defense... I did not expect her to react so strongly..." Robin, having been watching the whole affair nervously, finally chipped in. "Er, that's Virion, our main archer. He's... working on his manners." ~I always liked that guy's style,~ said Giratina. ~That's because you're not too far off.~ said Palkia. ~Hopefully my species won't attract much undue attention,~ said Dialga. He then realized he was being closely scrutinized by a female of what appeared to be the same lapine kind of person he was. ~...And you know what they say about tempting fate.~ "Who are you?" the vaguely rabbit-like woman asked him. "How are you even here?" "Oh, that's Panne," said Robin. "You'd think she'd be more pleased to see you, her species is... nearly extinct... "Almost completely extinct, save for me. And I'm not sure to get my hopes up convincing myself this... Quentin is truly another survivor." "It's a long story; fittingly it also involves temporal shenanigans," said Dialga. Panne's nose twitched. "I have sharp ears, like yours. I still know the voice of someone who's bending the truth." "Um..." said Robin. "Alright, alright! We'll do the rest of the introductions later! Let's get you all to your rooms, Chrom, Lissa, Frederick, you take Quentin, Howard and Bartimaeus, respectively, I'll take Valentina, keep an an eye on them..." Frederick and Lissa grumbled and Chrom looked between everyone with concern as the disguised Legendaries were led off; however, once everyone else was out of eyeshot Giratina opened a pocket dimension, jumped inside, closed it, then created another opening he pulled Hoopa into before closing it again. <Hey!> said Hoopa after he and Giratina had re-attained their natural forms. <What are you doing?!> Giratina shook his head. <Face it Hoops, these guys don't like us. Not even the guys we impressed with sis' plan are Pecha-y with us anymore. We gotta show 'em our stuff again.> Hoopa put his mitt-hands on his hips. <Well why'd you bring just me along for that?> <First. You're the only one who never pissed anyone off, dude.> Hoopa blinked and grinned. <...Wait, really? For that long? That's a new record!> Giratina nodded. <Second. You got a ukulele in your Stash?> Hoopa nodded back. <Several. Why?> Giratina smirked. <My plan involves getting musical. Among other things.> Hoopa grimaced. <Please tell me the whole thing so I know it isn't more Bunnelby-brained than that Panne lady.> ----------- Palkia followed Robin into the deeper parts of the barracks. It's just a setback, she thought. We'll win them over eventually, just... Suddenly, not looking where she was going, she tripped and gave a yell as she landed on her back. Feeling something digging into her leg, she looked and saw it had been entangled in rusty chains. And that was when memories of what had been the root reason for this "vacation" rushed to her mind. ------------ The Red Chain. It bound them both, digging into their otherwise sturdy bodies with crimson links all over, each crimson link resembling the wheel on Arceus' back, the spines delving into their skin, causing immense agony. She wanted to reach out to Dialga, help him, but her will was not her own. She, the deity of space, was bound by these puppet string chains to the mortal human man standing before her, as was her brother. Helpless, she watched as the man started to use their power to create a new universe, one built in his image, to his whims. She tried to roar in agony, but her actions, and Dialga's, were not her own. It was over. Untill a shadow pooled and someone familiar lunged from it. <D I R T Y S I B L I N G T O R T U R E R> ----- Palkia screamed, and desperately tried to shake the chains off. "Valentia!" said Robin. "Here, I'll get those off!" He quickly untangled her leg from the chains, Palkia immediately getting to her feet and shuddering. "Th-Thank you... It's just that..." Robin frowned. "Were you someone's slave? A prisoner? What happened?" Palkia paused a long while before replying. "I... I was enslaved by someone, yes... As was Quentin... Howard saved us..." Robin rubbed his chin. "No wonder you all have been acting fidgety..." He gave her a reassuring smile. "Well, please, don't worry. You'll be safe with us. I certainly have been, as have many others." Palkia paused again, then nodded. "Thank you..." Robin started heading off to get her to a room. Palkia gazed not with fangirlish glee but more subdued respect after. He really is a good person to his good troops... Not just that, a friend... When she attempted to follow, however, the both of them heard raucous cheering from the mess hall. -------- The Sheperds had gathered here to get ready for dinner. "Will those new guys be showing up?" said Donnel. "I certainly hope not, " said Miriel. "They don't seem too astute." "Perhaps we can get Kellam to-" Virion started to say. He looked around. "Where is he any-" He did a double take and sighed. "He's right behind me, I bet." "Actually," said Libra, "he's atop your shoulders." Virion immediately noticed a thickly built, sturdily armored man right there and collapsed from the weight. "Sorry," said Kellam, "Those new guys had me jumpy." "You're forgiven," said Virion with a groan. "Say, ain't that two of them over there?" said Donnel. Everyone looked to see a human Giratina sitting at the head of the table with a ukelele and wearing a sombrero, a human Hoopa and Wuzzles the bear on either side of him. "Hello, ladies and gents! Howard, Bartimaeus, and Wuzzles here, with a song and one hell of a treat!" Giratina started playing the ukelele with surprising proficiency. So one day I felt my job was a bore, And headed to the messed-up land of Orre, The populace was in absolute despair, I had to help or risk being square "We need food!" they all haplessly cried, So I was then a total bro and complied I whipped them all up one hell of a dish, One sure to more than grant such a wish They loved them and called them food of the gods I decided to call them burritos just 'cause. "Sir, in order to back up your claims you ought to show us these "burritos" yourself," said Miriel. "Just a minute, lady!" said Hoopa. "Several orders, coming right up!" He pulled out some ingredients from one of his hoops that Giratina started preparing while continuing the song. First the tortilla, soft and tender and flat Your stale crunchy loaves just can't top that Get some rice, stuff it together nice and tight Then you pile it with beans and meats just right Stuff it with corn, stuff it with cheese, Stuff it with anything you damn well please, Wrap it all together, and day or night You'll find that this little bundle's a delight. Giratina made several burritos and handed them out with Hoopa and Wuzzles' help to the Sheperds, who took large bites out of the ones they received. "Hmm... This is actually quite appetizing." said Libra. "Golly, this almost beats my ma's cooking!" said Donnel. "This is a meal I can notice!" said Kellam. "This burrito is magnifique!" said Virion. "Preach it, Kalosian dude! You all rock!" said Giratina. Virion blinked. "Kalosian?" He is ignored as Giratina was raised on a platform with lights, strumming his ukelele like an electric guitar with Hoopa and Wuzzles in burrito suits as backup dancers. Burritos can cure any disease, And smite evil with the greatest of ease! Your old medieval delicacies are so yesterday, Especially if you've got guacamol-ay! So go ahead and take a seat-o And enjoy your delicious, nutritious burrito! The Sheperds cheered as Hoopa and Wuzzles passed them all an extra round of burritos; soon after, Robin, Palkia, Dialga, Chrom, Fredrick, and Lissa rushed in on the scene. "What in the name of the gods...?" said Fredrick. "I'm not sure if this is a better or worse mess!" said Lissa. "Everyone seems happy at least..." said Chrom. Two people emerged from the crowd holding burritos, a short, crimson-haired woman in similarly red armor, and a taller, green-haired young man in matching green armor. "These burritos are gonna be great for meals!" said the green-haired man. "I wonder if these Cincinnatians know any other recipes..." "We do," said Dialga flatly. "Then you guys are keepers!" said the crimson-haired woman. Chrom turned to Dialga and Palkia, shrugged, and smiled sheepishly. "Well then. Welcome aboard for real." Robin smiled reassuringly and extended a hand toward Palkia. "Glad to have you." Palkia smiled back and shook Robin's hand... ...Only to feel a distinct, disturbing feeling of corruption seep up her arm. She resisted the urge to shudder and broke the handshake with Robin as naturally as she could, double-checking to see- yes, it was that hand. She shook her head, gave a nervous smile, and looked on at the proceedings. She'd played this game. Literally. She knew the Sheperds - especially Robin, he was strong - would clean up that particular problem by themselves. ***