**Pewter City -- Outside**<br/><br/>Samuel's embarrassment came out on his face. He wasn't much for fame, especially not anymore. It had been different when he was a kid, but now he just liked to stay out of the spotlight. Too bad his reputation preceded him. He looked over at the strange creature that took the guise of his grandson, still puzzling over how it accomplished such an odd feat.<br/><br/>"Er. Yeah, you've probably seen me on TV." He cleared his throat, shifting uneasily. "But that's not important right now." He noticed Al's uneasiness, and promptly moved forward to the glass doors of the hotel. "Come on, we should talk inside."<br/><br/>Indoors was less ominous than the dark of night, although the lobby was empty save for the clerk sitting at the desk. No sign of any sort of security at the moment. Samuel didn't like that, but he ignored it as best he could. Leading the others across the open space till they reached the counter, he paused at the desk.<br/><br/>"Don't worry. I'll cover the rooms." He pulled out his card. He didn't mind paying, really, but he did wish that he didn't have to deal with it. At least he'd get the senior discount.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>**Upstairs**<br/><br/>Charity toppled on top of her partner, the soft pillows of her chest pressing firmly against his own flat body. Her flesh, the entire length of it from torso to feet, in contact with his bare skin was warm in the cooler air of the room. The woman lifted her head and grinned down mischievously at Gary. She could feel his erection between her legs, conveniently rubbing up against the warm lips of her womanhood. All she had to do was reposition herself and she could take him, but she waited, instead sliding her body backwards a little so that she could feel his hardness against her engorged clitoris.<br/><br/>He smile seemed to deepen, and seemed perhaps even more sinister in nature, though there was nothing diabolical about her actions. Save that perhaps she was torturing him, but she thought it was fun.<br/><br/>REALLY fun.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>**???**<br/><br/>The suspension between life and death, agonizing in its own right, held a certain amount of calm to it as well. Still. Everything was perfectly still. Nerves didn't fire, breathing wasn't necessary, pain didn't exist. To move time forward again would mean searing pain, to move it back would be enduring already-lived trauma, unless of course he could slip through other dimensions and bypass it. But he couldn't risk moving too much, not in his state. Ace only had so much energy left--best t preserve it, and not put himself in danger.<br/><br/>Plus, if he tried to escape from his own trap now, Dialga and Palkia could follow. They probably would too, like hounds on the hunt. They were already waiting. They would stay as long as they were bidden, and it wasn't likely that their demonic master would simply decide he was tired of waiting for Ace to emerge.<br/><br/>In his state of extra-consciousness, the incarnus felt rather numb to everything, almost drugged, yet alert enough not to let his mind slip away. He just hoped that Samuel had taken his warning seriously, and would not come alone...again. Watching him die once was painful enough. Ace knew he couldn't bear a second time, and he didn't have enough strength to fix it again if it did occur.