"Heat of the Moment"
Chapter II: Weighing the Odds
by: Crichton55
/
A/N: Hey everyone! I'm back again! Yes, I know I promised a few days or a week to complete this fic, and I'm no longer going to promise anything of the sort because of my history with writer's block hahahaha. Terribly sorry. At any rate, I hope you like Part II of "Heat of the Moment". I lost the original script, or what I had at the time, so I guess it's just as well to start over. On an unrelated note, I would like to ask everyone a question, and you can answer in a review if you'd like. I plan on writing a fantasy novel series based in a medieval setting, like Eragon, and I wish to incorporate psychic powers into it in a similar way that magic is used in Harry Potter and numerous other works. I am not making them like those. They were just mentioned as examples. The idea started from "Whispers in the Dark", and parts of the plot there is going to be used, but I have much more in mind. My question is: should I attempt it? If so, what can I do to combat writer's block? Many thanks, and I love your reviews!
/
5:30 PM, half an hour before Ash, Misty, and Brock arrive at Indigo Plateau.
A hooded figure examined the empty shell casing, rolling it around in his hand as if it were a ball. His face, however covered, revealed a glow of crimson anger.
"I failed."
His words were stained with fury. How could he have missed? It didn't seem possible to him, but then again he had allowed his ego to get in his way before. Not that it mattered this time. A problem like this, however frustrating, didn't pose too much difficulty. He could always find another way.
The young man stood against a shadowy part of the enormous building. Above its massive gate read "Indigo Plateau". He knew it was only a matter of time until he'd come across what he'd chased after for so long. Beating the boy to where his dream was set to culminate made too much sense. Beat him at his own game; he had been doing it for how long? Two years, three? He wasn't sure anymore. It didn't matter much to him. All that was left was to ensure he got what he wanted.
A small girl rapily approached him, looking up at him with a kind of curious child-like gaze.
"Hey mister, whadda doin'?"
The young man didn't answer. He merely stared at the girl, surprise and resentment filling his gaze. A few seconds passed in which the child and the young man did nothing but stare. It was an awkward moment. The girl had silky brown hair, with a hint of a reddish glow to it, and for a split-second he thought he saw the face of a certain redheaded trainer.
He quickly dispensed the thought hastily as he heard a woman shouting a name, Caitlin maybe, and considered taking care of the girl right there. It was certainly within his power. His eyes flashed with a crimson glow at the thought. The mother would find her lying on the ground outside the bushes, still alive of course.
No, he reconsidered. That would arouse too much suspicion, and it would distract him from what he had been waiting for. That and it would provide for him unnecessary resistance between him and what he was after. The again, it would act as a decent diversion, albeit a brief one, in which he could snag his prize and make off without his black-haired rival being any wiser.
However, the young man merely let go of the thought as quickly as it had arose. No, he thought. Too much trouble. The whole scene would be over in a heartbeat, he would have to find a new hiding spot, and he could not guarantee that it's timing would be exactly when his prize would arrive. Even more, he had no way of explaining the psyburn the child would sustain in the process.
The woman strolled up to the girl and grabbed her arm. She gave the young man what he understood as a fleeting look of thanks, to which he waved his hand as a somewhat forced polite gesture, before walking off, girl in hand.
His mind wasted no time going back to his former ambition. He resumed his stance against the wall, sinking back into a shadowy part of the building. His eyes flashed crimson once more, and a single PokeBall attached to his belt glowed with the same reddish aura as his eyes. It unhooked itself of its own accord and hovered beside him.
The young man sensed the air around him. She's close, he thought to himself. Excellent.
"Arcanine, you know what to do."
11:45 PM, Indigo Hotel, 40th floor.
Misty slipped around the door to her room as stealthily as a cat and shut it silently behind her. Her whole body trembled with both excitement and slight fear. She knew it was crazy, but her emotions knew no other solution. Like hell she was going to stay in her own bed awake knowing she had passed up a perfect opportunity such as this.
Her footsteps on the fine carpet floor sounded like a rock concert as she made her way down the hall slowly. She remarked on the oddness of how a simple act such as walking at night sounds like it could wake the dead, when in the middle of the day it sounds like little more than a whisper.
320, 321, 322. The rooms seemed to pass by her painfully slow. She continued to wonder if this was the best choice. Fear remained a stubborn mental block, and even though she continued down the hall, Misty couldn't shake the possibility of Ash rejecting her. She wished it didn't scare her, wished she could live up to all those times she made herself look like the fearless leader, but she had to remind herself of why she had put on that mask. It was to hide what she felt for him. Brutal triangle of denial it had become. First she used her broken bike as a tool, a mere excuse to get to follow him around. Then came feigned fearlessness, and even if that didn't work, she could always simply deny her feelings if someone was smart enough to read between the lines, but even Melody had been smart enough to see past that trick.
Damn it, she cursed silently. Melody had been right. She was in love with Ash. How could she deny it any more? She no longer cared what anyone else thought about it. She was fairly certain they knew she was hopeless anyway. They could think whatever they wanted. Still, it left her struggle with Ash rejecting her. She could simply ignore that possibility and go through with it, regardless of the outcome. Hell, at this point she wasn't even sure if he bothered to give her a second opinion. The guy had bigger things to worry about. All her fear of rejection was based on was the simple fear of destroying what friendship they already had, but with Ash so intently focused on running over the Elite Four, she wasn't sure if there was anything that could be destroyed.
327, 328, 329...330. She stood in front of Ash's room, and her heart felt like it could power an entire city. Her hands shook a little and she eyed the doorknob. Perfect, it was a normal keyhole and deadbolt door and not a key card entry. She knew she could hack one, years of sneaking around had not withheld that information, but it was late at night and it would have been extra trouble. She gripped the wire coat hanger, which was flattened at one end, and inserted it with the other lever-like piece of metal in the deadbolt's keyhole. She gave the stout piece of metal a bit of leverage and wrestled the coathanger wire inside the keyhole, working it around until the satisfying five clicks she had been waiting for were heard.
Too easy, she thought to herself silently. She now stood in the middle of a room identical to her own, save for the messier nature of how Ash had strewn his stuff all over the sofa, as well as a box of half-eaten pizza that sat on the counter. Brock's bag lay next to the bed, and for one terrifying moment she wondered if he was still in here, possibly asleep somewhere. Maybe close enough to compromise what she was going to to.
She heard a single snort from the other room, and her nerves eased. She set her metal tools on the counter gently, so neither made a sound, before she tiptoed into where she had heard the sleepy snort.
Ash lay on the giant king-sized bed, half-covered in the large blanket. Pikachu lay sleeping on the left edge of the bed, Ash's hat draped over his head. Silently, Misty approached the other side of the bed and hastily rolled the blanket over to gain entrance to Ash's side.
Even in the dim light, she knew she was blushing furiously. Her heart continued to beat like it had been replaced with a bass drum. Laying down, she snuggled up close to Ash, her stomach against his back and, abandoning all restraint, wrapped her arms around him.
Her heart felt like it had exploded, releasing an incredible rush all throughout her body. She felt complete, warm, and deliriously happy. All worry seemed to simply melt away. It felt like heaven, to feel his warmth radiating into her own body and to feel his breath go in and out.
She heard a small giggle of excitement and rose her head to be greeted with Pikachu's knowing look, his head still full of Ash's hat. The yellow mouse said nothing. He merely gave Misty what she had seen coming the moment she saw him there, a look that clearly read "Took you long enough."
"I know," Misty mouthed back, to which Pikachu gave a satisfied "Pika!" before promptly letting himself fall back onto the pillow, sleep overcoming him once more.
Misty sank back down as well, abandoning all attempts to keep from falling asleep. Her face was stuck with a lovestruck smile as she let sleep take her.
Her arms were still around him when Ash opened his eyes the next morning.
A/N: Cliffhanger! ~^_^~ Okay, I hope I can finish this quickly for you guys. Spring semester of college starts in a week and I have no idea if I'm going to have time to get the rest done. But I shall make a special effort to get it done, and if I don't, sorry. Like I said before, I cannot make promises. In any case, I hope you enjoyed this one! I've had a lot of time to sharpen my writing and change tactics a little. My best friend has had an amazing impact in writing for me. Hopefully this fic can help me cure writer's block. He and I are tossing around idea for the novel I mentioned at the top, and it would be awesome if I heard any comments and/or suggestions from reviewers! A simple opinion, yes or no, or helpful plot hint would be excellent. But please, let me know about this fic too ~^_^~ Review! Bye for now!