StylishDescent (SD): Hey guys, we're back for another chapter of EASR. I don't think I have much to say here, so without further ado, let's start. Zeliek, if you don't mind?
Zeliek: StylishDescent does not own Pokemon and most of the OCs.
Chapter 2: Clash
The man in white faced his other opponents, his face having a mask with a character that neither hybrid recognised. He seemed to tilt his head to the side slightly, glancing with his ruby eyes at the girl in particular. "Well, this is a surprise," he spoke in a synthesised voice, sheathing his daggers upon finishing that sentence. "I did not expect you to be here. Such a strange turn of events..."
Riley naturally appeared stunned. "Have we met before? If so, who are you?" She clearly hoped it was just a case of mistaken identity and not a stalker after her. Especially one with the capabilities of an assassin that wiped out six Resistance members without any visible damage. She got into a defensive stance, claws unleashed in an attempt to deter the strange enemy.
"Oh, you may call me Six, as in the number six. As for any form of meeting, maybe we have, I'm not sure if you're her. That's a story for another time," the masked person dismissed with a wave of his hand, then pointed at Zeliek before continuing, "but I need your indecently dressed acquaintance to return back to his tank peacefully. As a display of good will, I will allow you to leave unharmed, no catch. How about it young lady, do we have a deal?"
Riley bit her lip, comtemplating her options carefully. Clearly, fighting the guy was definitely not an option with her slain comrades as examples of failed opposition. From what she could tell, it was highly probable that he was the stealth type: that normally meant that he was incapable or at least poor when in comes to direct combat. However, if she were to lose her sight on him, the odds of having a knife driven into her neck were extremely high.
Then there was taking up the offer. It would get her out unscathed if Six was to keep his word, but to sacrifice someone for her own safety? While the Keldeo hybrid might have been a little more than just a stranger, it just did not sit right with her to give up an innocent for him to suffer even more.
There is only one option...
"I've made my decision."
"And that is?" Six's eyes widened as a fist advanced towards his face. Immediately, he brought up both arms to block the incoming blow. His skeleton rattled with the impact of fist to left arm with a distinct snap of the bones from absorbing the brunt of the punch. That next thing he knew, he was flying down the hallway into a wall that demolished the moment his body crashed into it. Quite a number of bricks from said wall buried the stunned person.
"Sorry pal, but that isn't going to happen," responded Zeliek, cracking his knuckles. It did not hurt as bad as he had thought it would be, and certainly not the strength of his punch either. Regardless, he was not going to complain.
"What the hell are you thinking?!" yelled the purple-haired girl.
"Knocking him out," replied the boy, "It's a little overboard, but hey, he's out of the picture now so we are safe, right?"
Riley stared at him incredulously, then at the pile of concrete and reinforced steel and back at him. As much as she wanted to yell down at Zeliek, she did not have the chance to as the brick and mortar shifted.
"If you won't listen," the masked scientist hissed as he got out of the rubble with his remaining good hand, "then perhaps force is necessary for your compliance." His left arm was now limp, having been nearly destroyed from the blunt force trauma. A nasty blue-black mark would be found under the coat where the punch had landed, and the limb was in bent in impossible angles. Six grimaced at the injury he sustained, feeling spikes of acute pain from something as insignificant as fragments of shattered concrete grazing it. "Dammit, this is going to make it so much more difficult."
Of course, he was only ticked at the Keldeo hybrid, he was almost certain that the girl would not try anything too funny. When he manage to take down the defiant hybrid, he would let her leave unharmed as he had promised. As he rose from the concrete remains, Zeliek gave him a 'come on' gesture and taunted, "Bring it on!"
Six sighed as the boy charged, preparing for the counterattack. His current condition might be terrible, but he had fought with far worse injuries back then. The moment Zeliek threw a fist at him, he ducked under and gave a sweep kick at the other male's legs to trip him. The Water/Fighting dual-type noticed his opponent's move, jumping above the kick with ease and retaliated with one of his own.
Right before his foot was planted on the mask, Six shifted his head's position to the left just enough for the attack to graze harmlessly past the porcelain. With his good hand outstretched, Six grabbed hold of Zeliek's neck and slammed him onto the floor. A fluid motion followed suit and the steel blade of his knife was pressed against the defiant hybrid, a display of finesse even with his arm broken. Zeliek's breath nearly stopped, staring into the red eyes of his potential murderer through the two slits of the mask.
"Tsk tsk, I am no fan of fighting but make no mistake." Six stabbed the floor close enough to carve a thin red line on the younger boy's face before bringing him into a one-handed choke-hold. "My fighting prowess far exceeds yours, so your act of stupidity would have ended in your demise if not for my restrictions," the masked scientist growled, tightening his grip slowly in barely contained rage. He relaxed himself by taking a few composed breaths but for not one moment did he relax his grip.
Zeliek's lungs screamed for oxygen with each passing second. How could someone be that insanely resilient or fast? Well, he was super strong and yet there was no explanation aside from being half-unicorn or something. Darkness crept from the corners of his eyes, threatening to overtake his vision when he noticed Six's head snapping to another direction. Inhuman reflexes were displayed in the form of Six retrieving his knife and back-flipping away from a dark-purple beam, clearly fired by the other occupant in the room. A small explosion rang out, causing shrill ringing to echo in the inexperienced hybrid's ears.
"Dark Pulse," Six grumbled, clenching his weapon of choice tightly. "Blast me a new hole, why don't you?"
First his home had been invaded, next his coffee had gone to waste, third he received a broken arm trying to play nice and now he had to deal with the girl he was trying to avoid fighting. Needless to say, frustration was one of the emotions Six was feeling then. Without a word, he dashed towards the female hybrid with the latter charging at him too. Claw met knife with a metallic clang, creating sparks as the razor sharp organic and inorganic weaponry respectively grinded against each other.
Curiosity was one of the other emotions Six was experiencing. "Why would you defend this... moron?" he asked, "I mean, you would have left without a scratch."
"Idiot or not, I cannot allow scum like you to continue your sick 'experiments' anymore," came her reply, thrusting her other claw at Six's gut. Both ignored the 'hey!' from the aforementioned 'idiot'.
"Noble, I'll give you that," commended the mysterious scientist, using his leg to deflect Riley's second attack. With the same leg, he took a great stride forward and pushed Riley with enough force to stagger her slightly. The opening she left was made an opportunity for Six to smash his broken arm into her like a biological baseball bat. An "oof" was received from the female hybrid as she was knocked back, a pained grunt from the assailant and the crunch of bones being repositioned. Not that it was any better than before, but it had been enough to make it less of a hindrance if he had to use it.
Riley coughed while she stumbled. From what she knew, the makeshift stun-blow was nowhere close to having enough force to knock her out cold. Still, the fairly weak attack made her a tad more angry and with rage came strength for her case. Seeing as to how close her opponent was to her, she charged up another Dark Pulse, channeling the dark energy between her palms. If she was fortunate, the point-blank Dark Pulse would take him out for good.
The purplish glow of the move being charged did not go unnoticed by the more experienced fighter, and time appeared to slow in his eyes. Just as the beam was fired, Six arched back just enough for the Dark Pulse to barely evade the blast of condensed Dark energy. The brief moment of shock on Riley's face was replaced with an expression of severe discomfort as a foot was planted in her gut. Stumbling back coughing, Riley looked up as Six prepared to give her a straight to the face. Then, he stopped mid-punch, a choked sound from him as he slowly looked down. He was restrained from smashing his fist into her face by an intense burning sensation blossoming from his stomach, impaled by a long blade. Naturally he clutched the blood-stained cobalt blade that had run through his belly. Behind him, Zeliek panted as he attempted to push the weapon further in.
The Keldeo-hybrid couldn't remember where or when he got his sword, one with a fiery orange cross guard with a green, orange and blue feather each attached to it. He did know one thing: "We won, so just give up."
A low, albeit pained chuckle escaped Six's lips while he craned his neck towards the swordsman. "If you think that a simple sneak attack like that would end my life, then you are sorely mistaken," Six seemed to chastise Zeliek, though he had some encouraging words to add on. "You'll might get a chance, I assure you, but not now." He turned back to Riley, her claws suddenly pressed against his throat. Behind his mask, his eyes displayed an evident look of surprise for that second. But it was not because of the fact he could have been eliminated then. "Before you decide to decapitate me, I have a message to relay from my superiors and one specifically to you."
"You have twenty seconds," growled the girl, her claws now close enough to draw some blood from the soft tissue.
"According to the boss, the First Generation has made some last-minute consideration that we can make some mutually beneficial partnership. Some information that your Resistance may find very useful for future endeavours, but we will be discreet about the manner in which we send it. As for you Riley Crescent, if you have been wondering what kind of Pokemon you have traits of, it is a Houndour." Then Six faded seemingly into thin air.
Stunned expressions were flashed on both of the hybrids' faces while the distorted voice of Six resounded, "I'll take my leave now and I strongly urge that you two make haste in your escape. HADES will be delayed for less than five minutes."
Zeliek blinked confused. What was this 'HADES' that would arrive? On the other hand, Riley was absolutely horrified. "Oh crap!" Pulling the mostly naked hybrid along, the Houndour hybrid only stopped to grab her fallen leader's walkie-talkie. "What the heck's-"
"HADES," was the slightly taller girl's response, "Point is: they get you, you're dead."
Straight to the point, Zeliek thought while he followed her down a set of corridors and out of a door until a jeep came into view. "Get in," she ordered, vaulting into the driver's seat. "I'll just drive..." Riley slowed, blinking.
"What's wrong?" asked the confused Water/Fighting-type.
She stared at the steering wheel. "Uhh..." Riley paled as she admitted slowly, "Yeah, it just occurred to me. I can't drive."
"Meh, no biggy," dismissed Zeliek, motioning for her to switch seats. "I should be able to."
"Should?! You can't be older than I am, so you shouldn't have a driving license!"
"I don't," Zeliek stated nonchalantly while he started up the jeep, putting on the seat-belt. "Dad taught me himself and he's quite the driver."
"Comforting," the Dark/Fire-type commented dryly while strapping herself in. "Just don't-"
The jeep reversed, crashing into a bunch of trash cans with a noisy rattling sound. A sheepish chuckle came from the Keldeo hybrid while Riley held onto her seat so tightly that her knuckles turned white. "Whoops."
"This isn't a bumper car, you dolt!"
"Hey, I heard something!" came a voice from a nearby ally. "HQ, Cerberus unit moving to investigate!"
"Dammit! Go go go!" Riley shouted at the hybrid in the driver's seat. Figuring he could complain about the ringing in his ears later, Zeliek stepped on the pedal and the jeep roared to life once more. "Floor it!"
A bunch of flashes caught their eyes and gunshots rang into the night. Like any sane people, they brought their heads down while a storm of bullets lanced through the air, embedding into the cushions where their heads had been less than a second before. A quick peek from their hiding spots had Zeliek see, for the first time, the pitch-black military gear of HADES. And they were aiming their assault rifles at their faces.
Preview:
The jeep bobbed and weaved dangerously while the engine was strained to the limit. Having gone past the speed limit by at least 30 kilometres per hour, it was by sheer miracle that Zeliek had not lost control of the vehicle. The fact the road was apparently empty did help though not by much due to his adrenaline-filled driving.
Adrenaline pumped through Riley's veins as well, firing multiple Dark Pulses at the pursuing vehicles. Her reserves of energy were running low, forcing her to use just enough per shot to eliminate the engines of as many of the armoured vehicles as her current energy level allowed her to.
Suddenly, the pursuing ceased. A strange sound reverberated through the air. Her head tilted up and there was an audible swallow. "Uh... you might wanna go a little faster."
"We're already pushing it... Oh... yeah, gotcha."
Next time on Evolve and Survive,
Chase
Zeliek: Well, this seems a little disappointing.
SD: Oh? How so?
Zeliek: Chapter's a little short, isn't it? I mean, other writers can do it and you've certainly done so at least once prior to the rewrite.
SD: I know, but time is something I do not have plenty of. The next chapter's probably going to be up after my exams, and I'll try to get it close to 3k. Run along now, I've to finish this up.
Zeliek: Okay, see you around.
SD: Well now guys, how's the first battle scene in like about half a year? I'm a little bit rusty, so I'm sorry if it seems short and rushed. Anyways, review this chapter and we'll see you all next time!
All: See ya!
[StylishDescent logging out]
