Good
From Nate's secret base in the penthouse of an Opelucid City hi-rise, he had a view across the skyline and up Victory Road. From the huge glass wall in the living space, the entire city of blue steel was laid out, like toys from such an altitude. The ongoing construction on Victory Road marred the vista somewhat, but was only a small concern.
The centrepiece, though, was the Opelucid City Gym. Drayden's edifice to the eternality of Dragons towered above the rest of the city, a perfect sculpture of marble and obsidian, glistening in the midday sun.
With a cool glass of tonic water in his hand, Nate lounged on his recliner. This was his weekend sanctuary, away from the demands of school, friends, and the heroic deeds he spent his weekday afternoons on. These days, those deeds mostly consisted of rescuing Skitty from trees and helping out when classmates lost their homework. If a real crisis arose, Rosa had his Cross-Transciever number, and his Braviary could have him anywhere in the region within half an hour. Not that anything had happened in months, ever since Brycen-Man's disappearance with the black diamond.
Rosa had been knocked unconscious, and the black diamond stolen, before Lucario Kid's arrival on the Royal Unova. Since then, nothing had been seen of it or of Brycen-Man, and regional authorities had declared the villain to be missing, presumed dead a few weeks back. It was a frustrating close to the rivalry between the hero and the villain.
To be honest with himself, Nate was bored without his arch-nemesis. It didn't seem like anything else of interest happened in the region. So he retreated here, when he could, to escape the ennui and relax.
Nate's Cross-Transciever, sitting on the island in the kitchen, began to ring, blaring Rosa's favourite song, Simple and Clean. At the same moment, Nate's eyes snapped to a movement on the side of the Opelucid Gym. An ear… being blasted off of the reinforced structure? Sparing hardly a moment to put down his drink, he raced into the kitchen, where one of his Lucario had just jabbed the answering button.
"We need to replace that ringtone," Nate quipped, starting to rip off his pyjamas as he walked.
"Nate? This is really serious. The government just tried to contact you about-"
"I see it," Nate replied, moving to the bedroom, where he kept a spare costume. Lucario followed, carrying the Cross-Transciever. The other Lucario stuck his head out of his nest at the foot of the bed, and padded out to join them.
"Yeah, well, I bet you couldn't see that the perpetrator is some sort of green-and-purple assault plane, with a pair of Mandibuzz as the entourage."
"You don't think…" Nate paused in pulling on his spandex shirt.
"Iris does," confirmed Rosa, and there was a crackling in the background, as if a television was playing. "I'm getting live footage now. The white dragon's head just came off – I hope Drayden wasn't up there. The plane is moving down into the city- uh oh."
"What is it?" Lucario tossed the Cross-Transciever to his trainer as Nate returned his two Pokémon to their Poké Balls.
"A Mandibuzz just saw the drone camera, and- Yep, that's a camera gone. No eyes, now."
"No need." Nate hurried back out into the living room. "We have real eyes." He clicked a button on the wall, and one window slid up and out, leaving a doorway-sized space. He whistled for Braviary. "Anything else I should know?"
Rosa responded with her usual promptness. "If it is Brycen-Man, he must be amping up that plane with the black diamond. Be careful, and try to separate him from it."
"Right." Nate didn't hold up much hope of that, and let his scepticism colour his voice. "Well, talk to you after this fight!" He hung up the Cross-Transciever and leapt out the window, just as Braviary swung by underneath.
The Lucario Kid and the mysterious plane arrived in the street in front of the gym at the same time. Panic had struck the streets, with wreckage from the gym falling from the sky. Braviary had to make a few passes before he had enough space to throw himself into a roll on the ground without hitting a fleeing civilian. As Braviary soared away and Lucario Kid ran forward, a familiar figure slid down the barrel of the huge gun mounted to the front of the plane, which hovered in place above the street.
"Brycen-Man! It is you!" the Lucario Kid roared. "I knew I'd see you again!"
The masked villain flicked his cape back to reveal his costume, which matched his plane perfectly. "Yes, it is I, Lucario Kid. Face the power of my Awesome Brycen Jet, powered by the black diamond."
Lucario Kid paused in releasing his Pokémon. "Okay," he said, frowning, "let me get this straight. You stole a gemstone from a ship in the middle of the ocean, laid low for months designing a mammoth airplane, upon which you mounted a cannon that can house a grown man."
Brycen-Man was nonplussed at the summation of his deeds. "Yes. You may call it the Awesome Brycen Cannon, if you wish. I could defeat you with it, but it's more suited for wanton destruction than what I have in store for you!" With a gesture, he summoned down his two Mandibuzz. The Vulture Pokémon hopped forwards, crooked necks stretching towards the Lucario Kid.
"These two lovelies have been in the presence of the black diamond enough times for it to improve their fighting prowess," Brycen-Man informed the Lucario Kid, in his best gloating tone. "You can't defeat them!"
The Lucario Kid closed his eyes to focus for a moment, then reopened them, and set a ready position with his two Pokémon. "I must do this!"
"Right! Right, right, right!" Brycen-Man yelled, his face contorting with glee. "That's exactly how my nemesis should sound just before I finally pound their face in!"
Brycen-Man's acting strange, the Lucario Kid noted to himself. Could it be the black diamond?
"But that's not all," Brycen-Man observed to himself. "Now, I can personally pound your face in, Lucario Kid! The black diamond's enhancing ability has made me more powerful than any human alive!" With this, Brycen-Man launched himself at the nearest Lucario.
"Lucario! Test his strength! Endure the hit!" ordered the Lucario Kid. The Pokémon curled its more delicate body parts in as Brycen-Man struck, but was sent reeling as the man launched himself into the air off of the Pokémon's back. As the acrobatic villain did a roll in midair before sticking a perfect landing on top of his jet, a Mandibuzz hopped forward to take his place.
The Lucario Kid could see that his Lucario was struggling. It could barely keep its feet, and was swaying as if nearly unconscious. "Reversal!" he commanded, hoping the Pokémon would still strike first.
The legendary speed of the Lucario served the Pokémon as it lurched into the attack. Lucario hit with all of its remaining strength, and the Mandibuzz was sent flying. As it landed, it shimmered, and the illusion faded, revealing a Zoroark. The Pokémon whined loudly as it regained its feet.
Brycen-Man snapped his fingers, and the fox-like Dark Pokémon trotted forwards gingerly. Without warning, its jaw snapped wide, and it launched a cone of fire at the offending Lucario. With no defenses against such a sudden strike, Lucario collapsed, its wrist spikes beginning to melt in the intense heat.
The Lucario Kid returned the Pokémon as Brycen-Man laughed. "See? You can't hope to win!" he crowed.
The hero tucked the Poké Ball away under his cape, then turned back to his nemesis, his jaw set. "Lucario, Force Palm," he commanded.
His other Pokémon, which had vanished into the rubble during the fighting, streaked out to strike Zoroark, then vanished again as its opponent crumpled. Zoroark did not rise again.
A slight frown marring the part of his face not covered by his mask, Brycen-Man stepped into midair from his jet, and landed lightly upon the ground. "Unexpected, but my arch-nemesis should be able to compete with me," he said to himself. "Now, watch me defeat you and take the wo-" He broke of in a rasp, and began to cough.
The Lucario Kid scratched his head in confusion.
Brycen-Man raised his head, stared at his hand for a moment, then began to laugh quietly, a weak, rough rasp. "Heh… This can't be…" he muttered.
The Lucario Kid's eyes flicked to the shadow of a large fragment of obsidian, beside which Lucario was hiding. "Now!"
A rent in the front of Brycen-Man's costume appeared as Lucario whizzed by, and a steady drip of blood began to fall. With a bound, Brycen-Man was back on his ship, safe from the Pokémon. His wound was already closing, but the skin revealed by the tear appeared oddly bruised.
To take Brycen-Man's place, the real Mandibuzz, whom the Zoroark had copied, hopped forwards, glittering eyes flashing back and forth to spot Lucario.
From a hidden location, Lucario tore across the arena once more, clipping feathers from one of Mandibuzz's wings, and leaving a gash across its front. The Mandibuzz, squawking, took to the air, and began to circle, trying to spot its foe.
While its attention was focussed on his Pokémon, the Lucario Kid had clambered to the top of a piece of rubble, and he caught hold of the Mandibuzz's leg as it flew by him. From there, as the Pokémon flailed and squawked, it was quick work for him to grab the other leg with his free hand, then swing his legs up to kick the vulture Pokémon in the face.
The Lucario Kid threw himself to the side as Mandibuzz dropped to the ground, an unconscious pile of feathers.
Again, Brycen-Man descended to the ground, his cape swirling menacingly. "You dare?" he rasped, colour creeping up his neck. He loomed over the young hero. "I will end you with my bare-" he began to cough again, and bits of spittle flew into the Lucario Kid's face. When he moved to wipe them off, he glanced down at his costume and saw red flecks on the fabric. Blood from Brycen-Man's mouth.
When the Lucario Kid took a swift step back, Lucario struck again. And again. Each time, the wound closed, leaving sickening bruises, and each time, Brycen-Man loomed larger in his terrific rage. Finally, though, he collapsed, coughing harder than ever, and beginning to rasp his breaths through his mouth.
"I think we should call it a day, Brycen-Man," the Lucario Kid advised. "You're in no condition to fight, and I don't think that Drayden will be as merciful as I am when he arrives. You should leave now, and get rid of that black diamond."
Brycen-Man coughed once more, and raised his head. Bruising was creeping up his neck now; he was bleeding internally. "I won't… take your pity, Lucario Kid," he groaned. "Not even as the black diamond leaches my life from me. I'll fight you to my last breath.
"Which will come a lot later if you leave now and recover," observed the Lucario Kid. "The thing is, my life is really boring without you to strive against. I want you to go and heal up, then come back, and we'll have a real final fight. No jets or cannons or diamonds: just us and our Pokémon. Agreed?"
Slowly, as if considering, Brycen-Man nodded. "If you're going to keep that promise, help me to the jet."
Very carefully, the Lucario Kid and his remaining Lucario helped the man to his feet. He was a dead weight, but they managed to bring him beside his garish jet plane, which helpfully unwound a set of steps for them.
Once inside, the space was too cramped for three humanoids to walk abreast, and Brycen-Man was reduced to only having the Lucario Kid for support. To hold himself up, he grabbed hold of various articles of machinery in the cockpit, and dragged himself by them. On the console at the very front, under a glass display that showed readings on the surroundings, lay the black diamond, sparkling in the dim light through the front window.
With ferocity that surprised the Lucario Kid, Brycen-Man smashed the glass and ripped the black diamond free. He threw it against the wall, and it shattered into powder, the lights beneath its surface spinning in the air for a moment before vanishing.
Brycen-Man straightened, suddenly looking much healthier. Though bruises covered much of his face, and his hands were mottled black and blue, he could support himself, and he smiled at the hero. "I'll see you again, Lucario Kid," he promised. "As my archrival, I'll make sure you're tipped off when I'm ready."
"I look forward to it," the Lucario Kid quipped as he turned to leave. He hopped down the gangway and was quickly away with his Lucario as the plane lifted off.
Later, back in his apartment, Nate called Rosa back. She was livid.
"They couldn't get another drone in there until the fight was over, Nate," she hissed at him through the connection. "What were you doing, helping Brycen-Man into that stupid plane of his? And what was that huge energy signature we picked up a few moments before you left the scene?"
Nate grinned to himself. "I'm sure you can see the fight on PokéTube, Rosa," he assured her. In fact, he had a video of the battle open on his touchscreen as he spoke. The comments were awash in theories as to what had happened in the aftermath, and Nate wasn't ready to dash the hopes of some of the fangirls that he and Brycen-Man were friends, or even – gasp – lovers.
"As to the energy burst, I'm sure that was Brycen-Man breaking the black diamond. It was killing him, you know."
"Yeah. I could tell," Rosa observed snidely. "You knocked him about pretty bad, but Brycen-Man doesn't suffer anyone to touch that face of his, and it was blooming like a rotting flower. Is that it? Did you give him a send-off so he can find a place to die?"
"No, we'll see him again. But we're going to have a rematch, and I won't let any bystanders get hurt this time." Nate continued through Rosa's frenzied questions, "I'll explain some other time, okay? We're not done, though, he and I."
With a loud sigh, Rosa acquiesced, then hung up in her usual blunt way.
Nate was grinning as he looked out over the nighttime lights of Opelucid City. He and Brycen-Man weren't done yet, and it was such a good feeling to have a purpose again.
Bad
Rosa was on a trip through Opelucid City's historic district. The western area of the city was a mass of hi-rises and shopping centres, but the east district remained as it had been before the rise of urbanisation. Cobblestone streets were backed by large villas with sweeping gardens, and every few streets there was a market square filled with hawkers selling everything from bread to Pokémon Dolls. At the district line between the two zones of the city rose the Opelucid City Gym, partly religious structure dedicated to the worship of the Dual Dragons, and partly a commemoration of the power of humanity for progress.
For Rosa, this was a near-perfect day. The only factor that might have made it better would be the presence of Nate, but he was staying in the tech district, making the rounds as a Hero of Unova. The Lucario Kid's work was never done, he told her, even though Brycen-Man had been eliminated.
There was a rush of air over Rosa's head, and several people facing the opposite direction flinched as a huge mechanical device soared overhead, clipping the tip of every roof it passed. A vast fighter jet, outfitted with a massive energy cannon, was making a pass over the city. It was painted green and purple, the same lurid colours as Brycen-Man's costume.
Quickly, Rosa judged the trajectory of the plane, and decided that it was aiming for the Gym. Without a second thought, she was running in that direction. The Lucario Kid would be there, and he might need her help against that monstrosity. Could it be Brycen-Man's return, or was there another force at work, masquerading as him?
Rosa skidded to a halt the street before the gym, blocked by a slab of marble taller than her. The eye of one of the double Dragons that made up the Gym. Whoever this was, they were going for the spectacular, to draw the Lucario Kid out. That could be the only reason they were attacking this city, rather than populous Castelia or Black City, where all the technological and economical work of the region occurred.
After a scramble over the rubble, Rosa arrived on the scene just as the Lucario Kid was sent flying by a negligent backhanded strike from a huge man in green and purple.
"Is this… the end?" the Lucario Kid murmured, sounding resigned as he hauled himself to his feet.
The huge man gave one of Brycen-Man's huge, deep laughs and taunted Lucario Kid, "You're doing my work for me! Agonise until you cannot but fail, Lucario Kid! I won't even need Pokémon to defeat you, just myself, augmented by the power of the black diamond!"
So Brycen-Man had returned, but in a very different form. He had increased in scale, probably double the mass of an average human, by Rosa's judgment. When he shifted, muscles rippled under tightly stretched skin, or was there even skin under his costume? It behaved a lot like the surface of his body, and his cape appeared to be under conscious control. Even his plaster mask shifted like skin as his face moved, and there didn't appear to be eye slits, just a black surface coated with shifting lights.
The Lucario Kid turned and saw Rosa. The persona of the hero slipped for an instant. "Rosa, you have to run! I don't know if I'll defeat him." Then one of his Lucario laid a paw on his arm, and he was back in the character of the impersonal hero. "Lucario, let's test his strength."
The Pokémon trotted forwards and took a guarded pose, checking all sides constantly for threats.
Brycen-Man, whose attention had shifted to Rosa with the Lucario Kid's, returned his mind to the battle. With hardly a shift, he unleashed an onslaught of mental attacks. The focus was Lucario, but excess energy slipped into other nearby minds. Rosa's body seemed to start on fire, and she could not remember why that shouldn't be ordinary, though it hurt. In this state, she was subjected to multiple images of graphic dismemberment and torture, her mind understanding that the same was about to happen to her.
When the attack ended, after a seeming eternity, Rosa was on the ground, curled in a foetal position and sobbing. When she returned to her senses enough to raise her head, she could see that Lucario and Nate were in much the same state. Brycen-Man was smiling placidly at them all.
Rosa took to her feet and tried to run, but found herself contained in an invisible cube, unable to run more than a step. Brycen-Man's grin widened. "We wouldn't want you getting hurt, would we?" he taunted her.
"I can hold my own," Rosa shot back harshly. "You're the only one here who might get injured."
By now, the Lucario Kid had regained his feet, though he seemed groggy and out of sorts. "We'll hold out as long as possible," he grunted to Lucario. "If you can get close, try whatever you think might work."
The Pokémon barked an affirmative and began to dart back and forth, weaving its way closer to the Psychic giant that was Brycen-Man.
Brycen-Man merely grinned, leaning against the body of his jet. He seemed to ignore Lucario entirely, but then he struck with blinding speed when Lucario was inches from him.
This time, Rosa was plunged into the depths of the ocean, where there is only cold and crushing darkness. She felt herself freeze and be crushed into a pulp, and then she was in a pit, crawling all over with Seviper and Arbok. They began to bite her, inflicting only the tiniest scratches so that she felt the poison flow through her body until she was numb, paralysed, and they began to feast.
After an eternity of this, Rosa returned to herself again, her fists bloody from beating the ground, and her throat raw from screaming. Lucario had crumpled to the ground and was not moving. Nate was slumped against one of the obsidian Dragon's whiskers, shuddering as if he was having a seizure.
Brycen-Man was frowning. "That was not my intention," he mused, looking more curious than concerned. "He must have struck his head. Perhaps intentionally. Well, I will have to heal him to continue the fight." He reached out an arm, and a dark aura flowed out of him. "I wonder what his reaction will be?"
The Lucario Kid's seizures jerked to a halt, but his eyes, when he opened them, were flat and glassy. "I shall stop you, Brycen-Man!" he roared, leaping to his feet. "By my honour and Rosa's, this I swear."
Rosa gagged into one of her bedraggled twintails. Brycen-Man seemed to have turned Nate permanently into his Lucario Kid persona. The Lucario Kid released another Lucario, and nodded in response to its confused expression. The boy's aura must have changed.
Brycen-Man, on the other hand, had doubled over, gasping. The Lucario Kid's eyes snapped to this. "Lucario, he is incapacitated! Attack!"
The glint of Brycen-Man's eye spots as Lucario burst into motion was chilling. Lucario ceased to move, then slumped as a sickening crack knifed through the air.
"I tire of this battle," observed Brycen-Man. "This ends now."
With a gesture, he hoisted the Lucario Kid into the air by his cape. Ignoring the boy's thrashing, the villain stuck him into the huge cannon mounted on his jet.
As soon as he couldn't move, the Lucario Kid began to scream epithets to the effect of stating that he would always return to fight evil, which led to a tirade on the nature of evil that even Rosa blocked out.
"Well, have a nice ride, Lucario Kid," Brycen-Man cackled, opening up a command console on the side of his jet. "Let's fire you… into the Orion constellation, say. Enjoy!" He jabbed a large button labelled 'fire.'
There was a huge report as the cannon went off. The Lucario Kid was launched skyward, though he never stopped glaring down at Brycen-Man. The cone of light emitted by the cannon obliterated the rest of the Gym as it spread through the atmosphere.
Laughing madly, Brycen-Man pulled himself into the cockpit of the jet and left to decimate the rest of the region. In the following days, he would declare himself king, then emperor, of Unova.
Rosa, though, didn't move for many hours. It was only in the morning, when a rescue crew struck her with a Hypnosis and carried her off, that she stopped staring up at the distant spark that had been the Lucario Kid, and was Nate before that.
Strange
The skyline of Opelucid City at nightfall was marred only by the bursts of pale light flashing along its northern edge. With each flash, the earth shook, and buildings exploded into slag. The Opelucid City Gym, the symbol of the duality of the city, detonated with a thundering report, splitting in half down the seam between marble and obsidian. Rubble from the edifice flew in all directions, filling the streets with smoke and ash.
Brycen-Man was enjoying this.
The Brycen Jet and Cannon were living things, responding to his every command as he thought it. Each burst of power from the cannon sent a wave of force through his body, emanating from the black diamond hung around his neck.
One of the Mandibuzz flying outside the cockpit cawed at him, gesturing downwards with its long, featherless neck. Pausing in the assault on Opelucid City Gym, Brycen-Man tilted the jet and looked down at the pavement to see a young man in red and yellow, with a pair of Lucario flanking him.
Brycen-Man activated the speakers on the ship and began to laugh. At the same time, he ordered the jet to descend to ground level. With one last, bellowing 'Ha!' the villain allowed himself to be lifted into the barrel of the Brycen Cannon, from which he slid to the ground with a fluorish.
The Lucario Kid looked disgusted. "This is what you spent your time on?" he asked incredulously, not allowing Brycen-Man to speak. "You disappeared for months, and this monstrosity of a plane is all you have to show for it? I had to leave Sinnoh Now to come deal with you!" His Lucario nodded, sharing his sentiments.
Brycen-Man's rage manifested in one way. There was a wave of power that nearly sent him off his feet, and the Brycen Cannon fired right at the Lucario Kid's chest. He leapt out of the way with his Pokémon, and dodged behind a large fragment of rubble from the Gym.
The Lucario Kid gulped as Brycen-Man began to laugh again. "Rosa, Operation Psych-Out is a failure," Brycen-Man heard him saying into an earpiece. "Your source must have been wrong about the black diamond." There was a pause as Rosa responded. "You want me to what? … Ugh. Fine. If this doesn't work, we're all dead…"
Brycen-Man readied the Cannon to fire again, but before he could, the Lucario Kid and his two Pokémon split and ran in three different directions, weaving through the surrounding rubble.
Distracted, Brycen-Man attempted to attack all three at once. The three bursts that the Brycen Cannon behind him fired sent shocks through the black diamond. None struck home, and Brycen-Man gasped at the ferocity of the power pouring out of the diamond. He was suddenly drenched in sweat, but shivering.
"You'll never defeat me, Lucario Kid!" he yelled, to cover up his momentary weakness. "As long as you run, it's just a matter of time before I find you!" Brycen-Man began to blast his surroundings indiscriminately to smoke his rival out. As he did this, he ignored the thudding of the black diamond, which became more painful by the second.
The Lucario Kid darted and weaved, and his Lucario were even worse. They appeared in one spot to wave at their enemy in a taunting way, then vanished before he could fire upon them. The Brycen Cannon carved the street to smithereens, but the hero still evaded it.
It was Brycen-Man who collapsed first, in the midst of the flying shards of rock and dust clouds. He clutched at his chest, noting for the first time that his body had atrophied at an incredible rate while he utilised the Brycen Cannon. It occurred to him that the energy of the black diamond was drawn from nearby life-forms, and that he had been its most recent, most extreme source. Several moments after the Brycen Cannon ceased firing, the Lucario Kid and his two Pokémon emerged from the clouds of dust, staring at their opponent.
"Wow," observed the Lucario Kid, "you look awful."
Brycen-Man growled in his throat. "Yes, thank you, I wasn't aware."
The Lucario Kid reached forwards. "Well, let's get that diamond off of you and get you in police custody, again. Your usual cell is all set up."
Brycen-Man batted away the questing hand before the Lucario Kid could grab the black diamond. "No," he gasped. "I will not face prison again." He stopped and panted for several moments. "I would rather… Brycen Cannon, target me and fire when ready!"
The Lucario Kid backed away in shock. "You'd go that far?" He gestured for his Lucario to flee, and they shot into the maze of fallen rock.
Brycen-Man began to laugh as the black diamond pulled strength from him one last time. "This ends on my terms," he told the Lucario Kid. "Brycen-Man, Masked Man of Reality and Phantasm, always has the last laugh." He burst into a full, deep-throated laugh as the barrel of the cannon glowed with intense white light. "Goodbye, Lucario Kid!"
The Lucario Kid barely had time to throw himself out of the way as the Brycen Cannon fired, and when the light died, he turned to see a smoking crater in the middle of the street. The power of the Brycen Cannon had vapourised several cubic metres of ground, and Brycen-Man was nowhere to be seen. Without the black diamond to power it, the jet stuttered, dipped, and collapsed to the ground. As it fell, the Brycen Cannon cracked in two.
Emergency crews found the Lucario Kid staring at the crater. When they asked what had happened to Brycen-Man, the hero's only response was, "My God, we're breathing him in. We're breathing him in!"
"Rosa, every time we sit down to discuss scripts, I am shocked and appalled that we always go with your ideas," Nate grumped to Rosa and Brycen as they stepped out of the theatre after watching the third collection in the Brycen-Man series. "I mean, seriously, that third short wasn't even all that weird. It was just bad."
Rosa was a little miffed at that commentary. "The idea of the third short is to create something people will watch with the express purpose of something unique," she explained in an arch tone. "I think it will be a wonderful success in that area, and the director agreed with me."
"The director agreed with you because Nate's idea was an alien attack led by the black diamond," Brycen interceded. "We run these films on a limited budget, without a huge amount of digital resources. Get some more star power before requesting that again."
"Why do I feel like our scripts will just get weirder as we get more popular?" Nate sighed through his smile as he waved to some fans who were also on their way out of the theatre.
Brycen returned to the group after signing a groupie's poster. "If you feel that way, get out of the business."
Rosa laughed. "The last time we tried to leave, we ran into a crazy clown on the Castelia docks who wanted us to work for him, because he'd seen us on TV. Never again."
"Then stick around and see where your career takes you."
"I am looking forward to one thing," Nate said, grinning with a real smile this time.
"What's that?" asked Brycen.
Nate held the door open for Rosa before replying. "The next script calls for a female lead."
Rosa's cry of anguish was heard at the Virbank docks.
Sometimes, the Strange scripts are really amusing. Sometimes, I prefer the Bad one. This Strange Ending, especially the original script, doesn't have a 'cult classic' feel to me. I sort of think of a really awful movie taking itself way too seriously.
Tell me your take with a review, and we can all discuss together.