A/N: And when I said "nearing the end", I meant "probably ends around Chapter 10". :) We need the drama pause in between chapters.
Ah, well, when I look at it some way... there's not going to be a sequel, either, since I've got nothing to write a sequel for. In that case, I better start thinking of a whole new idea, or, if I'm lucky, get some idea crash on my head.
"I don't like that Gardevoir," Zuzure sniffed.
"You only just met her," Edolie pointed out, huffing. "How can you say that so quick? That's horribly mean!"
"No, but did you see her attitude? And she just left right away! Gosh, if she was going to tell us that, at least help us!" Zuzure snapped. "She makes me mad—so mad. But in all honesty... I didn't think there would be a miscommunication of an execution date. That's really rare."
"Then we're just unlucky—Hide!" The last word was a hiss from the Flygon as she shoved them all behind one of the random piled rocks. Ford stiffened. What did Edolie see? Mather was supposed to be the lookout...
The Frogadier turned to Edolie. "Uh, what happened? What did you see?"
Edolie narrowed her eyes. "Saw nothing. Felt something. There was a disturbance in the vibration in the surrounding air... I've been flapping my wings constantly, which creates a vibration, and I can feel the vibration... in the... air..." Her voice got softer and softer.
"So there was a disturbance?"
"Yup," Edolie replied. "But the vibration doesn't go very far, so I can't sense the entire field. Mather is looking out for... uh, voices or huge towers that might have guards on 'em."
"Sorry, Ford," Mather said, smiling slightly. "I'm only here for that and Safeguard."
"Great," Ford muttered. "Shouldn't we be keeping quiet, then?"
"Well, considering they're just over there..." Squinting over the rocks slightly, Edolie continued, "...yes."
It was silent for a moment before voices were heard. "Well, that was a terrible miscommunication! But good on my side, Demon, I'll have to guard less. Guarding is boring," a Houndoom stated boredly.
The other Houndoom growled. "It wasn't a miscommunication, Dark, it was done on purpose, decided by the leaders."
The first Houndoom—Dark?—made a surprised sound. "Hm? Why would they want to do that?" he asked, scuffling along the gravel path. "Purpose miscommunication? Unheard of, for all my years in the Houndoom pack. I've been here since I was born!"
The second Houndoom—Demon, probably—snorted. "Well, execution rarely comes by... How old are you, Dark?"
"Fifteen."
"Huh," Demon huffed. "Well, this thing was established by the leaders eighteen years ago. Miscommunication would purposely be put up for the victim—the one to be executed. It's very complicated, and fools our allies—but we, being Houndoom, are always cruel. So, after a year I hatched... that means sixteen years ago, someone was to be executed. I don't know who—my mother didn't tell me much—but they said they would be executed in a year."
"Why haven't I heard of that one..?" Dark murmured. "It is my first time witnessing a execution... Will they have everything explained?"
"Yes, they will—immediately before the execution takes place." Ford, by now, had noticed they were stopping to have a decent conversation. "About the execution sixteen years ago—they were executed in a week."
"Why would they do that?"
"To get the hopes of the victim up. They want to make the victim assume someone could possibly rescue them within such a long time period—then they crush their hopes by claiming it was a 'miscommunication'. Not that it particularly matters."
"Hm," Dark mused. "Well, that's rather... interesting. And now, you little group over there, you've heard our story, so why don't you come out now?"
"H-He's noticed us?" Ria mumbled, paling.
"It appears so," Edolie mumbled. "We'll have to fight."
"I'll stay behind and make sure no one comes up suddenly," Zuzure volunteered.
They nodded—and immediately sprung out.
Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to have Ria battle—but her poison could be lethal, and very helpful. Because she was half Poison-type, she was immune to the permanent stings Houndoom could give.
It was even better that Mather started with a Safeguard, protecting them from those nasty poisonous burns. The permanent sting was a side effect—Safeguard shielded side effects like that (it was similar to the "Poisoned" status, after all).
"So you were hiding!" Dark crowed triumphantly, leaping into the air.
Ria tackled them with a Toxic. Dark got badly poisoned—Demon did not. Instead, Demon unleashed a Flamethrower—only to have it blocked Mather's Water Pulse. The only one who was really attacking was Ford, who was shooting random Water Pulses at every chance he got.
"Caught you!" A triumphant voice sang. Edolie delivered a mean Stone Edge to Demon—officially putting him out of battle. "I figured he'd be the harder one, so taking him out would be smart."
"Then we shall head over to Ford now," Ria stated bluntly. She turned to Dark, who was coping fairly well and had a new tactic, releasing Dark Pulses in all directions whenever Ford seemed to strike. Without paying attention much, Ria shot a random Sludge Bomb. She was lucky—it hit him. It would be a fairly short battle if it kept up like this...
Maybe they were just too overpowered? And Zuzure was staying out of the fight. And that Azumarill was a mean tank.
Unfortunately, Dark was sharper than he seemed. He noticed his ally was knocked unconscious, leapt away, and howled for help. Immediately, more Houndoom poured in to join. Ford anxiously backed away. Two wasn't that hard—but it looked like an entire group.
"It's you again," a voice growled. Two Houndoom picked up Demon and scurried off. Hellgar stepped out of the crowd. "I warned you to stay away, you disgusting brat who treads on our territory."
"You're the one who brought Xena away," Ford snarled angrily.
"Well, it does seem I carted off with your girlfriend the last time..." Hellgar mused, then shaking his head, he sighed. "But it doesn't matter now. I assume you might know of the 'miscommunication'."
"We do, and that's plain mean, you lying, filthy bunch of fu—" Ria raged, until Mather held her back.
"We're here to save our friend Xena," Mather said, struggling to hold the livid Vileplume back. "We'd appreciate it if you'd just let us pass right now. Because that would save a lot of pain and trouble. For both sides of us."
"Shut up," Hellgar snarled. Mather slowly began to back away. "You guys have been going on for quite a while. But you end here. I can't believe it—you'd risk this much for an undeserving friend? Your loyalty astounds me. It'll end this way."
"Hurry, Mather!" a voice shouted. They whipped around to see Mather tunneling into a hole behind the rocks they had been hiding behind earlier. Zuzure turned to them immediately. "C'mon guys! Get into the hole!"
So she had been Digging while they had been fighting.
Zuzure leapt onto the scene, letting out the most terrifying bellow an adorable bunny like her could produce—which was, surprisingly, frightening—and they started attacking. "Guys, get into the stupid hole!" Zuzure yelled as she kicked the circle of Houndoom off of her with an Aqua Tail.
Edolie picked Ria up and shoved her into the hole. It was fairly large, enough for all of them to fit inside. Once Ford had jumped in, Edolie watched as Zuzure fought them off with continuous Aqua Tails. She flapped over and picked the Azumarill up and dropped her near the hole.
"Fools!" Hellgar barked. "You should have gone after those who had gone into the hole! After them! NOW!"
"Get into the hole first!" Zuzure hissed. Wasting no time, Edolie dived into the hole and tunneled right in. Zuzure immediately set out a Surf, washing aside all the Houndoom nearby, and went after them. She made sure to dig the sand from behind her to block the pathway. It would make them waste time into digging further.
"Mather should be near the end already," Zuzure called out to Edolie. "I made sure it was a safe spot, so pass on the message and tell him to just wait for us!"
"Right," Edolie muttered. As soon as she did that, she said, "I suppose we'll be digging pretty fast, then."
"Nope, not at all," Zuzure grunted. "We'll be digging at super-speed."
The sun was nearly setting.
Well, it wasn't in the center of the sky anymore. Xena looked at it emptily. At sunset, she would be executed with one of the deadliest poisons while she stood on the pedestal. Grunting, she turned her head aside as she quietly whimpered.
Why did she have to do that?
As in, be so foolish...
Well, whatever. It saves me the trouble of having to grow up... I mean, being adult-y was never my cup of tea.
The sun was going down painfully slowly. Xena frowned. Pictures of Ria filled her mind as she let out a wobbly sigh, earning her a glare from the guard Houndoom next to her. She pushed it aside. Ria had been a really good friend, throughout her life.
Then came Zuzure, the first to prove her wrong that not everyone was such a turd like Xena had first thought. Following after that, Edolie.
I still wonder what happened between Ford and her...
Then came Ford.
Oh Arceus, she had been praying so hard she wouldn't think about him...
She did, anyway.
She nearly let a tear escape. She didn't allow it to finish rolling down, though. She wiped it away quickly.
I'm an idiot. Well, they have always wanted my ability, so they could steal of others after blackmailing me!
... ... ...
But if they execute me, how is that possible?
Do they... not care for my abilities anymore?
Argh!
Was I probably a threat to them, because of it? So they wanted to get rid of me?
Or they changed their minds, they didn't need me?
Or they found Klefki with it.
Or... they wanted me in the beginning so they could execute me because they didn't like me.
Bleh.
After pondering over it for a while, Xena noticed it was nearly sunset. The guards pushed her forward. "Step onto the pedestal. We'll begin preparing while you stand there," they growled.
Xena stepped onto the pedestal calmly. If they wanted to see weakness, submission, they weren't going to. Xena closed her eyes and smiled. If they really wanted that... considering their personalities... they probably wanted to see submission.
Even if it's a stupid one, her last wish is to annoy the heck out of them, so keeping calm would be great.
... ... ...
Fine, you probably saw through that one.
That would have to be her second-last wish. Her last one was...
She saw a gun-like cannon in front of her.
"It will begin in ten minutes!" one of the leaders barked.
...Ford...
"Xena!"
The high-pitched shriek of five voices smashed together resonated in her ears. Xena sharply gasped, taken aback.
Ford, Ria, Edolie, Zuzure, Mather.
They made it.
A/N: I was wrong, maybe we'll stop at Chapter 11. I dunno. I write too long...
