Chapter Ten: The Hunter is Hunted

The doctor advanced on the still form of Mac, he readied the syringe that held the purple anesthetic. That was what he was here for , after all. But it's strange that a comatose would need a anesthetic at all, it wasn't like he was in pain, and what color were anesthetics, anyway? I was never one to be overly suspicious, but this seemed all to fishy.

"Whoever tried to kill this boy never finished the job," He muttered darkly

"He had better shut up before I have Grovyle cut his tongue out". I thought quietly. This doctor was just getting weirder and weirder.

Despite my suspicions, I didn't stop the process; for fear of being wrong, that was until I discovered I was right. I vaguely remember reading about poisons once, one of the most deadly -Arbok poison- was the same color of the supposed " anesthetic ". A lock of red hair peeked from under the surgical mask on his head, and that was all it took.

A surge of rage and hatred coursed through me, it sufficed me, gave me bravery I had never known before. I hated him, I loathed him, I wanted to kill him.

In a matter of seconds, I scanned the room and a scalpel caught my eye. Its short silver blade glinted in the light. I grabbed the small weapon and buried it into Guillotine's shoulder. Guillotine, who was still trying to poison Mac howled in pain. He turned on me, his face a mixture of surprise and anger, he had never anticipated an attack, much less from me.

He quickly pulled out the blade which was coated in dark red blood and threw it across the room, he then swatted me away and ran out of the room hastily.

The shock of the hit dazed me, I shook my head to regain focus and got up warily. My vision was still blurry when I pulled out Grovyle's Pokeball and chased Guillotine down the hall. As I ran down the hall, I noticed the same doctor who was tending to me earlier. I yelled at him to check on Mac and continued my chase after Guillotine.

Adrenaline pumped in my veins, I felt oddly glad that Guillotine had tried to poison Mac, it only made finding him easier for me. Vaguely I could see Guillotine's tall figure run through the normally quiet hall, ducking nurses and doctors, and knocking down tools in his panic to escape.

Guillotine entered the stairwell quickly with me hot on his heels. Security must have been alerted and waiting for him downstairs, so he headed to the rooftops. I heard the rooftop door open and slam loudly, he was up there waiting for me. He probably was planning to kill me there, but I didn't think of that when I opened the door after him.

I faced Guillotine once again, but this time was different, I didn't fear him. He stood there by the edge clutching his shoulder in pain where I had stabbed him. His appearance hadn't changed since our last meeting, his teeth were bared in a painful grimace.

"What you did back there was brave, little mouse," He snarled. "Brave and stupid."

I didn't respond to his taunts, I stood my ground glaring at him and readied Grovyle's Pokeball.

"Pinsir!" He called, "Come here." At his call, the Pinsir emerged from the shadows behind him, it teeth bared and its pincers snapping. Its seemed to emerge from the shadow itself, as if the shadows had solidified to make that, that thing.

Without a word, I threw the Pokeball into the air where it exploded releasing Grovyle. It struck me how much he had changed, he seemed more confident in himself now. Grovyle growled angrily and readied its blades to fight. But there was one question that nagged at me, I needed the answer before we battle.

"Why did you try to kill Mac?" I asked abruptly, "He's in a coma and helpless, tell me why." My voice was firm and demanding.

Guillotine seemed to be caught by surprise at my question, even more by my tone, yet he regained his composure and answered in a calm voice that mimicked a Seviper's hiss.

"Because I was planning to kill you both." He answered.

"What?" I blurted, "But you said you would release him!"

"I never said that," He purred. "Do you actually think that I would allow both of you to live and tell every fool out there? Even if you had died, I would have killed your friend too, for making the same mistake you did, seeing something you shouldn't have seen."

Then it struck me, this man wasn't good at all. He was a murderer, scum. The innocence I had seen in him from my first encounter was simply a trick of light or something, this man was a pure-blood killer. Nothing more nothing less.

As if reading my thoughts, Grovyle launched himself at Pinsir beginning the fight.

"Grovyle, use Absorb!" I ordered, on cue, the tendrils from the blades at his arms intertwined the Pinsir. But it had become wiser, it broke the bonds and began punching Grovyle savagely, but it made a mistake at trying to slash at Grovyle with its long claws. Grovyle grabbed the claw and flung the Pinsir across the roof, Judo style. The Pinsir struggled to stand on its feet, now was the chance.

"Absorb!" I called, and this time it intertwined the pincers, Grovyle yanked at the bonds, forcing it to the ground as if it were praying. Then Grovyle yanked again, sending the Pinsir flying towards him.

"Leaf Blade!"

A blade came out and slashed the Pinsir, knocking it out. Grovyle picked up the pathetic heap and threw it at Guillotine's feet, he looked up at us in indifference. As if this was a minor setback.

"Impressive, but…" Just as he was beginning to pull out the gun, Grovyle appeared and knocked it away, sending falling from the roof. In a flash, Grovyle had Guillotine cornered at the wall with a sharp blade at his neck.

For the first time, I was the hunter, I could threaten and deliver. For the first time, Guillotine's usual mask of menace and threatening calm was shattered, revealing a face of true horror and surprise. Despite our triumph, I still felt angry, furious. I walked up to him, at a slow easy stride and brought my face close to his, my eyes narrowed to angry slits.

"You ruined my life, almost killed me and destroyed my friend. Give my one reason for me not to kill you right now." I snarled.

Guillotine eyed Grovyle's blade at his throat, he knew as well as I that one a small twist on Grovyle's behalf would turn his head into a soccer ball at my feet.

"Do you know why I followed you all this time, huh? Do want to know why I tried to kill that man?" He said weakly.

END OF CHAPTER TEN