I have never been so hyped to write a chapter. Seriously, this will be good. Real fuckin' good. XD

Let's get right into this, without any hesitation!

Disclaimer: Blah blah blah I don't own Pokemon, blah blah blah this story is rated T, blah blah blah something about bloodshed. Sorry, I want to get into the action. xD


(POV: Francis)

The last few minutes were unbelievable. And not in the good way, either.

Tina and I talked about my past, because she needed to know what happened to me before, why the topic of my father would just set me off. The talk went well, and it felt so good to let all of these feelings out.

Once we felt comfortable, we were enjoying our time together, taking in the wonderful scenery of the nature that surrounded us. It was quiet, and so peaceful. The soft breeze was hugging our fur, and the songs of the birds above us were ringing in our ears gracefully.

We were having such a wonderful time. Talking about future plans to get some extra training in, promising we would protect our loved ones and each other. Everything was good.

That is, until our moment got interrupted.

After I got hit by that Fire type attack from Aaron, I remember being sent into the air, going backwards. I couldn't see exactly where I was going, but I remembered the horrified look on Tina's face. The look on that Charizard's face as he watched me from afar, and that's when everything went black.

The impact of my back colliding against a large tree instantly knocked me out. I wasn't conscious, but I was able to hear very little. I felt my ears twitch as I could hear Tina and Aaron talk, and I felt so afraid for her. Her confidence immediately dropped, and she was terrified. The immense power level that came from Aaron was indescribable, almost like he's spent every second from the past few weeks training as hard as he could.

Just so he could go ahead and beat us up.

I wish I was able to move at that moment. I wanted to protect Tina, and make sure she was left unharmed. But, I couldn't. I simply laid there, unable to move, while I could hear the screams of pain and the impact of moves being used. I could feel the swift movements of the Charizard as he dodged attacks, and Tina's energy slowly diminishing. She was getting defeated, and it was all happening so fast.

Hearing Aaron's threats to end Tina's life right then and there… I couldn't bear any of this. I needed to regain consciousness sometime soon.

Miraculously, that's what began to happen at that moment. My aura was coming back to life, and I could feel my chest heaving up and down as I breathed steadily. My paws curled into fists, and my toes were wiggling around. I could feel my muscles aching all across my body, but I forced myself to push the thought to the back of my head for the moment.

There was more important things to do, and I wasn't going to let anything stop me.

Once I opened my eyes, the bright light of the sun shone directly into them. I used a paw to shield them, and used my free arm to gently push myself up into a seating position. I winced as I did so, and I also ended up coughing out some of the smoke that got into my lungs from the surprise fire attack. I moved my head in a circular motion, relieving some tension in my neck.

When I looked down at myself, I came to realize that my tracksuit was totalled. Completely ruined. Many patches were found across it, and parts of my fur was stained with blood due to wounds taken from the recent attack. Both sleeves were torn apart, but the left sleeve was completely torn off, exposing my arm. The right sleeve, however, wasn't completely torn off, but that was when I realized that a large gash was there, and the red liquid wouldn't stop dripping from it.

It was definitely painful and worrying, but I had other things to worry about at that moment.

I took a quick look around me, scanning my surroundings; I was in the middle of a shrub, and it seems like it helped soften my landing after going through the tree. And what I noticed in front of me, was that said tree, but it had toppled over to the front after I went right through it. That sight certainly shocked me, for sure.

After getting up, I decided to stretch out my muscles. It was painful, but I grit my teeth to hold back any screams of pain. I didn't need Aaron to realize that I regained consciousness. Not yet.

What alarmed me, however, was when I felt Tina's power level get to its lowest point. This wasn't good at all. She was slowly falling into unconsciousness herself, but she still managed to remain strong against the foe. Aaron's power, however, remained the same. In fact, it may have went up as the battle progressed. It's like he barely got a scratch from that battle with her.

"Time to finish you!" Were the last words that rung in my ears the most. The Charizard said that, before he planned to end Tina. And that was when I decided to take action.

I ran through the small parts of the forest, and leapt onto the nearest tree. I covered myself slightly by using the leaves of the tree, just so I wouldn't get noticed. I peeked through the leaves, and the view was terrifying.

The once beautiful clearing had been completely destroyed. The rock Tina and I that were seated on was now in millions of pieces, and the terrain itself had many craters and was full of dirt. And inside the largest crater in the dirt laid Tina, shielding herself with her arms.

My eyes widened once I looked up to the Charizard. His claws were together, and he was preparing one powerful move; Hyper Beam. If Tina were to get hit by that massive beam, she wouldn't be able to survive it.

And that was when I stepped in.

I swiftly used the momentum of another branch to leap into the air, my mind focusing on landing between the two and protect Tina from getting hit. Once I saw the familiar orange beam get released, that was when my feet touched the ground. I threw my arms up and immediately formed an X across my chest, and the powerful Normal type move then hit a target. Even if it was the wrong one.

My body burned from the impact of that Hyper Beam. That, along with the first Fire type attack that struck me earlier on. I could tell that my body took so much damage, but there was no way I would be giving up right now. Not ever.

I blinked, inhaling and exhaling heavily as I gripped my father's blade in hand. Remembering the mere minutes before where I now stood, and reminiscing what happened, I couldn't just idly sit by and watch Aaron defeat Tina and I. I told myself, it was about damn time for me to step in and intervene.

However, I could feel that my body wanted to power down at that very moment. It was as if it were screaming at me to give up. Tanking those two powerful attacks back-to-back can really have its consequences. But, I still had things to do. I can't accept defeat here when my friend's life is in danger. I would have to fight through the pain.

But other than the pain, I felt something that I hadn't felt since the night my dad got killed. It was anger. Pure anger.

He hurt me. And he hurt Tina, one of my close friends.

I narrowed my eyes at Aaron while I made sure I got a firm grip on my sword's handle. I then shifted myself, taking a more offensive fighting stance than how I usually would. I took the time to adjust myself, to where I could wield my sword properly with my right paw. Aaron scoffed as he shook his head.

"Despite all the damage you've taken, you still want to fight? You look like a wreck!" He stated questionably, frowning slightly as he crossed his arms. "Honestly, maybe I really did knock a screw loose in ya earlier on." I didn't reply. I just continued to glare at him, shifting and adjusting my stance slightly.

Eventually, he scoffed and shook his head, appearing to be disappointed.

"Hmph, so be it, Francis." Aaron began, and got into his own proper stance. "Let's tussle, and I'll finally get to pay you back for humiliating me before!" He spoke with such venom, but it wasn't enough to threaten or terrify me. I pushed away the thought, readying myself for the fight.

He then bolted towards me, using his wings for a slight boost forward. His claws once again extended and glowed with a metallic hue as he got a Metal Claw attack ready. I watched carefully as he nearing me and, once he was close enough, he swung his claw at me.

Thankfully, I was ready this time. I quickly shifted my stance, my left leg moving onto the side to help me swing my body to the side, and swung my sword to where his Metal Claw would go. My blade and his claw connected, making a loud, metal clang sound across the clearing.

With that unsuccessful attack out of the way, he huffed and jumped a few meters back. He took one glare at me, claw still shining with the same metallic hue, and went back to swinging his claw at me once more. He was gliding in the air, wings perched vertically along his path, as he aimed for his target.

I shifted the position of my feet, in a stance where my balance will remain intact, and placed both paws on my sword's handle. I used my blade to block his series of Metal Claw attacks as he kept up, going at incredible speeds. My defensive stance caused me to be restricted from going on the offensive, so I wasn't able to put out any attacks on my own.

"Hah, is that the only thing that sword is good for, blocking?" Aaron taunted, continuing his barrage of Metal Claw attacks. I grunted as I kept reflecting and blocking his attacks with my sword while his pace quickened. With how much damage I sustained, it became harder and harder to keep up with him.

Then, an idea came to mind. I let power flow from my right arm, and into my sword. The blade begun to glow a soft white colour, and then I swung my sword upwards, the Slash attack colliding with the Charizard's chest. Aaron got caught off guard and stumbled backwards slightly.

This gave me a good chance to put on the offensive.

With the power remaining charged up into my sword, it continued to glow with the same soft white energy. I charged forward at him and kept swinging my sword, keeping up my offensive attack on him. He started to get overwhelmed by my constant Slash attacks.

However, Aaron seemed to adjust to my attacks in a short matter of time, since he began to keep up with my attacks and even get a few attempted swings of his claw in as well. Either he got faster or I lost speed, due to being injured enough as it is.

We continued our share of attacks, where both of us would either swing an attack, or defend the one that came our way. The Fire type kept slashing his metallic claw at me, and I used my sword to block. And while I used my Slash attack with my sword, he would block with his metal claws. Our attacks were fast paced; we'd swing and slash at each other dozens of times per second.

Aaron then unexpectedly swung his Metal Claw downwards with such immense power. Although I did manage to block that attack by moving my sword upwards, that left me at a disadvantage, leaving everything below my chest and torso open to attacks. He scoffed with a smirk, knowing that his would have happened. He took the opportunity to give a harsh jab to my side with his left fist, using Mega Punch.

My eyes widened from the sudden blow, and I went skidding backwards from the momentum. I fell onto my knees as I tried to catch my breath, coughing slightly. I needed to get oxygen back into my lungs before I could get up and attack Aaron once more. His new strength really proved to me that he's been going to the gym to train a lot; his punch packed some definite oomph to it.

As Aaron began to walk towards me, I nearly finished my coughing and catching some air. I could feel his steps coming closer, and I finally looked up at him. His claws were once again covered in the same metallic hue, and he swung his Metal Claw attack downwards, aiming for my head. I used the ground as a boost, swiftly dodging his attack by leaping into the air.

I stumbled a little once I reached the ground, however, and fell over. I quickly got back onto my feet, glaring at the Charizard. All he did was sigh disapprovingly as he looked back at me.

"You know, fox," Aaron began, shaking his head a little. "You're making this so hard for me. Dragging this out is no fun for me!"

His voice became louder as he spoke with annoyance, and I noticed that he retracted his claw. It seems like he was done using Metal Claw.

I hadn't spoken a word, but I didn't need to; my body language said everything I wanted to. I went back into an offensive stance, this time with no sword. It was dropped when I was punched by the Fire type earlier on.

He approached once again, attempting to send a punch my way. His fist was surrounded by flames, so it was definitely a Fire Punch attack. Thinking quickly, I put my paws together and created a bone with aura. When he came close enough, I swiftly sidestepped his attack and whacked him with my bone a few times, using Bone Rush. This attacked sent him tumbling to the side, and he grunted a bit from the super effective attack. With a quick flip of my long bone, I took a stance as he got back up.

"Hmph… not bad, not bad at all." He admitted, using his claw to wipe up some blood that dripped from his maw. "You certainly haven't been slacking off since that last time, but I haven't either!"

He suddenly opened his mouth, a small ball of fire forming at the back of his throat, and he then spat fire towards me, using a variant of Fire Spin. His attack surrounded the entire clearing, meaning there was no way out of this. Then, he came forward as his fists were once again surrounded with fire.

I managed to dodge his first Fire Punch attack, but the second one collided with my cheek. The impact of his fist stung with the flames it packed, and I grit my teeth from the pain. I then pushed back against his fist, merely getting away from the flames.

When my eyes locked to his own, I definitely saw his look of confidence falter for a short moment. With the stunned look on his face, completely distracted by the thought of what happened, I swung my bone of energy toward him, using Bone Rush once again. The Ground type attack hit him directly, and he backed away for a while, avoiding the effective move.

I tried to take the time to shake away the burning sensation I felt on my cheek. His Fire Punch attack was capable of causing burns temporarily, and I didn't want to deal with any more pain than the one I was in right now.

However, he gave me no time to recover, as he sent some Air Slash attacks my way. Using the energy bone, I broke through several of the attacks that were coming towards me. As I broke the attacks up, I felt the bone start to break apart with each blow.

"You're talented, but talent can only go so far against perfection!" He bragged as he then sent a Fire Blast towards me, once he seemed to get bored of sending Air Slash attacks my way. But just as I deflected the last Air Slash, my bone broke apart and dissolved, leaving me wide open. I gasped as the Fire Blast collided with me, and upon impact, it sent me flying backwards and onto the ground.

I once again laid on my back, a burning sensation coursing through my body from Aaron's latest attack. I coughed and wheezed, smoke from the harsh flame getting into my lungs. With this, it makes me feel like Aaron is just that dedicated to his training. If I weren't his foe, I would have some big respect for him.

I could hear his footsteps approaching my direction, and he soon crouched down next to me. He tilted his head, crossing his arms slightly as he sighed.

"Ugh, just look at you." Aaron spat, talking with a bit of venom in his voice. "I can tell you're breaking down, but you continue to power through all of this pain? I like the eagerness to keep going, because that just means I can keep beating you down." I was still in the process of being in pain from his last attack, still wincing and struggling to move a muscle.

I felt his claws grab my ripped up track jacket as he pulled me up, but my feet weren't able to touch the ground. Closing my eyes, I took a breath. The pain was almost restricting me to move any muscles, but I mentally prepared myself to brace for any attack that Aaron could bring my way at this moment.

But, that attack never came.

Instead, I felt a strong, scaly figure wrap around my neck. The grip was loose, but tight enough to hold me up. Aaron's claws ended up letting me go, and his tail then wrapped around my neck. I immediately began to gasp for air as his tail begun to tighten up around me. I struggled to free myself from his grasp. All I could do was sputter and cough.

Able to lift up my arms, my paws began to tug on his tail as I could feel his sharp scales gently rubbing against my skin, nearly leaving small cuts, but I was not successful in doing so. It wouldn't budge. He wouldn't budge. I began to struggle more frantically, squirming to get free. He cackled at my effort.

"No one's gonna help you, so give up! You're gonna die here all alone, fox!" Aaron exclaimed as he began to tighten his tail's grip on my neck. I screeched, gritting my teeth as I got choked by him.

Was this really going to be my end? I thought to myself as I could feel my eyes beginning to flutter, my vision slowly becoming blurry. All I could see was Aaron's smug grin as he had me hoisted up, choking me with his tail.

But then, just as I felt my body growing unconscious, Aaron got attacked from behind. A grunt could be heard from the Charizard, and his tail's grip on my neck loosened up. I became free, but I ended up collapsing onto my back as I took in deep, sharp breaths, getting air back into my lungs. Aaron fell over as well, tumbling over to the side from the attack. The attack itself looked like it sported dark energy, so if I were to guess, it was a Shadow Ball attack.

Looking to where it came from, I saw it was Tina. She barely stood up straight, and seemed to be panting hard. It was clear she took major damage from fighting Aaron head-on beforehand.

Just as I decided to make my way to Tina to check up on her condition, I felt a claw on my shoulder. Aaron grabbed me and forcibly threw me backwards, making me tumble on the ground. I hopped up as quickly as I could, and I then see another Air Slash coming my way. I had no time to react to it, so I took another attack of his head-on. I propped my arms up to cover my face to attempt to block.

This attack sent me right out the clearing and go flying through a few bushes and other plants. Eventually, like last time, I got stopped by a shrub. I grunted upon the impact, but it was better than going through a tree again. In fact, I may have gotten some splinters in my back from crashing through the tree beforehand.

I sigh inwardly as I struggled to get myself up. His type advantage attacks against me were really taking a toll on me.

I felt a sort of stinging from my arms. Upon further examination, it appeared that more cuts seemed to open up from that recent attack. It was visible that it was worsening with each second, since the fur around the cuts were dampening with red fluids.

With an idea coming to mind, I took out the small first-aid kit that I brought along. Opening it up, I found that I didn't have much to work with. A few band-aids, which wouldn't do much, and some gauze. I quickly took the gauze and wrapped it around both my wrists and my forearms as well. This would stop the bleeding for the moment, but I know I'd have to get some proper medical attention after this.

Once I finished covering the cut parts of my wrist with the gauze, I closed the kit and threw it aside, no longer having no good uses for it anymore.

I wasn't sure if Aaron knew my current location, but I wanted to play it safe. Perhaps I could sneak around and surprise attack him. With that, I left the bush and began to sneak back towards the clearing. Hopefully Aaron didn't go after Tina, otherwise I'd really never forgive myself for letting that happen.

As I sneaked past a couple of trees and shrubs, I could hear Aaron's voice elsewhere. Somewhere near, yet far at the same time.

"Come out, fox!" He called out to me, seemingly looking for me in the place he was standing. "You must really be scared if you're hiding from me! So much for proving to me that you were strong!"

I shook my head dismissively. He was trying to make me come after him, but I know fighting him like that won't work. That'll just get me taken down quickly. I need to play this strategically.

I took my time sneaking around, making sure I don't encounter Aaron once more. With that, I eventually found my way back to the ruined clearing.

There, I saw two familiar figures; Bryce and Alice. They were checking on Tina, who was currently sitting up against a tree. Luckily, it seemed Alice brought a first-aid kit of her own, and was tending to Tina's wounds. She was currently wrapping bandages around a part of her left arm. Bryce eventually noticed me stumbling into the clearing, and spoke up.

"Holy crap, Francis!" He exclaimed, running over to check on me now. "You look like you're in a worse condition than Tina is!" It was definitely true; Tina endured quite a bit, but I did have it worse.

"It's not as bad as it looks..." I sputtered a bit while I went over to lean against the same tree that Tina sat against. Obviously, I was lying to myself. It was as bad as it looked. Alice shook her head, while Bryce looked as frustrated as a beaver who couldn't chew through the wood of a tree.

"Look at you! How are you thinking you can beat Aaron appearing like that?!" Alice yelled with a worrisome tone, coming over my way to check on my wounds carefully. She touched one of my gashes on my arm, and I winced easily. Perhaps Aaron did a lot more to me than I initially thought.

"Exactly! Let me help you fight, you need me to fight him!" Bryce commanded, growling a bit. I couldn't let him get involved; this was my fight, and I wouldn't forgive myself if I let others help me fight. Especially if they ended up getting hurt.

"N-no! I need to face Aaron alone, and prove to him I can take him without help!" I exclaimed, looking around to try and sense where Aaron was now. "If you or Alice were to get hurt here, I wouldn't ever forgive myself!" I kept searching the surrounding area using my aura, but to no avail. I lost track of where Aaron had gone to.

"Francis, are you insane?!" Alice yelled as she held my arms and shook me slightly. "If you continue to go like this, you'll burn yourself out!" I huffed a bit, quickly taking her arms off of me and I went over to my sword that was stuck in the ground. Picking it up once more, I kept searching for him.

"I'm gonna die if I don't give my all to Aaron right now!" I said, gritting my teeth. Frustration has begun taking over me, but slightly. Where could that Charizard be?

Suddenly, I sensed his aura. Coming up from beside me. He gave me no time to react as I was then hit with a harsh Double Edge attack, so strong that it sent me right through another tree. I landed on the ground a few feet away, grunting from the rough landing.

He then managed to climb over me and he began to use Mega Punch directly on my face, hitting me with hard lefts and rights. With each slug he gave me, my vision continuously got more blurry. And red.

"You're pitiful!" He mocked, laughing aloud once more as he continued his assault on me. I started to sputter and cough once more, feeling blood drip from my maw again. I struggled more and more, but to no avail. I was stuck under Aaron's might.

Could this really be it for me?

...no, I can't let it end for me yet!

Suddenly, I felt my aura grow higher and higher in my body. It kept growing and growing, to where I could no longer keep it stored inside me. Letting it out in one huge rush, I yelled out. As if it were a huge aura explosion, the power caused Aaron to be sent flying right off of me. My face and cheeks stung from the punches, and I think he opened up another wound from that barrage of attacks, since I felt blood drip from above my right eye.

I quickly got up, and gripped my sword in my paw. Flipping it a few times in my paw, I took my fighting stance once more, now with the Swords Dance effect on me. Aaron got up quickly and shook his head, growling a bit.

"You're very persistent! It'll be much easier for you to just give up and die!" He yelled as he charged at me once again, extending his claws out to do some more damage with his Metal Claw attack. I shook my head as he approached. He swiped his metallic claw at me as I swung my sword, and we clashed once more.

"Never!" I retorted, countering with sword attacks of my own. "I ain't going down, especially from the likes of you!"

He started to use Mega Punch every now and then, nailing me on the cheek with each time he did it while also getting some Metal Claw attacks in as well. However, I kept blocking and tanking his blows. I did the same to him; throwing a hard Mega Punch his way while slashing my sword at him as much as I could too.

We went back and forth; trading blows for a good while. He punched me, I sent a punch back. He slashed his claw at me, I blocked and slashed back with my sword. I grit my teeth, and he did the same. We both had the fire to win. Neither one of us were going to back down.

Then, we both connected punches with each other at the same time; his fist hit my cheek, and my fist hit his. We both got sent flying back in opposite directions from the blows we sent to each other. I hit the ground and grunted hard. My cheek stung hard with that attack.

I quickly sat up as I held my cheek in pain, wincing slightly. I was currently in relentless pain, but that doesn't matter.

Looking over at Aaron, I could see that he got up, but seemed to be stunned. He appeared exhausted, but wasn't ready to give up either. This was my chance, since I could take him down while he's stunned.

My eyes moved to look at my sword in my paw. I huffed, letting air out, then inhaled. I gripped the sword, letting aura charge up within me. I grit my teeth as I charged up, then I bolted towards him.

"C'mon, I ain't done yet!" I exclaimed, running towards him as I now held my sword with both of my paws. Gripping the handle, I allowed the sword to contain my energy again. This time, it glowed with a darker energy. Once close enough, I swung my sword, sending a Night Slash attack his way. The attack collided with him straight in the chest, and he got sent flying backwards. I grinned to myself, and kept it; my attacks continuing to hit him directly.

With a few of those attacks out of the way, I then threw myself towards him, using a Take Down attack. We both hit the ground with that attack, and he seemed to have taken some considerable damage. I did as well, since the price that came with using an attack like that. Despite the pain, I couldn't stop here; not when I'm this close to finishing him.

However, I saw that he wasn't as stunned now and he tried to swipe his claws at me, but I thought fast and rolled off of him. He kept trying to slash his claws at me again, but I hopped over his attempted attack and I grabbed the collar of his hoodie. I heaved and threw him upwards, and although he didn't get much height, it gave me enough time to send energy into my paw for an attack.

"You're gonna get a punch outta this one!" I joked slightly, charging more power and energy into my right paw, which was clenched into a fist. Once Aaron came down, which took about a second after I initially sent him flying, I swung my fist upwards, using Sky Uppercut. My fist connected with his chin, and he got sent flying upwards once more, this time going much higher. He went through a few of the branches above him, and more into the sky.

Thinking fast, I jabbed my sword firmly into the dirt beside me to have both my paws free, and I placed my palms together. This next move would definitely be my all-or-nothing attack.

"Alright, Aaron!" I began, yelling at him as the aura in my paws grew larger and larger. "This last attack of mine will definitely finish you!" Once having another charge, I disconnected my paws from each other and a huge ball of aura was there. With my Aura Sphere complete, I then hurled it upwards at him. The Charizard's body was now losing his momentum, and began to fall just as my attack impacted with him.

With that, an explosion was created in mid-air, causing a huge cloud of black smoke to fall from the area in the sky and spill from where the attack connected. The smoke ended up falling onto where I was, and I ended up getting blinded from the smog.

Regardless of if I managed to defeat Aaron with that attack or not, my body was giving up. With that, I collapsed onto my back and heaved hard, exhausted from the amounts of energy I put out in order to even come close to fighting him.

The smoke cleared after a bit, and that's when I got enough energy to sit up. Looking around for a moment, I saw the unthinkable.

Aaron was still standing.

Despite his body now sporting a bunch of cuts and bruises, he still appeared like he wasn't finished bringing the fight to me just yet. Like me, his clothes were more tattered, but less so. He now seemed to sport a more agitated expression on his face, while he glared right at me. His claws were clearly clenched, too. He was sporting a look that I've had for the last 10 minutes or so.

Except the difference between me and him was that while he still was in the condition to fight, I no longer was. I put everything I had into that Aura Sphere, and with that, I was out of energy.

I was literally defenseless now.

He seemed to tilt his head to the side, just enough to crack his neck a bit, then nodded as he pounded his fists together and begun to make his way towards me. I coughed slightly, using a paw to wipe a bit of blood off my maw once more.

"Haha… guess that last attack didn't finish you after all, huh?" I said meekly, and he came over to lift me up from the tattered remains of my tracksuit.

"Yeah, it didn't. Plus, those one liners were so cheesy that I think I got lactose intolerant from it." Well, at least he was straight forward about it. He shrugged for a moment, then moved his claws to my neck to choke me. He held me up by my neck, and choked me.

Like the last time, I sputtered and struggled to get free. This time, however, I had no strength to fight back. Plus, the guy's grip was as hard as a Metapod who just used Harden. At this point, any attempts at fighting back were useless, since he would just block any of my weak attacks.

"I guess you've really given up now, huh?" He quietly asked, seemingly talking in a mocking tone. "Seems to me you've run out of fuel, so I'll put you out of your misery now." Curving his maw into a sort of sadistic grin, he seemed to be charging up a Fire type attack with his mouth.

There was nothing I could do now; I could only run for so long before he could catch up to me, and here he was. He caught up to me. I was out of energy, and I was about to pay for not fighting harder.

I closed my eyes, and I think I took my last grasp for a breath before I fell unconscious.

(POV Change: Tina)

"Tina! Stop, you need to stay here!"

You know, with how I am, I wasn't gonna let him take the win for us! He helped me, now it was my turn to help him. I felt the energies being thrown around; Francis putting one attack out after another, and Aaron doing the same. However, the difference was immense. The fox's energy was draining at a faster rate than the Charizard's energy was.

That wasn't a good sign, that's for sure.

Alice, however, thought it wasn't a good idea for me to move yet. She had me sitting up against a tree that hadn't gotten affected by the attacks from Aaron and Francis earlier on. She managed to wrap some gauze around my arm, where I had initially pointed to and told her it was hurting.

Despite the pain, however, I still thought I needed to help Francis; no matter the consequences.

"Alice, let me go!" I growled softly, and struggled a bit. The Arcanine shook her head.

"No, Tina!" She retorted, frowning slightly. "Letting Francis go is one thing, but I won't let you go too!" Clearly, she didn't understand the situation at hand. If I didn't go, Francis was gonna die. He was literally gonna die. And I think I'm the only one who could help him out here.

"Just… let me fight! That idiot thinks he can win alone!" With Alice pinning me against the tree, I couldn't move myself. I kept trying to get free, but to no avail. She really didn't want me to go chasing a fight that I didn't have a good possibility of winning.

Suddenly, I felt the pressure go away. I was no longer being pinned down.

I open my eyes to see that Bryce pulled the Arcanine off of me. I tilted my head slightly, and I looked to the German Shepherd for answers. He seemed to exhale softly.

"Listen, I get it." He started, and he then gestured for me get going. "He helped you, and now it's your turn." With that, he helped me up. I nodded to him, smiling a bit.

"Thank you! I'll make sure he'll be okay!" I assured Bryce, then sped off in the direction where the massive amounts of power were being thrown around.

They were far away from where I was, in another part of the forest. Clearly, their battle escalated elsewhere from the destroyed clearing that we were once relaxing in. It escalated, and then some, evident with how damaged some parts of the forest were. The view of trees that were toppled over or parts of the ground and bushes ripped up completely, to be honest, really gave me the shivers.

Suddenly, in the distance, I heard a huge sort of impact. Like, an explosive had gone off elsewhere. It was an attack, for sure, but who received it? And was it effective? Too many questions without answers, and the only way for them to be answered was if I were to get my fuzzy hind over there.

However, there was one thing that was clear; it was a massive attack packed with a huge amount of energy. It was so strong that I felt it from where I currently was, and I almost lost my balance from it. With that, I quickened my pace, fearing the worst was about to happen to Francis.

I finally get to the place where the initial impact of a massive attack was, and there was still smoke leftover from the attack's impact. But, I still managed to make out two figures. It was Francis and Aaron, no mistaking it. However, it was clear Aaron was the victor of their bout, since I could visibly see the Charizard holding the fox up by his neck, intent on choking the life out of him.

From where I was, I saw Francis' eyes flutter for a moment, then they ended up closing, and he went somewhat limp. I gasped inaudibly, and realized he most likely lost all his energy in the fight. Aaron was at the point where he was about to finish him off.

I grit my teeth and huffed, for I couldn't bare to watch this sight any longer. I jumped out from the tree I hid behind, and charged dark energy into my right paw as I went towards him at a fast speed.

"Get your claws off of him!" I growled, baring my dark aura-filled claws and swiping at him, using Shadow Claw. Aaron didn't see this coming and got hit in the back, and I heard him yell out in both surprise and pain. With that, his grip on Francis was loosened, and he ended up dropping him. I quickly thought fast and jumped to catch the fox before he hit the ground, which ended up with him falling atop of me. At least I was able to cushion his fall.

I quickly shifted to carefully place Francis on the ground, and I placed my ear close to his chest to check if his heart was beating. I heard his heartbeat; faint, but still there. To my luck, he was still unconscious. Glad he didn't die on us.

But, regardless of that, it was clear Francis had failed to take Aaron down.

I then felt a claw on my shoulder, and I was thrown backwards. I grunted as I tumbled, rolling on the ground for a foot before I got stopped by a nearby tree. My back stung, since that was where the tree had 'caught' me. This just added to my current pain in my back from the previous showdown.

While I winced, I turned my head to see that Aaron was making his way towards me. He appeared battered from the previous fight, but still had a lot in his tank.

"You really don't know when to quit, don't you?" The Charizard mocked, lifting his other claw to wipe off a bit of blood from the side of his mouth. "If you're back here, that just means you're just asking for more beatings." At least the fox managed to put in some work to damage this guy. Sly, sly fox.

But, that goes to show; I'm definitely not at my 100%. But still, Francis wasn't either, and he kept fighting. I'll do the same too.

Aaron stopped. He seemed to stand a few feet from me as he crossed his arms. Perhaps he was waiting for me to try and get up. If that was the case, then that's exactly what I'll do.

I gave a hefty exhale, before I shifted to bring myself up. Using the tree for additional balance, I stood up and coughed for a moment. I took a breath, then I smiled. And, for some reason, I felt my laughing. So, I did just that. Aaron looked at my quizzically, as if I were the insane one.

"The hell are you laughing for?" He asked, seemingly not amused. "You're about to lose! Are you really going that hysterical for losing?" I shook my head, taking one of my paws to wipe off a bit of blood off my cheek, similar to how Aaron did so before.

"I just find it so damn funny…" I started, looking at the ground for a moment before I then used Extreme Speed to get up close to him. "...how you're about to get bamboozled!"

I whispered that last part to him before I initiated my attack pattern, and I recall his expression; pure shock and surprise.

With me being close enough, I put dark energy into my paw and used Dark Pulse on him, making my attack collide head-on to his chest. With that, he gave out a loud grunt and got sent flying backwards. Effective, it seemed. From where I was, it seemed he was about to fly into a tree. Not on my watch; he would get as much damage out of me as I could muster.

Using Extreme Speed once more, I rushed over to in front of the tree before he could collide with it. I began charging up an Aura Sphere as he approached.

"How's it feel to be tossed around like a rag-doll, huh?!" I yelled as I launched my orb of aura at him. It impacted with his back, and I heard him grunt once more as he fell onto the ground face first.

To my surprise, however, he seemed to recover quickly. He got up, and tried to swing his tail at me in an attempt to get some damage in. I ducked under his tail, and used Low Sweep, causing him to get swept up off of his feet. His face had surprise written all over it.

In a swift act, I quickly take a grasp of his tail and I spin him around once before I then let go, allowing him to be sent flying a few feet away from me. An homage to a certain plumber who fought against a sort of turtle.

Jokes aside, an idea came to mind with how I could take him down for good. Using my left paw, I started charging up and quickly throwing orbs of darkness; a continuous Shadow Ball barrage. All the attacks hit in succession, and I kept it up to the point a huge cloud of dust began to form where he was. I couldn't see him, but I still knew where to aim at.

Meanwhile, with my right paw, I charged up a new attack; an attack that I had been practicing. Perhaps it'd be a good time to test it out on Aaron, and make him wish he had just stayed home today. Hopefully I had enough energy to use this attack, however.

Regardless, I was putting all that I had against Aaron here.

"This is it!" I exclaimed as I then shifted my positioning, moving so that the paw with my new energy could be pointed directly at where Aaron was in the cloud of dust. "Flash Cannon!" Exclaiming my attack, a bright beam of metallic energy was then blasted towards Aaron. My attack collided with him, and that initiated a huge explosion. I was forced to shield my face from the smoke and dust that got sent in all directions. I couldn't help but cough and sputter.

After a bit, the effects of the attack had cleared up. And to my surprise, he still was standing, ripped up clothing and all. He laughed as he limped and slowly made his way towards me. I couldn't tell if he was slow because he was taking his time, or because he had sustained too much damage to move faster.

My heart sunk. I failed too, and I ended up exhaling and falling to my knees.

"I… I… w-what... ?" I sputtered out, unable to accept that I couldn't take Aaron down. "How?! That was… my best attack…" The Charizard seemed to just scoff as he came over to me, and kneeled down beside me.

"You're this clueless as to why I survived that attack?" He questioned, seemingly unable to hold back a laugh. I said nothing, as I was still trying to regain my breath.

"It's simple, really." He began, talking as if he were the smartest in the world. "Take into account that you used Flash Cannon, a Steel type move, on a Fire type, such as myself. Kinda stupid how you didn't realize that, especially since I thought you'd be a little more smarter than that."

Dammit, how could I have not realized? I completely forgot about type advantages and disadvantages during battles, due to the heat of the moment. Pun intended. But still, I got careless, and it was my fault I hadn't thought of every component of a battle.

Now, here I am; on my knees, out of energy, and practically surrendering.

Wait… did he really sneak a compliment of all things into that insult?

"You know," He started, as he then took one of his claws under my chin and moved to caress my cheek, which caused my eyes to widen while I felt my face heat up. "Getting this close to you, without anything happening, it really makes me realize that you're absolutely stunning..." The Charizard smirked slightly, and I ended up shuddering as he caressed my cheek. With that comment, I couldn't help but blush more. For a brute like him, he had a sort of way with his words. It was as if he no longer had his brash and rude tone of voice, and it he spoke in a more calm, gentle way.

Regardless, it was somewhat unsettling, especially since we were in the midst of a fight against each other and now suddenly, he's hitting on me.

"But alas, it's too bad that I have to take your life." The fire type said with a shrug, as he then extended his other claw, preparing another Metal Claw attack. I shook with fear, for I knew what was going to happen next.

He was going to kill me. Then finish Francis off. And there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it. Being out of energy like this sucks…

And I can't believe I let myself get bested by this guy.

(POV Change: Francis)

Once again, I had blacked out. This time, from Aaron's tight grasp on my neck. He choked me out.

I floated around in my consciousness; nothing around me but a dark void. It felt as if I were in the vacuum of space, except the difference here was that I was able to breathe. The way I drifted through the void was strangely… relaxing.

However, sounds of explosions from elsewhere set me off. It separated me from the relaxation I was feeling, and now I was a bit more aware of what was going on. I remembered what I was doing. I remembered what was at stake.

Aaron was still at large, and I needed to wake the heck up. Now.

And just like that, I blinked and suddenly, I was back in the forest. I gasped and took air in, letting it into my lungs. Sputtering a bit, I sat up and groaned hard.

Gritting my teeth, I rubbed the part of my neck that Aaron had squeezed in order to make me go unconscious. I took slow breaths after a short while, and my brain began to tell me that everything in my body was hurting. It shot throughout my nervous system, and I fought the urge to yell out in pain.

However, I questioned what was happening. How in the world was there energy being thrown around? Who could Aaron be possibly battling against?

My eyes then lit up in realization. The energy, it was familiar. It was Tina's.

Suddenly, a massive blast goes off nearby, shaking me out of my thoughts. One of them sent an attack, and the sound of an explosion could be heard shortly after. My aura was able to tell that this was a powerful attack, but the real question is: did it really end this battle entirely?

Worried for the safety of the Grem, I managed to prop myself up onto my feet, and slowly made my way over to the clearing, where Aaron and Tina would apparently be located. One paw was used to lean myself on a few trees that remained standing, keeping my balance as I walked. Every step was painful, and I wanted to yell out in pain as I did so.

But I ignored it all as I kept on walking towards the clearing.

Once I got to the clearing, I saw a horrifying sight. It seemed Aaron had Tina on her knees, and it was as if… he was caressing her cheek? I raised an eyebrow as I kept myself hidden behind a fallen tree. Why was he doing that?

Regardless, it was clear the grem had once again been defeated by Aaron, but it did look like she managed to deal a good amount of damage to the Fire type. But, judging by the Charizard's sudden change in demeanor and his expression changing back to that deranged grin of his, I had a feeling something bad were to happen in the next few moments.

And I was right; he then extended his claw out, a metallic hue surrounding it, activating Metal Claw once more. With that, I lost it. I don't think I was able to watch this any longer.

Suddenly, I could feel my body gaining some energy, my aura flaring back to life. It's as if my body was giving me one last go at this. With that, my legs began to carry me to the area where the battle was taking place.

Once I got close enough to the Charizard, I raised my sword above my head, readying myself to swing at him at the right moment.

"This oughta teach you not to touch Tina like that ever again!" I exclaimed loudly, grunting as I swung my sword at a speed that surprised us both. He shifted himself to deflect my attack, but something was up with him. Aaron seemed to be struggling, his Metal Claw attack barely able to keep up with my sword's slashes and speed. I could hear the Charizard grunt and growl with each point of contact.

"You never know when to quit, do you?!" Aaron exclaimed in a gruff tone, seemingly frustrated that he couldn't keep us down.

With those words, he opened up his jaws, fire spitting out and surrounding him like a vortex, using Fire Spin. I quickly jumped out of the way, avoiding the possibility of getting burned. He used the Fire type move to give some space between us, and I felt a growl escape from the back of my throat.

"Shut up, Aaron!" I retorted, beginning to charge towards him once again. "You don't seem to know when to quit, either!" Once I was close enough, the Charizard immediately took advantage and released a Fire Blast attack, hitting me head-on. Despite the burning sensation I felt throughout my body, I kept on going.

I could feel parts of my fur and clothing becoming scorched as I kept on running, but I paid no mind to it. Eventually, the top of my tracksuit slipped right off of me, results of it being torn up to shreds from the intense and brutal battle.

What Aaron hasn't noticed as I got hit by his Fire Blast attack was that I managed to swing my sword with a Slash attack right through the powerful Fire type move, reducing the damage I had taken.

As I continued to charge toward the Fire type, I noticed that Aaron held a look of both shock and exhaustion, which meant that this entire battle was finally taking its toll on him. Even though I felt tired and was currently in bad shape, this gave me an advantage, as I could feel I had loads of energy left to finish this battle once and for all.

I charged up some energy into my sword once I got close enough once more, I went to do another slash of mine. However, Aaron seemed to catch on to my battle style, and he jumped back as I sent him a slash.

"Your attacks are so easy to see now!" He claimed, readying an Air Slash attack while he cackled slightly. "There's nothing you can do to defeat me now!" He flapped his wings, and sent the blades of air towards me. They were fast, and I had no time to react. They hit me directly, and I yelled out in pain as I was sent flying backwards. I hit the ground after flying a few feet, and I tumbled into a sort of small stream of water, splashing into it slightly.

I tried to sit up, but I couldn't stop wincing. Gritting my teeth, I forced myself to do so. I looked to the front of me, and I could see Aaron approaching, even if it was at a slow pace. He was limping. Injured.

I huffed, and looked down at my paw, now dampened with the stream's water. I was frustrated as well. How could I possibly take him down? I did everything that I could against him, pulling out all the stops. But, to no avail. He still stood, albeit not as tall as he was to begin with, but he still was standing.

As Aaron kept approaching me, I bent down and picked up my sword, now all soaked in water as well. I whipped my sword, trying to have the droplets of water go away, but they wouldn't budge an inch. A look of confusion spread across my face as I then decided to try to wipe away the water with my free paw, but the results remained the same.

Suddenly, I felt my aura flare to life once again, this time rushing through the arm that held the sword. A bright, flashing light shone from the tip of my sword and the stream of water beneath it, causing a small whirlpool to make its way up the weapon I held in my paw.

My eyes widened at the sight. I couldn't believe what was happening at that moment. Never had this happened before. It was like my sword was absorbing the water, nearly taking on a new form. It was strange, yet so mesmerizing.

"Let the strength of your aura use the power of the Water element, my son."

That voice… Could it really be? I knew it wasn't my subconscious speaking to me, because the voice sounded so different, yet familiar. A voice I hadn't heard in many years, one I missed dearly; my father.

I shook away the thought for now, I would think about that later. I had a battle to finish, and I noticed as the Charizard had stopped walking, watching the scene in front of him unfold with a look of pure shock. He didn't know what was going on, and so did I, but I knew I have to trust my father's words and take it.

Closing my eyes, I let all of my strength into my right arm, my aura rushing through my veins, and onto the sword. My focus remained on the water, wanting it to encase around my sword. I could feel the whirlpool of water rising up higher, some droplets of water dampening my fur, by just a little. My aura had changed almost instantly, giving me a new sorts of strength I had never felt before. It felt like my Fighting type capabilities have been completely traded over, now replaced with Water typing.

I peaked open an eye, and I gasped. My sword had taken a completely new form. Its width and length had grown incredibly, almost taking the shape of a shell. It shone a neat sapphire blue, and you could visibly see water flowing inside of the shell-like shape.

Razor Shell. A somewhat powerful Water type attack, and perfect against a Fire type like Aaron.

I let air out from my lungs, getting up while I calmed down from the sudden surprise. Still standing in the small stream, I took my battle stance once more, taking ahold of my water-infused blade in both my paws. Despite being in a calm state of mind in order to keep up this unorthodox attack, I had strained breaths. My battle-tattered body was on the brink of failing, and me blasting past my limits was just making any of my ongoing injuries worse.

But, Father's words… I knew I heard him. I won't let his advice go to waste!

"This… this is the key to taking you down!" I exclaim, voice full of hate while I charge right at him. "You're going down now, Aaron!" Like me, the Charizard managed to shake off the surprise from the sudden creation of this attack, and had his chance to reactivate and extend his metallic claw.

"Tough luck, I ain't going down from another trashy trick of yours!" He retorted, prepared for my approach with a fighting stance of his own. His extended claw was positioned above his shoulder, ready to slash down at any moment. His other claw remained in front of him, ready to block out any attack that could come his way.

My eyes trailed around me, looking for an opening that could be useful to land a successful blow. At that moment, it's almost like time had slowed down as I ran towards the Charizard. I could feel my subconscious speaking to me, analyzing which direction I should go to. In order to hit Aaron successfully, it's important to have planned out your next move.

Which, in this case, wasn't always the case for me.

Once my mind had finally become clear of thoughts, time seemed to have come back to normal. My eyes darted to my right, where there stood a broken tree. My direction changed, and I continued running towards it. I then used the momentum of the broken tree to leap into the air, my sword above my head, preparing my attack.

I slashed at him as soon as I got down close enough, and Aaron responded with a swipe of his claws. Our attacks collided, and I felt water particles flying off of the sword itself alongside a few sparks as well. The tension was unexplainable. Me and the Charizard glared daggers at each other as we kept up the pressure of our clashes, neither of us backing down from our attacks.

Soon, he pushed me back, by swiping his other claw upwards. Luckily, I blocked it, but I ended up sliding backwards. I didn't lose my balance, but Aaron used the chance to zoom forward at me to attack me with swipes of his metallic claws. I planted my feet firmly on the ground to stop myself, then swung my sword as he went to swipe.

Sparks and particles of water were sent flying with each point of contact.

Before Aaron could land a Metal Claw attack on me, I jumped away, and used the opening to prepare an Aura Sphere attack with my paw, sending it towards him. Once it made contact, I ran in his direction, sword in paw, and landed a successful hit across his chest. The Charizard grunted loudly at the super effective attack, and he fell to a knee.

His torso was covered in some water, slowly dripping onto the ground below him. His exhaustion was really taking its toll on him now, and I could tell by the flame on the tip of his tail. It used to look so lively, the flame large and healthy. Now, just by at looking at it, it had decreased in size, strength slowly diminishing.

"W...What're you looking at, fox?" Aaron growled, pushing himself back up on his feet. "The flame on my tail means nothing. I've still got the strength to destroy you!"

With those words, the Fire type used his wings to send himself gliding through the air, coming towards me. His speed also seemed to have decreased, which made it easy for me to leap up into the air, slashing the Razor Shell attack across his back as he flew under me. Once again, Aaron grunts from the pain, his wings giving out as he crashes onto the ground.

I swiftly land back onto the ground, yelling out in pain as my legs give out from the constant pressure. With that, I fall onto a knee for a moment to regain a bit of energy. However, I couldn't stop here. I got right back up, gripping my shell-like sword and looking over at Aaron.

The Charizard looked to be very close to going down. He may have gotten up from the last fight, but it looked like he was about to drop, judging from how shaky his legs were.

It was time to finish this.

I charged right at him once more, brandishing my shell-shaped sword. Despite looking like he was about to drop, he still put his claws up, Metal Claw already activated. We repeated our past movements, another fierce clash breaks out. This time, I kept up the offense. I began to quicken my slashes and swings, and all Aaron could do was back up and do his best to defend against my attacks. He was getting overwhelmed quickly, and it was clear from his frustrated expression that he knew that he was.

"You can't contend with me anymore!" I claimed as I used Agility, my speed doubling to where I begin to move around him to attack at a more aggressive rate. Aaron tried to follow my movements in order to deflect and block my attacks, but that no longer became something he could do. Soon, he became overwhelmed, and he received every single slash of my Razor Shell strikes. Water droplets flew in every direction.

With every slash, however, I noticed the shell of the sword's 'upgrade' beginning to crack. That must have been why dews of water flew right off of my sword with each clash; my ability was slowly breaking, and my aura couldn't hold this new move for much longer.

That meant that I needed to end him with one final blow, and make it count.

In one quick movement, I went directly in front of the Fire type and I jumped up, planting my foot firmly against his chest and flipping right off of it. This caused him to stumble backwards and lose his balance, but that wasn't enough to make him fall over. He was so weakened to the point he seemed to have lost the energy to keep his Metal Claw active.

Completing my backflip by landing a few feet away from him, I charged at him as I prepared to strike him one final time with my Razor 'Sword'.

"Alright, stay down!" I exclaimed as I got close to him, and swung with all my might. My sword came into contact with him, and just like that, I felt the energy within my sword shatter and become free. Water splashed in all directions; getting all over my battle-broken body, Aaron's body, and the ground around us. But, that didn't obscure the slash at all.

It was successful; after a moment, Aaron fell hard onto his back. Exhausted, he seemed to have deep and heavy breaths. I don't blame him, as I was feeling the same. I fell onto my bottom shortly after, succumbing to exhaustion just like he was.

But, I wasn't done. There was more to do. I needed to end him once and for all.

I brought myself to my feet once again, even if my body cried for me to stop. I grit my teeth, shook my head, and told myself to stop. This needed to be done. Going over to him, I examined his condition.

The sweater he wore was completely destroyed, much like the top of my tracksuit. Meanwhile, the rest of what he wore had many tears and rips in them as well. The places where I had slashed him were still damp with water. Looking closely, he suffered wounds of his own; cuts, bruises, gashes, you name it. It was just as bad as me.

The main condition that caught my attention, however, was the flame on his tail. If anything, it wasn't even worthy to be called a flame anymore. It was faint, but there it was; a flicker of a fire. That was all that remained of this Charizard's lifeforce. If this went out, he would… he would definitely no longer be part of this world.

I huffed, and went over to one of the puddles of water that remained from my last attack. Carefully, I put the sides of my palms together and dipped my paws into the puddle, creating a sort of makeshift cup with them. With the water in my paws, I went back over to Aaron.

Going back over to where his minuscule flame was still lit on his tail, I prepared myself to end put out what was left of him.

But… I hesitated. Why did I hesitate?

Something in my gut told me to not do this. But why? Aaron deserved what was coming to him. Every single thing. And if I did this, he wouldn't be able to go and torment anyone else. I'd be doing the World a favor by getting rid of a scum like him.

But even so, was this really what I wanted? If I went through with this, I'd be no better than he is. And then, I'd be framed for being the bully. That's something my Dad didn't raise me to be like.

I looked to Aaron; he was down for the count. He wasn't gonna do harm in this state, that's for sure. Not just that, but he must've learnt his lesson from this fight. Otherwise, I suppose I'd have to surpass my limits to beat him again.

I exhale as I turned, moving to empty out my palms of the water elsewhere as to not have any of it get on Aaron's tail. Sparing him was the best option in this case. Stooping down to his level wasn't the way of doing things. Not my way, at least.

I kneeled down next to him, and I put my arms around him in an effort to try and lift him up. He was certainly heavy, that's for sure. I managed to do so, and I ended up carrying him on my back, like a makeshift Pignite-back ride. I heard Aaron speak to me as I did so, however.

"W-what the hell…?" He questioned, seemingly unable to move at all. "I thought you-"

"Aaron, don't speak." I said simply, carrying him slowly but surely. "Just focus on keeping your energy up. Neither of us would want your flame to go out." I heard no response from him after my statement. I did hear him grumble something, however, but that was too inaudible for me to hear properly. Maybe my hearing was going out, too.

I had no idea where I was walking to, though. I was just trying to retrace my steps. But, that was difficult to do when it was now hard to see a good few feet in front of me. Too much red in my eyes.

However, I heard someone call out to me. A familiar voice.

"Francis!" Tina shouted as I saw her run up to me, my ol' sword in her paws. I nearly forgot the relic of my late father, and I inwardly cursed.

"H-hey, Tina," I sputtered, even starting to struggle speaking. "Don't worry; he isn't dead. Just knocked out."

"But… but didn't you want Aaron to be... " Tina began to say, but then she began to fumble with her words, and eventually sighed and gave in, like I did. Knowing her, she understood exactly why I did what I did.

"...let's just get back to the main cabin; they'll take care of us and our wounds."


oh my gawd it's done lmao

Heya, I hope you enjoyed this action-packed chapter that is almost as long as the previous chapter! Thanks for reading, and remember to review if you have any questions or tips for me! :)

See ya in the next chapter!

Edit: Jeez, this took way to rewrite! This portion is done, and as always, massive thanks to Chlooepm for the help!