Dust's head was swimming when he finally came to. His blurry vision could make out a dimly lit room around him. Someone was talking, but the words were meaningless. He knew that voice, but his thoughts were coming slow and jumbled and he couldn't put a name to it.
He was standing on straw. He could feel the rough bales under his bare feet. The clothes he had taken were gone, only his trousers remained. His hands were tied behind his back by a rope, and a long wooden beam pressed against his back.
It took him a few moments to realize he was tied to a stake.
Oh, that wasn't good.
He pulled at the bonds on his hands, but they were too strong.
"He's moving." somebody said behind him.
Dust's wits were coming back to him, and when Ashton came from behind him and struck him across the chest with his cane, everything came back to him. He'd been in a dark hotel room. Maddie was there, and then Cyril. There was a gun, and then…
Oh, this was really not good.
"Eyes up, buttercup." Ashton said. "Look a' me."
Dust raised his head and stared into Ashton's grey eyes. "Where am I?" he said, trying not to sound as scared as he was.
"Oh this place? Jus' a little ol' place my father owns. Nothin' all tha' special. 'e's got buildings all over this city. Tha Empress were a little too public fer the kind o' work we do 'ere, if ya catch my drift."
"And Maddie?"
Ashton grinned even wider than he already was. "Always tha knight in shinin' armor, aren't you? She's alive. Fer now anyway. Maybe I'll kill 'er when I'm done wit' you. Jus' won't be as fun havin' 'er around without the thought of you somewhere all sad without her. Maybe I'll shove that lovely knife o' yer's through 'er pretty little neck."
Cyril spoke up. "Your father wouldn't be happy about that."
"Well maybe I'll shove it through her cunt then." Ashton said, clearly irritated. "That won't kill her."
Dust pulled at the restraints with all his strength. Ashton laughed. "That upset you? You're not gonna get through them ropes. Cyril tied 'em himself. He knows a thing or two about this kind o' stuff."
"You're a real bastard, Ashton." Dust said. He couldn't think of anything wittier than that at the moment.
"And you're a dirt eating rat who doesn't know 'is place in the world. Do you have any idea how much frustration you've caused me?" the accent was gone from his voice. Dust knew from experience that that meant Ashton was slipping into a rage. "Just a slimy, smelly, scummy peasant. You think you can attack me, on my father's land, sic your little monster on me, ruin my arm, and steal my whore from me?" He laid his cane across Dust's face, making it explode with pain and leaving a bloody gash above his eye. "Any other man would have been long dead by now, so I'm going to give you some credit. You're a hard man to kill, Dust. You're a very hard man to kill. I thought I had you for sure in those woods. I went home thinking you were dead, and then you show your stupid face in Ludlow, so I think, well I'll just kill you here. And I have you de3ad to rights before that fucking drunk pulls out a Rhyperior and just as I'm about to shoot you, you and that black haired bitch vanish in thin air. I checked the wall behind you. There wasn't any bullethole in it, which means I must have gotten one of you. There's scars all over that beautiful chest of yours, but you haven't been shot there, that's clear. Which means I must have got the bitch. Is she dead, Dust? Did you get her killed?"
The last time Dust had seen Amelia, she was lying on Dr. Trotsky's operating table. He had no idea if she was still alive or not.
"Fuck you." he said.
"No time fer that." Ashton said. "I did, didn't I? You should stop bringing women to save your worthless life. Bad things keep 'appening to them. Don't worry about that though. Ain't no bitch comin' to save you this time. I'm gonna make sure you're good and dead beyond all doubt. Let's get started."
A man who Dust hadn't seen came and handed Ashton a torch. He took a matchbox out of his pocket and used one to light the torch up. Ashton's smile danced in the firelight.
This was really very not good.
Ashton very slowly lowered the torch down to the straw, drawing it out as long as possible. Then, he suddenly stopped short and stood back up.
"I can't believe it. I almost left out the best part. Yer Totodile. The little bastard who bit me. It jus' so happens tha' I'm feelin' a bit peckish. I think I'm gonna eat 'im. Poetic justice and whatnot, am I right? As fer the other one, I think I'm gonna give it to Cyril. You'll be dead so He can jus' recatch it and do the bonding with it."
"The other one?" He must have meant Boldore. Which meant he didn't have Beedrill. Which meant Maddie must have still had it.
"The rock thing. I don't know its name. But tha' little croc, i'm gonna have it chopped up while it's still alive. I've got a man here who's a fantastic chef. 'e can do things with a capon you wouldn't even believe. I'd let you have a spoonful of Totodile soup, but seein' as you'll be dead, what's the use?" He laughed.
The laugh was followed by a roar.
Ashton turned around. "What the hell was that?" The sound had come from somewhere outside the room.
"Go see what's going on." Ashton ordered the thug who had supplied the torch.
The man looked terrified. "I'm not going out there."
Ashton pulled a revolver from his belt and pointed in the thug's face. "That wasn't a request." The man went out the door.
"And as fer you," Ashton said, turning back to Dust, "No more delays." He tossed the burning torch onto the straw.
The straw lit up. Fire spread over it, choking Dust with smoke. The flames hadn't even reached him yet but the heat was already unbearable.
The roar came again, followed by a scream. The door thumped, once, twice, and burst open, the thug's corpse flying through it, head ripped off the shoulders. What followed might have been Totodile, but Totodile had never been so big or so fierce looking. The croc that had once come up to Dust's waist when standing on his hind legs now stood as tall as a man, blood running down his jaws filled with teeth like black knifes.
Ashton pulled out a pokeball and what was once his Pichu appeared, though it too was much larger than it had been before.
"Raichu, kill that thing!" He shouted.
The Raichu crackled with electricity, but it seemed weak and slow, and Totodile was energized. He dodged, the bolt of lightning as it was fired, spun and slammed his tail into the Raichu, sending it flying into Cyril and knocking them both into a heap on the floor.
The flames leaped in the air. The hem of Dust's pants caught fire.
Ashton looked at the man sized Totodile, terror written plainly on his face. He pointed his pistol at the hulking reptile.
"I'll kill you myself!"
Totodile moved with amazing speed for his size, swatting the gun out of Ashton's hand as it fired with a swing of his sharp clawed hand. Giant blue jaws clamped down on the boy's arm, long black teeth shearing through skin and meat as easily as as a knife through cheese, shattering bones like twigs.
Ashton screamed in agony, and screamed louder when Totodile jerked his head back, tearing the arm clean off. Ashton fell to the ground, blood spurting from his wound in a dark red fountain.
Flames licked Dust's legs. "Totodile! Help me!"
Totodile looked at him as if noticing him for the first time. He reared back and blasted a jet of water at Dust so strong it broke the wooden beam and sent Dust to the floor. The pain of the blast was like a kick from a horse, but at least the flames had been put out.
The distraction was enough time for Raichu to disentangle itself from Cyril. Its tail glowed white, and when it struck Totodile, arcs of lightning surged through the crocodile's body. Totodile's roar of rage and pain was palpable.
Dust put his feet on the beam, wincing as the burned skin touched the wood, and used them to push it, sliding it free of his bound hands.
Totodile grabbed the Raichu's tail, fighting through the pain, and pointed it away from himself. The arc of electricity went up into the ceiling, blasting apart wooden rafters and setting it ablaze. Totodile raised the Raichu above his head and flung him away.
Dust rolled over and got to his knees. The whole room was going up in flame. He heard a loud crack above him. A rafter was burning through, wood blackening and weakening. There came a sound of splitting timber, and then the ceiling crashed down above him.
Cyril staggered to his feet. The crocodile had rushed off to help its master, he saw it leap on top of him as the fiery debris rained on top of them. Hopefully the boy was dead along with his beast, but that didn't matter now. He had to get Ashton to safety before the whole building burned to the ground.
The boy lay whimpering on the floor, arm torn completely off. His pokeball lay on the ground beside him. Cyril scooped it up and returned Raichu to it. He put the ball on his belt and knelt down next to Ashton.
"Come on, we have to go."
"My arm! My bloody arm!" Ashton wailed.
Cyril grabbed the arm he still had and pulled him to his feet. "We need to leave right now!"
"I'll kill him!" Ashton yelled, seemingly oblivious to the world around him. "Where's my fucking gun? I'm gonna kill him!" He staggered blindly through the smoke, ignoring Cyril's protestations.
Cyril took his own pistol and clubbed Ashton in the back of the head with it. He caught him as he fell unconscious and slung the boy over his shoulder. He took one last look at the pile of debris that had fallen on Dust and ran out the door.
Dust coughed loudly when Totodile had finally gotten off of him. The room was nothing but charred cinders now. Totodile had put out the fire but there wasn't much left to salvage of this place. His lungs stung when he breathed. His feet were in pain, but luckily they hadn't been burned too bad by the fire. He was sure he was in for some painful walking in the near future though.
He lay among the broken rubble of the building. Some of the walls made of brick still stood, but he was under open sky, a pillar of smoke rising up to the stars.
A welcome cackle came from behind him. Poochyena bounded up to him, Totodile's pokeball in her mouth. She laid it in front of him and licked his face.
"I was hoping you were alright." He said, scratching her behind the ears. "Did you release him from his ball? Good girl!" He had no idea Poochyena was that smart.
And he had no idea what Totodile even was anymore. The croc wasn't just bigger. He had changed. His head was crested by big orange spines and his teeth stuck out from his jaws. He was thicker, with heavier muscles on his limbs and harder scales on his back. He had been cute before, in a reptilian sort of way, but there was nothing cute about the crocodile in front of him now, prowling around on all four legs, crunching Ashton's arm in his teeth. This creature was… well, it was how he had wanted Totodile to look when he'd first taken him hunting, before he had grown to love the little croc. Dust had gotten what he'd wanted, and now he wasn't sure if that what he wanted anymore.
It took some searching, but eventually Poochyena was able to find Boldore's pokeball, along with the ruined remnant of Arthur Vandelay's suit, and worse, his wallet. When Dust tried to open it, it came apart in his hands, and what was left of the money inside was barely even recognizable as money. Completely worthless.
As Totodile swallowed the last of his grisly prize, Dust pointed the pokeball at him. "Come on. Let's get out of here before some unwanted attention comes." He recalled Totodile.
No, not Totodile, he realized as the familiar sensation of a bonding crept up his arm. It wasn't like the first time. This was just a mild tingle. The words came unbidden to his head.
Dust looked at the pokeball. "Croconaw." He said. "That's going to take some getting used to."