Garchomp- Tiptoe by Imagine Dragon-Type
It was midnight, with clear skies overhead and the full moon shone down it's silver light upon the land. One house stood alone and rather isolated in the area. It was a large, wooden abode, a rather fancy take on a more traditional style. The house seemed to give a sense of wealth that wasn't overly boastful, yet not completely modest.
In-spite of the late hour, not everyone within the structure was sleeping soundly. One soul was actually wide awake at this hour. Down under the house, in the basement, stood a large indestructible cage, it's door kept shut by a padlock. Within the cage sat a downtrodden Garchomp, who simply stared at the metal bottom of the cage, which was just a little bit taller than he was, but was three times his size area wise. The Ground/Dragon-type sniffed, and then lifted his head to look around at the bars around him. He then slowly got up on his feet, then stuck his left foot out and scratched at the floor of the cage with his footclaws. Garchomp winced at the metallic scraping sound, and brought his foot back, sighing as he looked at the floor, then at the bars, then at the padlock.
Garchomp stared at the padlock for a little longer, then his eyes moved down his left arm and to his claw. An idea suddenly struck him, and he ran over to the side of the cgae with the padlock. He extended his left arm out through the bars and jammed his claw into the padlock's keyhole. He twisted and wiggled the tip of his claw within the massive padlock, looking on desperately as he tried to pick the lock. He closed his eyes and leaned his arm into it, pushing his claw into the lock. Suddenly, there was a loud click as the padlock popped open.
Garchomp nearly cried out in joy, but quickly covered his mouth with one fin. He looked around nervously, and then slowly took out the padlock and set it down gently on the ground. Then, he carefully pushed the door of the cage open, making sure it didn't hit against anything, and carefully stepped out of the cage. He then gently closed the door behind him, and even placed the lock back on the door to keep everything in place.
Garchomp turned his head to look up at the stairs leading up to the basement door, looking eager and excited. He practically jumped up the first couple of steps, but then suddenly lurched forward, nearly falling over as he came to a sudden stop. Garchomp looked down and saw that his right foot was caught between two of the steps. He held onto the railing as best he could with his arms, and tried pulling his foot out. However, his foot was well hooked between the steps. Frustrated, Garchomp pulled his whole body straight up, and there was a sudden loud snap.
Garchomp's eyes darted around fearfully, and he glanced down at his freed foot and the wooden step that was no snapped in half. Garchomp stood completely still for a long moment. Then, his eyes slowly looked up at the stairs before him.
Garchomp lay on his chest, atop the wooden stairs, with his feet stretched out behind him. He reached up and forward with his arms and hooked a step with his claw. He then pulled himself up and over a few stairs, and then repeated the process. Garchomp let out a series of gurgles every time he did this, as his stomach was bumped repeatedly against the steps he was dragging himself over.
Eventually, Garchomp made it to the top, and quickly pulled himself onto his feet and stood before the door. He glanced at the round doorknob, and then looked at his claws. His face fell and gained a look of dismay, but he quickly shook it off and narrowed his eyes. He turned slightly and got into a position to smash the door with his shoulder, but he suddenly stopped as a concerned look passed across his face.
Garchomp sniffed and bent down slightly so that his head was level with the doorknob. Then, he leaned forward with his mouth open and closed it around the doorknob. After moving his tongue around and turning his head a bit, there was a clicking sound, and the basement door swung open.
Garchomp leaned back a bit and crossed his eyes as he stuck his tongue out in disgust. His eyes then widened as he felt himself falling backwards. He flailed his arms for a second, then quickly hooked his claws onto the door frame and pulled himself forwards and through the door.
He looked both ways and saw that he was standing in a hallway. To the left he could see a door in the opposite wall, and the slightly open bathroom door at the end of the hall. Garchomp turned to the right and saw that the hall led to two open entry ways branching off from it, and the left branch had the glow of moonlight shining from it.
At the sight of the moonlight, Garchomp's eyes lit up and he gained an enraptured smile. He turned to face his desired direction, and took a quick step forward with his right. He jerked to a stop when he hear a loud creaking noise. Garchomp looked around nervously, and then stepped forward with his left foot. Another loud creaking sound seemed to echo throughout the entire building, much to Garchomp's distress.
He looked down slowly at the wooden floor he was standing, and then took a small quick step forward with his right foot. Garchomp winced as another creak sounded, and he looked around as her nervously tapped his claws together. He lifted up his left foot and put it back down gently, only to hear another creak that made him turn fast to look at the closed door on the wall behind him.
Garchomp's red throat bulged in and out as he swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat. He then stared down at his big three toed feet with a frown, tapping his footclaws on the floor. Then, he took a breath and slowly picked up his left foot. He extended his left leg out ever so slowly in front of him, so that it was nearly parallel to the floor. Garchomp held his breath as he balanced on his right leg, his eyes focused intensely on his left foot. He then lowered his just as slowly as he had raised it. With his eyes squinted and his teeth clenched, Garchomp gently placed his left foot down on the wood floor. Garchomp let out the breath he was holding and looked upwards in relief as he relaxed his tensed up body and let his weight fall back down equally on both feet, easing himself forward into the step he had taken.
With a loud snap, the floorboards suddenly and without warning gave way under Garchomp's left foot, and his let leg fell into the hole. Garchomp gave a quick roar of surprise as it happened, but immediately put both fins over his face as he quietly waited. The echoes of the snap, crunch, and roar soon faded into silence, and Garchomp carefully peeked out from behind his fins.
After waiting in silence for another moment, Garchomp carefully lifted his leg out of the hole in the floor, turned to look down the hall, and then frantically hop-stepped towards the moonlight, his footsteps creaking behind him. He made a sharp turn to the left, and continued his fast past, only to suddenly find his feet had no traction. Garchomp felt the smooth, polished marble floor beneath his feet as he slid forward. He tried to dig his heels into the floor, but it had no effect on his sliding. Garchomp gasped and whimpered as quietly as he could as he slid towards a pair of ornate double doors with glass crystal windows in them. He closed his eyes and covered his face with his fins.
Garchomp then felt a little tap on his arms, and he opened his eyes and put his arms down to see that he had collided with the doors quite gently. He also realized that he hadn't been sliding very fast on the floor. Garchomp let out a sigh of relief, and then looked down at the metal door handles. He then hooked his claws on each of the handles, and effortlessly pushed them down and open the door.
He looked outside through the open doors with such joy that his eyes motioned slightly, but then a beeping noise caught his attention. Garchomp turned to his left and spotted an alarm security keypad on the wall. He peered closely at it, and saw a timer on the screen counting down from 30.
Garchomp fearfully stared at it and shook his head frantically. He waved his arms desperately as the beeping continued. He grabbed and pulled the horn-like appendages on his head as panic and fear overtook, and then suddenly reared back and swung a Dragon Claw at the keypad.
Garchomp stood there catching his breath for a moment, then he noticed that the beeping had stopped. He looked and saw that the keypad lay on the floor cut right in half. Where the keypad once hung there was a hole in the wall, with bits of cut wire sticking out. Garchomp then turned to the open double doors, and he actually jumped for joy and started running.
As Garchomp ran, wearing a big smile, he quickly noticed that he wasn't moving towards the door. Puzzlement replaced his smile, and he looked down to see that his feet were still slipping on the polished marble flooring. Grachomp growled impatiently and forced his legs to run faster. Her threw all his weight forward and craned his neck outward. He looked down and saw that his golden starred forehead extended right over the threshold of the doors. Garchomp growled low as he put all of his effort into running forwards, and then, suddenly, his feet gained enough traction to send him forward fast. Not expecting the sudden change in forward motion and speed, Garchomp was thrown forward several feet and landed flat on his chest.
Still lying prone and face flat, Garchomp carefully felt at the ground with his left arm. Feeling dirt and soft grass, Garchomp lifted his head and smiled before giving the ground several kisses. He then quickly stood up, and turned back to look at the building. After less than a second, he immediately turned away and started running forward, away from the house. He laughed a rough laugh to himself as he ran, getting louder as he got further away from the building. However, his laughter was cut short when he saw the ground disappear in front of him. He slid a quick stop, but momentum carried him forward a bit, causing him to teeter dangerously on the edge. He looked down in horror at the point sharp rocks at the bottom of the 100 foot drop.
As Garchomp began to fall forward, he wildly flapped his fins to push himself backwards. He quickly succeeded in stopping himself from falling and backed up frantically from the edge. He turned to the right and started running, hopping to find a way across. However, he soon found that he and the house were situated on a tall, cylindrical shaped mesa as he ran around in a wide circle. He soon near the spot where he had begun, only he noticed something he hadn't seen before. It was a long bridge made of wood and rope that extended quite a distance over the pit of sharp rocks and ended at what looked like a wide forest.
Garchomp studied the rope bridge for a moment, then took an anxious glance behind him. He breathed out and careful placed his left foot onto the first board of the bridge. He pushed down with some force, and watched as the ropes we pushed down a bit. Garchomp studied the wooden board and saw that it wasn't bending or cracking. With a quite growl, Garchomp stepped forward quickly, putting his right foot forward. He held out his arms on either side of him, looking straight ahead and the distant other end of the bridge. His weight was pulling the section he was standing on down. Garchomp breathed in and out through his mouth, and then began to quickly step forward across the bridge.
He proceeded across the wooden boards, trying no to look down, or at how the long ropes were sagging down as he got closer to the middle of the bridge. However, his quick pace was halted when his left foot broke through one of the boards. This sent Garchomp's head down and forward, slamming his chin onto the board several feet in front of him. He lay there, eyes tightly shut for a moment, hanging up in mid air with his left legs swinging.
Garchomp slowly opened his eyes, and the careful lifted his arms and put them around the ropes. He pulled himself up and rested his feet lightly on the board in front of the one he broke. He panted heavily, his tongue nearly hanging out of his wide open mouth. Then, Garchomp looked down at his feet, cocking his head with a look of despair in his eyes. He then closed his eyes and shook his head violently. Then, with his eyes still closed, he held his arms out in front of him and breathed in and out slowly. Looking calmer and wearing a smile, Garchomp daintily lifted his left foot, wiggling his footclaws as he did so, and lightly stepped on the next board. He then repeated this motion with his right foot, and then his left, and continued on across the bridge, stepping lightly on his toes every time.
Garchomp went on like this for some time, keeping his eyes shut as he tiptoes across the bridge. Then, after a while, he cracked his eyes open, and then opened them wide as he gasped with delight. He was currently standing on the last two planks of the bridge, and solid ground was literally one step away.
He laughed proudly, turning to look up at the full moon above him, and with a grin, lifted his left foot up high, and brought it down hard on solid ground.
Garchomp's eyes became wide and horror stricken as he suddenly realized what he just did. He looked down at where his foot landed as the ground around it cracked and trembled. Garchomp held his arms straight out on either side of him as the vibrations of the Earthquake traveled through the ropes and through the wooden boards. Garchomp's jaw hung open as he was shaken up to the extreme. He teetered backwards a bit, his left foot leaving the shaking ground and kicking as the bridge shook up and down at an incredible frequency. Garchomp's weight kept him from being tossed up and off of the bridge as it shook up and down wildly.
Then, seemingly as soon as it came, it passed. The bridge slowly but surely stopped vibrating up and down, and eventually calmed down and was still.
Standing balanced on his right foot, Garchomp's breathing was louder and more panic stricken than ever. But then, as peace and calm returned, he let out an exhausted sounding laugh, and brought his left forward to the ground, but suddenly stopped himself. His brought his foot back in, and closed his eyes. With a smile, he wiggled his footclaws, and then slowly brought his foot towards the ground.
Right when his foot was about centimeter away from touching solid ground, the entire bridge split right down the middle. The Earthquake had split all of the boards in half, causing them to drop like trap doors. Garchomp seemed to hang in mid air for a split second, and then he fell with a terrified roar. However, the ropes were still in place, and with his arms still extended, his claws hooked onto the ropes.
Garchomp opened his eyes, and looked at both of his claws. He nodded enthusiastically, and then swung his feet up to catch the ledge in front of him. However, after the first swing, Garchomp quickly began sliding backwards. Like a strange kind of zip-line, Garchomp slid backwards by his claws, his eyes desperately looking at the ledge that he was rapidly sliding away from. He whined and whimpered as he swung his legs wildly in an attempt to stop himself. But before long, Garchomp found himself hanging from the exact midpoint of the bridge, which was where he finally stopped.
As Garchomp hung there, he sighed and hung his head, only to see the pointy sharp rocks 100 feet below him. He winced and whipped his head back up to stare straight ahead of him. But then, his attention was suddenly drawn upwards by the sound of something being plucked. His pupils shrank when he saw that his claws were beginning to slice through the ropes. He shook his head and pleaded with his eyes. His claws were soon through half of the rope.
Garchomp took another glance down below him. He whimpered and crossed his legs tightly. He then felt a vibration as his claws were now through three-fourths of the rope. Garchomp swallowed a huge lump in his throat, and he opened his mouth to let his tongue lick the tip of his lips.
His claws sliced through the ropes, and he promptly fell straight down. As he fell, Garcomp's kept his mouth shut tight, trying with all his might to hold it in. His eyes bulged as his head jerked back and forth, and he twitched his arms and tail spasmodically. Eventually, he couldn't stand it any longer, and he let out a huge screaming of roar of terror and began flailing wildly as he fell down through the air. He spun and tumbled during his fall as his thrashing become more and more wild. But then, all of a sudden, he felt a strong forced push up on him. Garchomp's wide eyes looked at his arms as he fell down. He was falling in a flat position with his chest facing the approaching ground, and his arms were outstretched in a way that his fins were catching the air below them.
A sudden realization struck Garchomp hard like a Hyper Beam, and he clenched his teeth as he positioned his body perfectly. He went into a diving position, looking right at the approaching sharp rocks, and then, at the last minute, pulled up and soared upwards. Garchomp roared triumphantly as he flew up at an extreme angle, using his incredible speed to make it all the way up to ground level, and then landed solidly on both feet.
Garchomp flexed his toes and felt the ground with them, and then turned around to laugh and wave mockingly at the building on far off mesa. He then walked off into the forest, a relieved and very much liberated smiled on his face.