Japanese Title: Firing Up The Fire Killer! Making The Move To Begin!
Translation: Hakka Appu Sono Faia Kiraa! Meiku Sono Deyou Tame Hajimaru!
By: Pro_V
A/N: OK...This is an important little note here. In this chapter, you'll see mention of a new Special Edition called "Secrets Best Left Untold". It's also going up today and you can find it right here on FF.net and on my site, so get on out there and read!
Jen ran up the stairs, panting more and more with each flight. She slowed whenever she happened to pass someone, but sped right up again once they were out of eye and ear shot. She grabbed the top post of the stairs and started going around it, but heard someone running up behind her. She looked around and under the next set of steps.
"Go away," she growled and started running again.
"Hold on! Wait for me! Please!"
"No! Forget it!" her toe caught the step, but her heel missed its chance, sending her flying backwards.
Jaz stopped at the bottom of the steps and caught her as she fell, holding her arms at her sides with his arms thrown around her, "Are you all right?" he asked into her shoulder.
"Get off!" she snorted, "Let me go, damn it!"
"No. Not until you talk to me!" he lifted her feet a few inches from the floor, "I'm not letting you go until you hear me out."
"Put me down!" she kicked, "I'm not listening to you!"
"Yes you are. Even if I have to force you," he stepped back until he hit the wall and slid to sit down, "I'm sorry, Jen. Really."
"Let go!" she brought her right foot up to stomp on his foot, but he moved it just before her boot slammed the floor.
"I just didn't want to get laughed at!" he held tighter and she stopped struggling, "If I had known you were going to run out, I wouldn't have said what I did."
"It was stupid anyway!" she growled and squirmed to stand up, "Leave me alone."
"No," he pulled her back and turned her to her side, "I apologized. I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to upset you. I may be a Rocket, but I'm not that heartless."
"Could have fooled me," she spat and crossed her arms.
"Stab me, why don't you?" he thought, "I'm sorry, Jen. I swear," she faced away, arms still crossed, "What do you want me to do, Jen? What do I have to do?"
She turned and glared right into his hazel eyes, "Tell them the truth," she growled.
He gulped and loosened his grip, "But…They'll…"
"I don't care if they laugh!" she spat and forced him to let go all the way, "I thought I might actually have really liked you. But it turns out I was wrong."
He bit his bottom lip so hard he almost tasted blood, "I said I was sorry…"
"Sorry doesn't always make things all better, Jaz!" she hissed in his face, "I know who it was you really liked! Trinity! Trinity isn't real, Jaz! She never was real and she'll never be real!"
"I know that!" he countered, causing her eyes to widen at the way he came back at her, "I really like you, Jen, but I can't do anything but apologize unless you tell me what you want!"
"I already did! I want you to tell them the truth!" she saw him start to shiver, "I want you to march up there, go in that room, and tell them you were sleeping with me on purpose!"
"I wasn't sleeping with you; I was sleeping next to you. There is a difference."
"Whatever! Just tell them!" she stepped back and crossed her arms, "If they start laughing, let your Vileplume release the extra Stun Spore it's packing," she snickered evilly.
He started walking down the stairs again, "That's what I like about you, Jen. You're really pretty, really funny, and just the kind of evil a Rocket should be."
*^~^**^~^*
Eevy yawned slightly and stretched, eyes slowly blinking open. Something draped over her caught her attention, and she pulled it up. She examined it without sitting up and rolled onto her back. She fingered the fabric and noticed the colors. That alone told her what it was, but she brought it up to her face and took a deep breath just the same.
"Lance," she cuddled the cloak.
"You're finally awake," she looked up to the back of the couch, "Good. I need to ask you about something."
"Thanks for this," she handed him his cloak and sat up.
"Yep," Lance swung his cloak over his shoulders and sat down in a chair, pulling it up to her, "Can I ask you something you have to promise to tell the truth about?"
She put up her right eyebrow, "Sure you can," she then nodded slowly, "What is it?"
"What's this?" he ran his finger around her shoulder.
She looked at him like a dazed Pidgey, "It's my shoulder. Do you need to go back to kindergarten again or-"
"No, Eevy. Not that," he cut her off and pushed the neck of her shirt aside, "This," he traced a scar, "What is this?"
"That?" she looked down at his hand and swallowed hard enough that he could hear, "That's nothing."
"Evangelina Chenoweth Hikoboshi," he caught her chin in his hand and stared her dead in the eyes, "You promised to tell the truth. What is that?"
"It's nothing," she looked down and away to the right.
"Eevy. Look me in the eyes and tell me that," he leaned to her face to meet her eyes, "Tell me the truth," she only bit her bottom lip in response, "Please."
Her hand trembled at her side, "Nothing."
"Tell me, damn it!" he suddenly burst, "If someone hurt you, I want to know! I need to know!" she still didn't answer, "Son of a bitch, answer me! Now!"
She finally looked up at him, her eyes spilling over, "Don't yell at me, please."
His shoulders loosened, "I'm sorry. I'm just worried about you. Now, will you please tell me what happened?"
She balled her fists and looked right at him. She swallowed her pride and told him the truth. (See "Secrets Best Left Untold" for details) She watched him gape more and more with each word she allowed to escape. She'd lied to him about Taylor. Every single thing she swore was true was a lie. Including the fact that she'd never been close-close with Taylor. By the time she'd finished, all she could say was…
"I'm sorry," she closed her eyes, "I'm so sorry I lied to you, Lance."
He cupped his hands over his mouth and slid them up over his face, "I don't believe it. I just don't believe you lied to me," he shook his head with an annoyed hiss of a laugh, "So what else have you lied about? Never mind. I don't want to know," he stood up and headed for the door.
"Wait a second!" she shot to her feet, "Answer me this," she hissed, "Did you sleep with Rei? Have you slept with Claire?"
He'd just reached for the doorknob when she asked that. His fingers were still outstretched to leave when her words reached his ears and pierced right through his chest. He pulled his fingers back in a clenched fist, dropping both arms to his sides and bowing his head.
"N-N-No," he choked flatly.
"Lance," her speech was wavering, "Look me in the eyes and tell me that."
He couldn't. He couldn't look her in the eyes and tell her that; because it was a lie. He stumbled to turn around and stayed staring downward at the floor.
"I didn't," he gripped the sides of his pants.
"Liar," her voice was overflowing with an acidic hiss, "Tell me the truth, Lance, and then except it yourself."
He was nearly getting sick, "I did," he gagged and turned away, "I was afraid what you'd do if you knew."
"Hate to burst your bubble, pal," now her voice was even more pungent, causing him to cringe, "But I've known for a long, long time."
"What?" he didn't turn around, but looked very slightly over his left shoulder at her.
"Don't tell me you didn't already know the papers and tabloids keep tabs on your love life. I didn't believe them at first, because I'd never met you yet. But then you started talking about them in your sleep," she paused and hiccuped; a nervous reaction, "Even when you're sleeping right next to me," he was about to say something when she continued, "You know, I honestly thought we had something with each other. I really wanted to believe that when Raikou said the Beasts were wrong about us, they were actually right. I really thought this could last."
"No!" he looked up for first time through her rant, "No, Eevy. I'm sorry," he turned around just as she turned to face away, "Please?" she took a step away, "You've told the truth, I've told the truth, and I've forgiven you. All that's left is for you to forgive me. Please."
"I won't. You may have forgiven me, but I refuse to forgive you. I kept this from you to keep from hurting you; you kept that from me to keep from hurting yourself," she smoothed the front of her shirt, "I gave in to cute prospects and lovey-dovey gestures once already. No, Lance. I won't."
"Eevy, please. I beg of you. I've been through too much to lose you again. Please, Eevy, please don't do this to me. Don't put me through this again."
Was that a sniffle? Her eyebrows raised at the snuffs and whimpers coming from behind her. She slowly turned around, arms still crossed and looked hesitantly towards him. Her arms slowly drooped to her sides.
"Are you-" she cut herself off and choked with another hiccup, "Are you crying?"
He was looking at the floor but looked up, rubbing his eyes, "Yeah," he laughed with the saddest attempt for a smile she'd ever seen, "I'll be damned. I'm actually crying."
She crossed her fists on her chest, "He's crying," she thought, "I actually made him cry. I didn't even know it was physically possible for him to cry," she put her thumbnail in her mouth and trounced forward, wailing suddenly as she threw herself at him, "I am so sorry!"
"Geez," he heaved a bit from the force of her hit, "I already forgave you," it clicked after a minute, "Oh. Don't worry about that. I'm all right," he ran his finger under his eye, "Just a little…soggy."
"I'm still sorry," she buried her face in his shirt.
"I'll survive," he laid his chin on her forehead, "A little water never hurt anybody."
*^~^**^~^*
Jen stood in the hallway, arms crossed and tapping her toe on the marble floor in aggravation. She watched the door with slightly narrowed eyes, growling every now and then. The door creaked open and hissing laughter could be heard coming from the inside. Jaz came stumbling stiffly from the room, nearly paralyzed in embarrassment. He closed the door behind him to muffle the laughter. He stopped in front of Jen, staring at the floor.
"I told them," he murmured, "And that's only the aftershocks."
"Tell 'em to shove it next time," she hissed, but not at him.
A hidden smile covered his frown, "Good idea. Do you forgive me now?" he looked up and scratched the back of his head nervously.
She laughed lightly and smiled, "Yep."
"Great," he grinned as she locked her arms around his right elbow.
She leaned her head on his shoulder and squeezed his arm tighter, "Sure is."
"Pardon my intrusion," they both spun around quickly, "But I need to speak with you and the others."
"Uh…" Jaz was contemplating shoving Jen away, but decided against it, "Sure," he squeaked.
Eevy opened the door, getting hit with a blast of laughter loud enough it nearly created a breeze and she could have sworn she felt her hair swish, "What in heaven's name is so funny?" she looked around vacantly at the cackling Rockets.
"N-N-Nothing!" Mondo fought to stop laughing and sat up straight.
"What is it that you're up to?" Domino asked as she too suppressed the urge to giggle like crazy.
"I need you people to go out and start setting up phase two of my plan," she tossed a pile of papers down on the table, "Jessie and James get this. Butch and Cassidy take this. Mondo and Domino can have this. The two turtle doves do this," she paused at the laughter from everyone excepting Jen and Jaz, "And as soon as I track them down, Bashou and Buson can start part three."
"What, exactly, do we do?" Jessie's head fell blankly to the side.
"You do just what those papers say to do. Once you've finished, stay where you are and I'll be over once I find Bashou and Buson. Do you have any idea where they are?"
"Probably out by the bridge where you sent us before," Cassidy shrugged, "To tell you the truth, we don't keep tabs on those two because we don't care to know where they are."
James whimpered and slouched low, "I'd like to know where they are…just to avoid them…"
"Just get to work and I'll see you all a bit later," she started to walk out, grinning at Jen, who puffed lightly in her face as she left.
*^~^**^~^*
"There you are," Eevy looked up the path, spotting the enormous Buson immediately, "I've been looking all over for you."
"Didn't mean to be hiding, ma'am," Bashou bounded down to her and helped her along.
"First of all," she snatched her arm away, "Stop touching me. Secondly, it's Mistress, not ma'am. And lastly, here," she shoved the papers toward him, "Get to work on that."
Buson and Bashou just shrugged, "Are these paths straight and clear enough for whatever your plan may be?" Buson asked as Bashou handed him one of the papers.
"Excellent," she crossed her arms behind her back and surveyed the paths, "They're perfect."
"You expected less?" Bashou grinned and stood proudly.
"Actually," she turned and crossed her arms in front of her this time, smirking evilly, "Yes."
Bashou and Buson both drooped, "Oh."
"Oh, come now," she walked up to Bashou's right as he stood to Buson's, "It was only a joke. Don't you know how to kid around?" she offered a slight smile, though it was actually genuine, "Finish that up and then stay put. I'll be back later," she stepped carefully down the path, heading back.
Buson started elbowing Bashou as he spotted his blue-haired partner's eyes traveling with the Champion Mistress, "You think she's cute don't you?" he watched his complexion change, "Those ears you got or are they red car doors? Or maybe red lights? They're bright enough! You'll have no problem crossing the street! Should I flag some cars down to test 'em out?"
"Shut up!" Bashou hissed, forcing his sights from what they'd previously been trained on, "It's not funny! Take this and get started!" he slammed a paper at him, walking with his eyes locked on Eevy as she trotted away.
He wasn't paying any attention to where he was walking and crashed headfirst into a tree, "Oh boy! That's rich!" Buson laughed deeply, "What're you gonna blame that one on? The tree? Or the ghost Diglett again like last time?" he started laughing louder, "What're you watchin' anyway? The upper half in front or the lower half in back?"
"That's enough of that," Bashou twitched and turned beat red, "I've noticed you don't exactly keep your eyes to yourself either. You ogle too whether you admit it or not. I might not be able to see your eyes behind those sunglasses of yours, but your eyebrows tell the whole story!"
"That's not funny," Buson looked side to side nervously, turning a hot crimson.
He could just hear Bashou in the background over the rushing of the waterfall as he walked away, "Up and down all the time when you see her! And when you're behind her! Slow down, man! I'm surprised you don't wear 'em out! Maybe you do! Are they fake? Your forehead must ache by the end of the day!"
"Shut up, will ya'?!" Buson fumed and chucked a rock at him.
"Man! I was only fooling with you!" he jumped away from the rock soaring towards him.
"Stop fooling and go back to drooling then," he started loading his pockets full of stones, yet was not prepared for the rock that bounced off the back of his head, "Hey! Stop with the bedrock, Fred!"
"I didn't do anything!" Bashou spat his tongue out at him, "Maybe you're hitting yourself!"
"At least I don't hit on myself like you do!" he laughed evilly as he heard Bashou snap his paper filled arms straight to his sides in utter aggravation.
"What did you just say?!" he hissed with the papers locked in tightly balled fists down at his sides.
"Nothing! But I want to know who hit me!" he stood straight and looked around.
"It was all your imagination," he grinned, "Those sunglasses of yours aren't blocking the light from frying your brain anymore. You imagined it. In fact, you're imagining everything you see right now. Me, the water, the trees, th-"
"Shut up with the wisecracks already, will you please?!" he growled and spun around to glare at him, "If you make one more idiot remark, I'm gonna pop your nu-"
"Ouch!" Bashou suddenly cut him off, "Come on! I was only messing! What'd you do that for?!"
"I didn't do anything!" Buson gnarled then stood straight, his sunglasses slipping down to the tip of his nose as he glanced side to side like a nervous wreck.
Bashou was still able to see Eevy heading back if he looked between the trees just right, but he just stood straight as a rail and swallowed a cement block in his throat, "Maybe our subconscious are reacting to our aggravation and throwing the stones through means of telekinesis."
"Sure. And we've just never noticed it until now, right? With all the fights we have, we'd be fossilized by now," Buson pulled his foot back as a stone rolled along the ground and hit the toe of his boot, "Did you do that?"
"I didn't do anything. I'm not even moving," Bashou stood dead still, "Start working again and see what happens."
"Me? I'm not gonna be the guinea pig!" Buson shook his head repeatedly, "You start!"
"And be the gerbil? I do not think so!" he shivered, "You've got the brawn of this operation. You start!"
"I know I have the brawn. That's obvious, as you're a twig, but you resemble a test subject more than me. Say…A ferret."
"I am not a twig and I am nothing as a ferret! Start working!"
"You start!"
"No! You start!"
"No, you!"
"You!"
"You, you, you!"
"You, you, you, you, you!"
"You a million times over!"
"You to an infinite power!"
"You to an infinite power times pi!"
"You do it!"
"No you!"
*^~^**^~^*
Rachel sat fuming in her chair, arms crossed and eyes narrowed, "This is the second time we've been confined to this ratty old house. At least last time we knew why we couldn't leave. Now she just tells us we can't go out."
"Stop grumbling. You weren't even here for that," Beth grinned and picked up her backpack, "I'm going out. Why don't you come?"
"Sooney told me the last time she listened to you and snuck out you got kidnapped and nearly killed. Thanks, but I'll pass."
"You weren't even here for that either," she grabbed her wrist and pulled her to a stand, "Come on! Nobody will even notice we're gone! There're too many people in this house for anyone to miss lil' ol' you and lil' ol' me! Let's go out into the city!"
"Eevy would have our heads! No way!" she pulled back, "I'm staying right here where I know the reasons for my being!"
"And just what reason is that? To be stiff and stubborn?" Beth crossed her arms and grinned evilly.
Rachel started turning red as she sat back in the chair with her arms crossed again, "All right! That's it!" she sprang into the air and to her feet, "Let's go!" she marched past and started grumbling, "Stiff and stubborn. Hah! Yeah right. I may be a little stubborn, but I am not stiff."
Beth snickered evilly and jumped along behind her, "Be quiet and we can sneak out without anybody seeing."
They snuck along the hall, creeping slowly toward the front door. They stopped behind a Dragonite statue as Eevy and Lance walked by. They jumped around the Dragon- type carving and sprang out the door. Bolting down the front walk, they headed down the main path. After they were far enough away, Beth dug her camera and pad and pen out of her bag and started scribbling and snapping pictures. Rachel turned bright red.
"We had to sneak out like that just so you could take notes and photos?!" she burst in Beth's ear.
"No," Beth shook her head in response, "We can do whatever you want! I just thought we'd…kill two birds with one stone."
"How about I kill one camera girl with one fist?!" she spat and started walking, scuffing her feet along with Beth bolting up beside her.
Rachel's shoe hooked a loop buried in the middle of the path, triggering a net to scoop them up into the trees, "What the hell did you do?!" Beth shrieked and squirmed, "How'd we get in this net in this tree?!"
"I don't know! Stop wriggling!" Rachel barked, "Ouch! You kicked me!"
"You kicked me first!" Beth shrieked nastily.
"I did not!"
"What are you two doing up there?" Cassidy stared up at them blankly.
"Stop asking dopey questions and get us down!" Rachel hissed.
"Hey, Butch! Look at this! Our trap works!" Cassidy turned and called back.
"Your trap?" Beth questioned as Rachel started burning red, "You mean you set this?"
"Sure did," Butch laughed from beside Cassidy.
"You two goof balls had better get me out of this or I'll tell Eevy you're playing games!" Rachel growled and started kicking.
"What do you mean get you out of this?! Ow! Quit kicking me!" Beth shoved her away.
"Why tell her when she already knows?" Cassidy put her hands on her hips and cocked her head.
"What?" Rachel froze solid, her foot jammed up against Beth's face, "She knows?"
"She told us to set these traps. Why do you think we're out here?" Butch snickered.
"Shut up and get us down!" they both gnarled together.
"All right, all right," Cassidy untied the rope, sending them crashing down with a hard thump, "Happy now?"
"No!" Rachel huffed, "The least you could have done is let us down easy!"
"You never said we had to," Butch grinned.
"Shut up!" Beth brushed off and started walking again, "Morons!"
"Watch who you're netting, grass-head!" Rachel stomped away with Butch fuming behind.
"At least now we know why Eevy wanted us to stay inside," Beth shrugged.
"I suppose so. But what abo-Yow!" suddenly the ground was a lot farther below them than it had been, "What in the world?!"
"No need fer 'de ol' motto ta'day!" Meowth offered a nasty smirk from above.
"What are you loons doing leaving a trap in the middle of the road?!" Rachel growled.
"Wait. Let me guess," Beth stopped them from answering, "Eevy told you to."
"Yes. She did," Jessie looked down at them with a snicker, "And our old pitfall plan is finally working!"
"Want some help?" James laughed downward.
"Stop the teasing and help us!" Rachel reached up and snatched Jessie's wrist, "Are there any more of you goons out there?!"
"No. We're it," Jessie helped Beth out.
"The rest are on another route," James started recovering the hole.
"Good," Rachel and Beth both stormed away, hearing evil laughter from behind.
"Little do those two brats know," James grinned, "That other route just happens to begin right where this one ends."
"This is not exactly my idea of a first date," Jen grumbled and pulled her knees to her chin as she sat behind a line of bushes.
"Yeah. Same here," Jaz yawned and frowned, "But we could always make the best of it."
She reddened and leaned away as he got closer from her right. His left arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer as his right hand turned her chin. Their lips had just connected and he'd just started getting closer when high-pitched screaming scared them apart. They stood up to find their net had fallen on someone.
"Either we're getting hoisted up or pinned down!" Rachel hissed, "Get this off us!"
"Come on! Help us out here!" Beth kicked and screamed, "Get it off!"
"Sorry," Jaz pulled the net off them and let them stand, "Mistress said you wouldn't be out at all."
"She said she was going to keep you inside," Jen shrugged, "Did you sneak out of something?"
"Uh…" Beth looked side to side.
"It was her idea!" Rachel suddenly burst.
"Rachel!" Beth flailed.
"Ah, who cares whose fault it was?" Jen shook her head, "Just get out of here before we get in trouble!"
"You'd better w-" Jaz started, then acquiring an evil grin, "Just get going."
"Yeah! We're going!" Rachel puffed, snatching Beth's pack to pull her along, "We'll leave you two alone to get back to your love-fest."
"Shut up!" Jen hissed and shoved them both along.
"Well, they're right," Jaz caused Jen to shriek slightly as he pulled her back.
"How much longer are we going to walk until we just go back?" Beth whimpered and stepped to the side, away from Rachel.
"I don't know!" Rachel hissed and just kept walking, glaring down the road, "Just watch where you step!"
"I'm not the one who set the traps off," she muttered off to the side.
Rachel stopped dead and pulled her back, "What'd you just say?" she growled, shoving her back and stomping down right where she'd been standing.
A water balloon flew down from the trees and exploded on top of Rachel's head. Beth started laughing wildly, as if Rachel hadn't pushed her, Beth would have gotten hit instead. She just kept laughing until another came down and drenched her as well.
"Who's the wise guy?!" Rachel boomed and squeezed her hair to dry it.
"Oops," Domino came flying down from the tree with Mondo right beside her, "Sorry. We didn't know it was you."
"Don't tell us," Beth put up her now sopping wet hand, "Eevy told you to."
"Yeah," Mondo tilted his head, "How'd you know?"
Rachel let out one, long, wailing scream as Beth shook her head and slapped her own forehead, "Just a lucky guess, I suppose."
*^~^**^~^*
"This is very strange," Peter stared out through the trees at Rainbow Mansion, "There's an odd feeling in my bones. An odd scent of nothing in the air. Something's going to happen," his eyes went slightly narrow at the silhouettes milling around in the windows, "They're planning. Preparing for something. What does she know that I don't?"
"The air's stagnant," Eevy leaned on the railing of her balcony, "No breezes. No scents. No sounds. Nothing. I just know something's going to happen. This feeling…is getting stronger. It's filtering through my bones," she shifted a bit and changed her stance, "There's nothing out there. No birds, no crickets, no Pokemon. What's going on?"
"I hope I'm prepared," they both had the same intentions; kill and do not be killed.
The Next Chronicle:
The Champion's Climax
Notes
OK...We've hit chapter 103 of 105...And if you didn't see up top, you should go and check out the Special Edition I also posted tonight called "Secrets Best Left Untold". It explains quite a bit and also raises new questions. Be sure to read the A/N in chapter 105 too. They're important!
*^~^*Pro_V*^~^*
-=O~Her Pokemon~O=-
TAA Pokemon Of The Month: January 2003: The Waterstrider Ametama