A/N: I usually do these at the end of chapters, but this is a different case as I feel it's important to let you know what's in store this chapter. Trigger warnings for the following: language, violence (this is probably the most violent chapter of this story so far), implication of attempted sexual assault, and mild police brutality.
The Mascot and the Delinquent
The chaos surrounding Mike was something straight out of an action movie. Pokémon battles erupted in a frenzy all over the backyard to the point they were almost certainly going to start spilling into the streets sooner rather than later. Mike saw Nat and Xander taking on two opponents each with Nat's Luxray and Xander's Raichu sending powerful jolts of electricity at the enemy Pokémon in their vicinity. He spotted Lilly, Nadine, Kat, and Darren working together to battle a quartet of Golbat hovering in the air, and witnessed Jennifer and Laila using their Pokémon to double team a federation member's Victreebel. He even caught Amelie riding through the yard on her Rapidash like a warrior princess, the unicorn Pokémon's flames making her strawberry blonde hair appear redder than it truly was. Yet, it all paled in comparison to the imposing Nidoking in front of him.
"Poison jab!" Craig commanded.
"Wartortle, aqua tail!" Mike countered.
The two Pokémon charged at each other at the behest of their trainers and engaged in combat. Wartortle got the first hit, smashing Nidoking across the face with a spiral of water. Unlike their battle earlier in the year, Wartortle was focused and able to trade blows evenly with the larger Pokémon, delivering an aqua tail for every poison jab he received. Nidoking was stronger, but Wartortle had the type advantage.
While this battle was much more of a success than their previous one, Mike could see they were effectively in a stalemate. To make matters worse, it was difficult to concentrate and give commands to Wartortle when he had to constantly be on the lookout for interference from other federation members. Fortunately, that meant that Craig was in a similar position. Mike knew that shell smash would drastically increase Wartortle's speed and attack but would lower his defenses and possibly leave him vulnerable to Nidoking's attacks. However, it was the only way that he could potentially shift the battle in his favor.
"Shell smash!" Mike called out.
Wartortle jumped back and with a cry, his shell began emitting bright sparks.
"Thunderbolt!" Craig shouted at Nidoking.
Nidoking roared and sent a jolt of electricity at Wartortle, who easily dodged it with his newfound speed before unleashing a barrage of aqua tail attacks at the purple behemoth. The attacks were much more powerful thanks to shell smash and Nidoking did not have the speed to counter.
"Good work, Wartortle!" Mike encouraged. "Now-"
"Thrash!" Craig yelled in desperation.
"NIIIIIDOO!"
A bright purple aura surrounded Nidoking as he began thrashing about, knocking over the nearby tables and chairs as he tried to damage Wartortle. Wartortle managed to land three more consecutive hits before Nidoking managed to grab him by his fluffy tail. Wartortle screamed in pain as Nidoking repeatedly slammed him against the hard ground before stomping and kicking him. The final kick caused the turtle Pokémon to go sliding towards his trainer.
"Wartortle!" Mike screamed in horror as he ran over to his injured Pokémon.
Miraculously, Wartortle managed to get to his feet by the time Mike reached him. He was badly battered but was not intent on giving up. He glared at Nidoking and let out a low but menacing growl.
"Waaaar…"
Wartortle's shell suddenly began glowing once more but this time, his entire body followed suit. Both Mike and Craig watched in astonishment, eyes wide as the shape of Wartortle's body began growing and expanding. Mike knew that this event was going to happen at some point but was still caught off guard as Blastoise emerged before them.
"B-Blastoise…" Mike whispered to himself.
The newly evolved Blastoise let out a roar loud enough to be heard over the chaos. Immediately, he fired off a powerful silver colored beam at Nidoking that Mike quickly realized was flash cannon. The attack sent the fatigued Nidoking flying back towards his trainer and Craig had to leap out of the way to avoid the impact. Nidoking's tail hit him across his ribs, and he fell to the ground on one knee. Mike was certain that one more attack would finish the battle. Craig got to his feet, holding his ribs, teeth bared at Mike.
"YOU! WILL! NEVER! BEAT! ME! Craig shrieked and suddenly held up his gloved hand.
Before Mike could react, Craig turned the dial on his glove. Blastoise seemed as if he was resisting the energy for the tiniest moment before he flew back towards his poké ball. Nidoking, as well as some Pokémon who were close by were also sent back to their balls, but those further away from Mike were still engaged in battles. Whatever device that the federation used appeared to have a limited range. However, that note mattered little to Mike in that moment. He was irate that his impending victory over Craig had been cut short. After everything that Craig had done to him over the years, he was furious that once again he had been denied the chance to deliver some much-deserved payback onto his enemy. This birthday had been a complete disaster beyond compare, but Mike was going to make sure the night ended with the federation, and most of all, Craig losing.
With their Pokémon recalled to their balls, fights began breaking out among the students and the federation members closest to Mike and Craig. Mike forgot about his earlier injuries in that moment and stormed towards Craig. He was intercepted by a hard-faced federation member that he recognized as Vince Drikosko, a former student at the school. Drikosko threw a punch at Mike only for the agile mascot to duck and fire back with his own punch. Drikosko fell to the ground with a pained grunt. Mike managed to shoulder check the next federation thug that charged at him, but that moment of distraction gave Craig enough time to blindside the younger boy with a punch. Craig's fist hit Mike in the cheek and sent him stumbling to the ground. He sneered as he watched Mike spit out some blood, but before he could gloat, Craig suddenly found himself on the ground next to his adversary courtesy of a punch to the face from Xander of all people.
"You're fighting with that piece of shit Holt!" Xander roared at Craig. "After what he did to Johnny! You're trash, Craig!"
Mike knew that Xander's hesitation about fighting against his former friend was over once he had managed to process what was going on. Holt Wullinger had almost killed Johnny months ago and to see Craig fighting alongside him clearly infuriated Xander. Fortunately for Craig, he was tackled and dragged into another fight before he could continue. Craig wiped the blood away from his nose and attempted to get to his feet but was tripped by Mike. He flipped onto his back only for Mike to deliver a swift kick to the older boy's bruised ribs.
"Damn it!" Craig cursed in pain as he rolled away from Mike's reach.
Mike got to his feet a split second before Craig did and the two of them continued fighting as the war between the students of Saffron Trainer's School and the thugs of the Kanto Pokémon Federation waged on.
Ellie knew that the police had to be on their way. With the chaos caused by the battles literally spilling into the streets, it was only a matter of time before they arrived. However, the reality was that they were not there yet, and no one would be safe until they were. In the meantime, she figured it would be best to find an escape route for her friends in case things took a turn for the worst.
"Psychic!" Ellie told Kadabra as they ran through the yard.
Kadabra's psychic had been enough to handle any Pokémon and federation members who had been in her way so far. Ellie was thankful that they had yet to run into dark types considering how popular they along with poison types tended to be with criminal organizations. She noticed that most of the federation members assaulting the residence did not seem much older than she and her friends; she even recognized that some were even former students who had dropped out. There were a few legitimate psychopaths like Holt Wullinger among them, but for the most part the federation members attacking them could have easily been their friends in a different world.
Ellie spotted the old shed in the far corner of the yard. Relena's family had built a new shed closer to the house but had never gotten around to demolishing the older one. Being best friends with her, she knew the layout of the yard almost as much as Relena herself. The part of the gate behind the shed led to a trail to a wooded area. Ellie had never explored it, but she knew that her options were limited. She wondered if it were better to escape by herself and bring back reinforcements or if she should start helping the less battle experienced trainers escape now.
"Horn Attack!"
Ellie only narrowly avoided being impaled by a gray blur. The Rhyhorn circled around her and returned to its trainer's side. Kadabra stepped in front of Ellie to face their attacker. She recognized the broad-shouldered federation member as Gino. Lyndon had mentioned escaping him earlier in the day and the bandage across Gino's nose confirmed the story.
"Stupid Pokémon," Gino grumbled at Rhyhorn. "You missed." He took a closer look at Ellie and grinned. "Actually, I'm glad Rhyhorn missed you. Ellie, right?"
The way he was looking at her made Ellie want to throw up. She thought being in a secluded area would help her, but her plan had backfired. Defeating Gino's Rhyhorn was entirely doable, but Ellie knew that Kadabra could only take a few hits before going down. She also knew that the second Rhyhorn went down, Gino would likely use the device on his gloves to trap her Pokémon in their balls. Creating a distraction and fleeing was the only option.
"Reflect!" she told Kadabra.
The barrier emerged and separated them from Rhyhorn. However, as soon as it appeared, the barrier vanished and Kadabra was automatically recalled to his poké ball. Ellie immediately recognized her mistake and gasped in horror. She had been going over so many scenarios and plans in her head that she had wasted time. Now, Gino was blocking her from making her way back to the main area of the conflict and there was too much noise from the fighting for her to scream for help. Rhyhorn had thankfully been recalled as well thanks to the glove, but Gino was large enough by himself to be a hinderance.
"Non-attacking moves are pointless if you ask me," Gino mocked. "Why waste time buffing your Pokémon when you can just end the battle?"
Ellie did not reply. A sense of dread overcame her as she bolted behind the shed and started climbing the gate that led to the wooded area. Gino caught up to her and threw her off the gate. Ellie hit the ground with enough force that left her gasping for air.
"Nice try," Gino taunted. "But I'm not letting you get away like I did with that clown, Lyndon." He yanked the younger girl to her feet and pinned Ellie against the shed.
"Let me go!" Ellie shouted as she began kicking wildly.
"Okay, I'll let you go…" Gino whispered in a voice so sinister that Ellie's heart began pounding harder than it ever had before. "You know, Craig's entail didn't tell us how cute you were…"
Ellie let out a scream just in time for Gino to collapse to the ground in pain. Nat had hit him so hard across the face with the old rake that it had broken upon impact. He hit him again for good measure with the remainder of the handle while Kat went to help the now freed Ellie maintain her balance.
"You okay, Ellie?" Kat asked, putting the other girl's arm around her so that she could help her walk.
"Yeah…" Ellie wheezed. "Thank you." She looked at Nat and nodded. "Both of you…"
Drake had lost sight of Loki. The last he remembered, Loki had been buffeted out of the backyard, into the front yard, and then into the street alongside several other trainers from both sides. The rest of his friends had either disappeared from his line of sight or were engaged with their own fights while Drake found himself swarmed by multiple opponents. However, that was not too much of an issue since Drake thrived in battles.
"Keep at it, Gabite!" Drake called to his Pokémon as the dragon made quick work of their enemies.
Gabite's dragon claw was powerful enough to put down most of the Pokémon attacking them in one hit. As the top battler on the team in his year, Drake knew he would be singled out the moment he caught Holt zeroing in on him. It was no secret that he had been Johnny's favorite when he was captain and Drake knew that their side would have had a much bigger advantage had Johnny and Tyler not been absent.
Drake had been fighting as pragmatically as possible, running through the yard with Gabite, punching and kicking as many federation members as he could before they had time to lock Gabite. He spotted Nadine being dragged across the ground by her dark hair and immediately turned course. Drake punched the federation member in the back of the head before grabbing his arm and swinging him into the nearby gate.
"Thanks, babe," Nadine told him as he helped her to her feet. "That asshole locked my Pokémon. I need to find Lilly."
"Alright," Drake replied. "Be careful."
He could tell that she was taking this seriously because her usual motor mouth had slowed down considerably. Nadine darted off in the opposite direction with Gabite briefly holding off the Murkrow that had flew towards her. Both trainer and Pokémon were breathing hard, feeling the fatigue of running and fighting simultaneously. Drake figured that the big battle had only been going on for around seven minutes, yet it felt like hours.
"It's too bad Johnny's not here to save your ass…"
Drake sighed as he and Gabite were surrounded by Holt and two other federation members alongside their Pokémon. He realized that Holt had been waiting to tire him out before attacking him. Drake had gotten caught up in the excitement of the battle and had fallen right into his trap. Cacnea and Magnemite would not be too hard for Gabite to take down with a little effort. However, Holt's Glalie presented a huge problem for Drake. Its ice typing was a threat for Gabite, but that did not matter. He would do whatever it took to hold them off.
"Flamethrower, max power!" Drake told Gabite.
Cacnea and Magnemite where knocked out the moment the flames erupted from Gabite's mouth. Glalie managed to dodge the fire and Drake was concerned that the yard was now on fire. Hopefully someone with a water type would extinguish it before it got too out of hand.
"Ice Fang!" Holt commanded, his beady eyes dancing with sadistic joy at the chaos around them.
"Dodge!" Drake yelled.
Gabite was too exhausted to avoid the attack as Glalie's freezing fangs bit into his neck. Gabite collapsed onto the ground, but Glalie continued savagely attacking. Drake intervened quickly and recalled Gabite to his poké ball.
"Ice Fang!" Holt commanded once more. "Drake likes max power, so max power!"
Drake was momentarily confused as to why Holt ordered Glalie to attack again since Gabite had already been recalled. His eyes widened in horror as the floating ice monster sped towards him, fangs bared. For as bad as the other federation members had been, this was the first time one had ordered their Pokémon to attack a trainer.
Holt laughed as he and Glalie chased Drake around the yard. Drake made it over to the pool and started climbing up the diving board in an effort to escape. It was then that Holt finally turned the dial on his glove, sending Glalie back to his own poké ball but blocking Drake from accessing his remaining Pokémon in the process.
"Not so fast!" Holt hissed as he grabbed Drake's leg and pulled him down, slamming the younger boy onto the ground. Drake fell directly on his arm and grunted in pain.
"Go to hell, psycho!" Drake snapped as he kicked Holt in the shins.
The kick landed, but it seemed to annoy Holt more than anything else. Drake suddenly felt the thug grab him by the back of his shirt and drag him over to the pool. Before he could react, Drake felt himself being shoved face first into the water. Holt was holding the back of his head, preventing him from breathing air as water filled his lungs. After another few seconds he was briefly pulled up to surface, gasping for air.
"Blame Johnny for this!" Holt taunted. "Nothing personal, kid!"
He plunged Drake back into the water, this time much longer than previously. Drake struggled with all his might, but slowly felt himself fading away. The moment he felt the last of his strength giving away, Drake heard a scream and was suddenly yanked back out of the water.
He landed on the ground, coughing up water from his lungs and wiping his bloodshot eyes. When his vision cleared, the last thing he expected was to see was Holt Wullinger being mauled by Jennifer Klein's Delcatty. The cat Pokémon was using play rough and from the way she was biting and scratching Holt, the name of the attack did not give it justice. Drake would find the situation hilarious if he had not almost drowned moments earlier. He could not even lock Delcatty away, she was attacking him so relentlessly.
"Jennifer!" Drake coughed as she helped him up. "I thought you ran."
"I've been using Delcatty's heal bell to help out any Pokémon that hadn't been locked away," she explained. "I'm not a battler, but I'm going to help out however I can…especially after what this nutcase did to Johnny."
Delcatty finished attacking as Laila and Darren arrived. The cat Pokémon made her way back to her trainer while Holt continued howling in pain. Once he had enough stamina, Drake took the opportunity to rush over to the sadistic thug and punch him directly in the jaw. Holt fell to the ground in agony and Drake finished with a stomp to the back.
"That's for Johnny!" he spat before kicking him in the ribs for good measure. "That's for me!"
The tide of the battle had shifted in favor of the students. The federation members were either fleeing or being knocked out. Amelie had spent most of the fight riding around on her Rapidash, Jessie to distract their opponents and help the others when needed. Battling was not her strong suit, but creating a diversion was important.
She knew that if they were there to get Mike and Elyse then they would target her as they would expect Amelie to keep her younger sister by her side. It was difficult to separate her and even more difficult to convince her that it was the best thing to do in the circumstances that they found themselves in. Elyse's head wound that she suffered in her fight with Zeb was also another factor they had to consider. The younger McKinley relented and agreed to help Lyndon aid in helping the partygoers who were not able to fight escape. They were going to bring back help and with any luck, the authorities.
Amelie had become adept at riding Jessie ever since she evolved from Ponyta into Rapidash. She skillfully dodged the beams that were locking the Pokémon in their balls as she circled around the yard. Another benefit was that from her position, Amelie could see what was going on in multiple sections of the enormous backyard. She gasped when she rode by and saw Relena smash a small flowerpot over a federation member's head.
"That's for wrecking my yard!" Relena screamed at her downed opponent. "Get up, bitch!"
Amelie rode on and saw Xander, the physically strongest trainer on their side, throwing around federation thugs effortlessly. One of them almost crashed into Laila and Amelie heard her yelling at her boyfriend to be more careful. Nat, being more lithe and agile than his best friend, was darting around attacking federation members with quick but strong hits. Jennifer was healing the few remaining Pokémon that hadn't been locked away with her Delcatty's heal bell removing status conditions like paralysis and poison.
The fight was moving more and more out of the yard and into the street. Amelie could not spot Mike or Craig and decided to follow the others to see if she could find them. Jessie sped out the broken gate. The moment they made it to the street, Amelie attempted to search for whoever was nearby but her brief pause to scan the area proved to be a mistake.
The beam of light hit Jessie and in a split second, Amelie was suddenly in the air without a Pokémon. She hit the ground, screaming in pain as she landed roughly on her leg. She hobbled to her feet and found herself face to face with the federation woman who had half her head shaved. The young woman removed the metal chain from around her waist and began swinging it around her head.
"Here's how this is going to work, McKinley," the woman started. "I'm going to beat you with this chain until you remember my name and what you did to me. And then I'm going to strangle you until you tell me where your sister is. She owes us a life, may as well be yours."
Amelie attempted to run but the fall had damaged her left leg allowing the woman to easily catch up to her. She grabbed Amelie by the hair and threw her to the ground. The chain hit her in the ribs first and the woman kicked her in the stomach when she attempted to wrestle it from her. Amelie rolled over to avoid being struck in the face, only for the chain to hit her across the shoulder. The woman raised the chain higher so she could deliver a harder hit to Amelie and that was when she saw it. The woman's shirt had ridden up and Amelie spotted a tattoo on her ribs. It was the image of barbed wire shaped into the symbol for infinity. That alongside her sharp features revealed her identity.
"Barlowe…" Amelie said. "The Barlowe Brothers. You're-"
"Their sister," the woman confirmed. "Mona Barlowe."
Amelie remembered the pair of poachers and the barbed infinity symbols that they had tattooed across their arms. Three years ago, they had been secretly rounding up Tauros in the Safari Zone. Recalling the pained Tauros enclosed tightly on their truck, some with serious wounds, angered her even after all this time. When she and Lyndon had come across the truck, the plan had been to let the Tauros out one by one and call the authorities once the brothers went out to poach more Pokémon. Lyndon ended up accidentally releasing them all at the same time and they had to divert their attention to stopping the resulting stampede from destroying Fuchsia City. The authorities apprehended the brothers and Amelie had received praise by the locals for stopping the poachers.
"Your brothers were poachers," Amelie grunted in pain as she rose to her feet. "They-"
"They got twenty years because of you and your stupid friend!" Mona cut her off. "And you have no room to talk about siblings when your sister is a murderer. Maybe I should just kill her instead of you? Slit her fucking throat like she did Zeb? The boss will reward me, and I'll get my payback for what you did to my brothers. Oh, and then I'll take out that moron, Lyndon Tower for good measure."
Amelie knew that Mona was trying to bait her into attacking, but it was working. She had been in dangerous situations before, but never without access to any of her Pokémon. The only way out of this situation would be stalling. Amelie glared daggers at Mona.
"That won't happen," Amelie said defiantly. "Before this is all over, you'll be in a cell right next to your brothers!"
Mona's face twisted in rage and she swung the chain at Amelie once again. Amelie threw herself backwards and narrowly avoided another hit, falling on the ground. Mona raised the chain again but stopped when the sound of sirens blaring in the distance caught the attention of both young women.
"Next time you die, McKinley!" Mona warned. "Remember, your sister still owes us a friend's life!"
Mona fled the scene, but Amelie could and would not give chase. She loved helping people and Pokémon, she always had. However, the danger she faced only ever impacted her. Now, for the first time in her life, the exact thing she loved so much had put everyone in danger.
Everything had been a blur for Mike. He did not know how much time had passed since the federation had invaded his party or if any time had really passed at all. He found himself exactly where he was before everything had started, in the pool house. This time though, Craig had chased him in there, but Mike stood tall as the older boy slowly approached him. The blood dripping from his nose and his swollen eye made him look even more threatening than he already was.
"You know what, Mascot Boy," Craig sneered. "I've had a bad day. I'm glad I can finally let off some steam."
He slammed his fist into Mike's stomach and the younger boy collapsed onto the floor of the pool house. It was not the physical pain that made Mike despise Craig. The punches and kicks did little to increase the hate that Mike already held for him. It was the fact that Craig chose him to be his punching bag that infuriated him.
"Why…?" Mike suddenly asked, gasping as he made his way back to his feet. "Why do you hate me?"
Craig paused and it seemed like he was taken aback by Mike's question. It was clear that he did not have an answer.
"You brought this on yourself!" Craig shouted.
That was an excuse not an answer. It did not matter to Mike though. The days of Craig having any sort of power over him were done, he would make sure of that. He was the mascot, there was no point in being ashamed of it. Craig could call him 'Mascot Boy' all day and it would not change the fact that he was indeed the mascot of Saffron Trainer's School. It was time to embrace it. Craig had nothing and no one.
"How does it feel, Craig?" Mike said with a level of spite he had never reached before. "How does it feel knowing everyone hates you now? Now, they all see you as the worthless piece of trash that I saw from day one."
Craig growled and charged at Mike. Mike ran towards the table in the center of the pool house and hopped on top of it. Backflipping off the table, he landed feet first behind Craig, and shoved the other boy over the table. Craig stumbled and Mike landed another kick towards his bruised ribs. Craig rolled off the table in pain. Mike ran towards him and received a kick in the groin for his troubles. He slumped over in agony as Craig got to his feet. Craig yanked Mike to his feet and punched him in the face before repeatedly slugging him in the stomach. Mike attempted to roll out of the way, but only managed to flip over as Craig pinned him to the wall and started delivering powerful punch after punch into the younger boy's back. Mike elbowed Craig directly in the nose, loosening his grip and causing him to stumble back. He charged at Mike again, only for Mike to cartwheel out of his way causing Craig to crash into the wall. Craig was stronger, but Mike was much more agile and knew that he was running on pure adrenaline at this point.
"FIGHT BACK COWARD! BE A MAN! SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT, SNOWE!"
Craig had lost it and was swinging wildly. His punches were sloppy, and Mike easily dodged before returning his own punches and kicks. The fact that Mike Snowe, the boy Craig had tormented for so many years, was gaining the upper hand on him was unbelievable and unacceptable. He tackled him, sending both to the ground, but Mike rolled out of the way before Craig could deliver anymore punches.
Once they were back to their feet, Craig ran at Mike once more. Thinking quickly, Mike removed a poké ball from his belt and beamed it at Craig's face, hitting him square in the nose. Craig clutched his face in pain and the younger boy capitalized off the distraction. Using all his strength and speed, Mike dashed at Craig, tackling him through the glass window. The two landed on the ground outside, shards of broken glass lodged in their hair and scattered around them. They were both covered in blood and Mike felt a surge of energy once he got to his feet.
He suddenly remembered everything. He remembered every single time he had been thrown in the dumpster by Craig, every single time an object of his had been destroyed by Craig, every single time he had mocked and belittled him. In that moment, Craig Kelton became the personification of everything that had ruined his birthday, everything that had ever gone wrong in his life. In a frenzy, Mike began kicking and stomping Craig, screaming in rage as he did so. Craig was now his punching bag. For his part, Craig almost seemed like he was enjoying the pain, laughing madly as Mike attacked him.
"MIKE, STOP!"
The fifteen-year-old boy froze and looked in the direction where his father's voice had come from. The police had swarmed the yard, cuffing all the federation members who had been knocked out and unable to escape. Mike stumbled over to his father and collapsed into his arms, tears streaming down his face.
"Dad…" he choked. "Dad, I…"
"It's okay, son…" Rick Snowe said, holding him tightly. "I know everything, we're going to get through this."
Officer Lomax walked up to Craig and grabbed him by his hair, forcing the bloodied teen to look him directly in the eye.
"Craig Kelton!" he announced as two other officers approached. "Boys, cuff this piece of shit…"
"FUCK YOU!" Craig screamed as the officers grabbed him. He struggled against them, his strength momentarily revitalized. Lomax slugged him in the belly with his nightstick as the other officers pinned him down and handcuffed the teen.
"You're under arrest, Kelton!" Lomax shouted. "For assault and battery, home invasion, destruction of public and private property, attempted kidnapping, and a host of other charges! I hope the judge locks you up for good this time."
Craig had devolved into shouting empty threats at the officers and failing to hold back tears as the other students entered the yard. Mike, who had been fighting Craig just moments earlier, found himself disturbed by seeing him breakdown from his loss and the brutal treatment he was receiving at the hands of the officer. For as much as he hated the older boy, in that moment, the only thing Mike saw was another kid in pain. He had finally defeated Craig; it was what he had dreamed of for so many years. Yet, it was not the joyous occasion he had envisioned for so long. As he felt his own consciousness fading, Mike thought that victory had never been so bitter.
A/N: I think this is an occassion where leaving off with humor would be distasteful, so I'll let the chapter do the talking for me. Feel free to message me in PM's or on the forum if you feel like the content in this chapter needs an important discussion. I will say that I am happy that I was able to get this chapter out much quicker.
The P.O.V.'s were: Mike Snowe (twice), Ellie Morris, Drake Hicks, and Amelie McKinley.
Until next time!