A/N
Super WARNING again; there's blood and violence in this beyond Pokemon fighting.
Disclaimer: Pokemon does not belong to me or my friend and we take no credit for any of them. The only things that belong to us are the human characters, the personalities of the Pokemon that are central to the story, and the story lines.
Chapter 8: Adria vs. Alex
When Adria had split off with Matt, she continued down the hall quietly and quickly, flashing the light in every room. Typically, in the TV shows and movies the bad guys were always in the deepest part of their hideout, so she guessed that was where Tary would be if she was here. But in each room she looked around for possible threats and also looking for Cerberus. The good news was that she didn't see anything or anyone. The bad news was Cerberus wasn't found either. She hoped he was okay.
Now that they were separated, Ender didn't stray too far from Adria's side. He peeked through walls and around in some of the rooms, but was invariably back at her side as quickly as he had left. It was clear that he had become extra defensive now that Adria was alone, becoming suspicious of every shadow and looking out for danger around every corner. It was starting to worry him that they hadn't come across Cerberus or Tary at this point. Alex was somewhere in this building, along with some other, mysterious figure, and Ender knew how Alex generally worked. She liked to make things difficult for people, so it stood to reason that she would be as far from the exit as possible. This tactic had apparently worked because Matt and Adria had been separated as they were exploring in the base.
Adria knew exactly who this other person was and deeply regretted not warning Matt. The deeper into this abandoned base the traveled, the more she realized that James had likely gone after Matt when they got separated, or he'd have shown up by now. In fact, that trap was probably set up by him. Since Ender said that figure was a substitute, it had to be! She knew the Umbreon knew Substitute as a move.
Checking every room was getting tiresome and almost predictable until near the end of the base, or where there was pile of rubble blocking off the rest of the base. There was a door to the left that was half-buried and still somewhat accessible, but there was no way a grown-up could fit while carrying a child. If Adria got down on her hands and knees she could have squeezed through, but that was probably about it.
The door on the right was mostly unblocked. Dust had been disturbed around the area, indicating that someone had likely gone through the door by moving around some of the rubble. It was in this room that they would probably find who they were looking for. Cerberus was nowhere to be found in here, only a woman and a little girl, accompanied by a few Pokémon.
The Espeon that Alex always had with her was lying draped around the woman's shoulders, contentedly napping. The Tentacruel from the attack earlier that day was not present, but there was a ghostly presence somewhere in the room and a Ninetales was contently preening in a corner close to the door and out of sight of anyone outside the room.
Ender halted Adria in the hallway, motioning to the room on their right but not speaking. Alex was in there, not even making an attempt to hide. In fact, the woman was attempting to bait them both: in full view of the doorway there was a tiny figure huddled in one of the corners, trembling feebly after whatever Alex had done to her.
Glancing to where Ender was motioning, she peered in and saw the huddled little figure. At first she wanted to run in and see if that was Tary and if she was alright, but common sense told her that this was a trap. It was always a trap if it looked too easy. Someone was in there trying to get them inside without a moment's thought. Perhaps it would have worked on Matt right away since Tary was his sister, but since Adria didn't know who Tary was she didn't immediately run in without a single thought. But how else could she go in to help? How else could she go in and help the little girl? "Ender," Adria whispered airily, "is that her? Can you peek in and see what we're up against?" she asked.
This absolutely would have worked on Matt. It didn't matter so much for Ender, because it was often difficult to pin a Ghost Pokémon down, but Matt would have run straight in to get his little sister. Perhaps that was what Alex was mostly relying on; that it was Matt that made it here. It didn't really matter in the long run, though, because Alex was content and happy to torment anyone that came her way.
Ender disappeared without a word, off to investigate the room as stealthily as he could. Alex was probably already aware of their presence because of Adria's flashlight, but she didn't care to really show herself until one or both actually entered the room. When Ender returned a minute later, his report was grim. "That's her, alright," he answered in an equally hushed tone of voice, "but I can't get close. There's another ghost over there, tormenting her." The Haunter was absolutely bristling with anger at the thought of what the other ghost was doing. "But there's also a Ninetales close to the door and Alex is hanging out in one of the corners with Psy."
"Psy is the Espeon, right?" she asked, frowning. There wasn't much to do. Cerberus wasn't there. She had Rylos, but she wasn't sure if he could really help because he didn't know a water type move. Darteng was with her, but he would have been owned in seconds thanks to that Espeon. Darteng had a double weakness to it. As for the ghostly presence... "See if you can't deal with that ghost. I don't know what we could do; I can't think of a plan to get her." Alex was already in there and there was no point in trying to avoid her when there was no other way to get Tary. She wasn't at all ready to go in, but it was probably better than trying to pull some plan that wouldn't work out of her ass.
Ender nodded in response to her first question; Psy was the Espeon and she was very familiar to Ender. "I don't know how well I'll fare against the ghost with Psy in there, but I can give it a shot." Most likely, Ender would be double-teamed the moment he attempted to get close, but he wasn't going to sit around and let that ghost keep tormenting Matt's little sister. "I guess we could go in guns blazing, but whatever you do," Ender placed his hands on Adria's shoulders to stress the gravity of warning, "don't let Alex get close to you. Don't let her get within arm's reach. She's always got a knife on her and she knows how to use it."
Adria's look was very grim in response. "And all I've got is a flashlight..." she frowned. But perhaps Ender was right. Going in with all they had may have been a good option. Darteng would get owned by Psy, but it gave Ender the chance to not be double-teamed. Rylos was part water and dragon, so most attacks didn't bother him. And Firo could probably reflect any moves thrown at someone with Mirror Move. Honey, on the other hand, was too young and would not be released from her Pokéball. As much as Adria knew how dangerous this was, she couldn't have left Honey at home. She was just too young to be on her own.
Pulling out her Pokéballs, she released the three Pokémon she could spare. All together, they would rush in, and Adria would keep herself near the door. "On the count of three," Adria counted softly, fearing what would happen next in the room. Then, finally, she and her Pokémon charged into the room.
Ender frowned at her lack of direct response to his warning, but figured that she understood the gravity of the situation and what would happen if she got too close to Alex. Now, they needed to get moving; they would strike hard and fast to take out as many Pokémon of Alex's that they could. The less Pokémon they had to worry about, the better.
Ender charged in along with the rest, disappearing abruptly the moment they were through the door. He was off to confront the ghost Pokémon that was guarding Tary. Before any attacks could be launched, however, Psy used Flash; she had specifically been taught this move for this confrontation. The room lit up without warning, all except the corner where Tary was huddled. The ghostly presence there kept the area in shadows, peeking out with red eyes at the intruders.
"So, you've finally decided to join us. I must say, I'm a little surprised to see you instead of my boy." Alex spoke from her position leaning casually against the wall. Her hood was still up and Psy was still draped lazily about her shoulders. "Though, I'm always happy to play with new people."
Adria and her entire team flinched away from the blinding flash, turning away from the source to shield their eyes. She had overlooked the possibility that the Pokémon would know and use Flash. It was a great move to use to catch the enemy off guard, though but was a really bad move to be on the wrong side of. Adria didn't know what to say, really. 'Stop, you fiend'? 'I am here to save Tary!'? 'Matt couldn't make it. He kind of fell into some trap thanks to James, which I'm almost positive was meant for me, but instead he's there and I'm here'?
Even if Adria didn't treat this as a joke, several replies came to mind, but these comments were very likely just a waste of breath. She remained silent, rubbing her eyes and trying to gain her sight back again after it was violated by the blinding light. "Rylos, smoke screen!" Within moments, the Kingdra had released a cloud of smoke that filled the room. As the room filled with the black smoke, it came to Adria's attention that this was how they could have made their entrance, under the cover of a heavy smoke screen. It was too late now. Ender had told her to stay away from Alex so she kept her back to the ball, the door to her immediate right should she need it.
The sounds of battle began. Off in the corner, something was making an ugly shrieking sound as Ender attempted to get close. Psy had leaped into the fray, eager to find a target. The Ninetales also seemed eager to get into a fight. The smokescreen was an obstacle to them all, but it wouldn't last forever and everyone would be fighting mostly blind in the meantime.
Alex was also making her move, slipping into the smokescreen to see what she could do. Tary was being guarded by a Pokémon, so there was no need to worry about her right now. Instead, Alex was curious to find out more about this girl. It was James's girl that had made it all the way into the bowels of the base, not her boy, but she was going to make the best of this. "Just who are you, anyway? James mentioned you, but I don't actually know how you're connected to my boy," her voice drifted over the sounds of battle.
Darteng tried his best to steer clear of the Espeon and look for that Ninetales, instead. Rylos remained where he was for the most part. His ability to sort of float above the ground by only inches allowed him to move, but he didn't seem particularly fond of the idea of moving away from his young girl. Firo clacked around in the black smoke in search of that Espeon. The fog didn't affect him thanks to his Keen Eye, so he was able to see perfectly fine in the smokescreen.
Adria bit her lip, inching a bit closer to the door. "Matt and I met by pure chance; there's nothing beyond that." Adria answered immediately. She was a bit unnerved by the woman. Ender had said she was a dangerous person and had a knife on her and Adria didn't want to chance him being wrong about it for this particular occasion. "We'll probably part ways once this mess is over," she added a bit louder, trying to make her point of not really having a connection with him a bit clearer. Besides, Adria didn't plan on going back out any time soon after this. James was back and was aware she was around again. Plus, Honey was too young for an adventure. If not for the danger of Alex, Adria wouldn't have tagged along with Matt in the first place.
Matt had expressed his displeasure of her joining him on this dangerous mission; he hadn't wanted Adria to get mixed up with Alex, but the annoyingly stubborn girl had insisted on tagging along. This whole little quest had turned into quite the mess, and it wouldn't be surprising if Adria found herself regretting coming along now that she was facing Alex practically on her own.
A girlish giggle escaped from the thick smoke, coming from no particular direction relevant to Adria. "You are a very interesting person, you know. Claiming to not be affiliated with my boy and yet tagging along after him and straight into danger? You knew this would be dangerous and you followed him anyway. Somehow, I don't believe you when you say you'll part ways after this."
The fighting in the room continued. Psy was darting about the floor to avoid getting into a head-to-head battle with anyone. She preferred to strike from behind at any Pokémon she happened to be near. The Ninetales was slinking through the smoke, breathing fire every which way. Her fellow Pokémon knew to stay away from her and her attacks, so they were well out of the way of any fire. Ender was in a violent battle in the corner, trying to get the other ghost away from the little girl; it was not working out very well.
Because of the severity of the danger in this quest, Adria couldn't not help Matt find his sister. It wasn't something she wanted Matt to face alone. She'd thought that it was only Alex they were dealing with, and the idea of heading into the danger to face off with Matt against Alex seemed like a better option than sitting at home and wondering if he'd be alright, at least to Adria. That was until Dyavol had suddenly shown up and revealed James's part in these events. Even after finding this out, Adria pressed on, though not because she was brave enough to possibly face James. It was because she didn't want to back out suddenly.
"And what makes you so sure?" Adria hissed, searching through the black smoke for any approaching shadows, creeping away from her current spot and edging along the wall again. "About not believing we'll part ways?" Even if she had accepted the invitation to travel with him in the future, that would be in the future, and in the future they would probably forget about each other. Adria had Honey to care for, though that certainly wasn't the only thing.
Firo used his Mirror Move against any and all attacks that came his way, though was especially looking out for Psy. With his Keen Eye, he could locate her and chase after her in the smoke, squawking out and attempting to chase after her with Pursuit; a move that could attack even the fleeing foes before they were fully gone. Darteng was almost blind in the patch of smoke, though he was still looking for a fight with the Ninetales, attempting to find her and strike her using his Poison Jab to poison her and weaken her a bit.
The mess of a battle was completely out of control in the center of the room and there was probably going to be some serious collateral damage to the already partially destroyed room they were in. The Ninetales was refusing to back down; unluckily for Firo using his Mirror Move, the Ninetales had the ability Flash Fire and the reflected attacks were doing nothing but making the Fire Pokémon even stronger. Psy was staying as far away from the Fearow in the room, though had been scored by Pursuit once or twice already, and was making an attempt to sneak up behind Darteng to take him out of the fight.
Alex took her sweet time to answer, apparently listening to the battle to size up how it was going. "Oh, I don't know. You two seem to be getting pretty friendly, as far as I've seen, and you've followed him straight into certain danger. It's cute, really. Too bad you left him all on his own in James's trap. As far as I'm aware, though, he'll still be alive after that encounter. Maybe." She was rambling now, content to talk aloud to herself and uncaring if Adria was actually listening or not. "I think you two might just stick together after this. Or, at the very least, I'll make sure of it. You're just too fun to mess around with, and we haven't even really gotten started yet!"
Darteng and Firo seem to be making some sort of noise to inform one another about the targets. Firo could see through the smoke, which was fading and filtering out into the hall more and more with each passing moment, but otherwise had a bit of an upper hand. He wanted to try to take out the Espeon quickly, chirping out to Darteng where the purple cat was prowling around while the frog croaked out about how he needed to not use Mirror Move against the Ninetales since it was only enhancing her power.
Adria narrowed her eyes, creeping along in the black smoke again and away from where she was standing. She was still wary of Alex since Ender gave her that warning. "Being friendly doesn't mean we'll travel together. Being friendly means being friendly." Although she didn't know how this woman would make sure the two would stick together in the future, she didn't want to find out. "You're a mad woman, and I don't believe you'll be able to keep the two of us together in the future. We'll part ways once this mess is dealt with and we take Tary from you." She sounded quite confident. Now that Nathan and Benn were aware of Alex, they would search for her and try to apprehend her.
Another giggle drifted through the dimly lit room. The smoke made it almost impossible to see anything, but the light was still present and it was becoming more and more obvious where Alex was. The hooded woman had chosen to occupy the doorway, blocking Adria into the room with all the Pokemon. "I'm not mad," she responded, leaning casually against the doorway, "I'm just pleasantly surprised that you're here instead of Matt." The woman grinned as she purposefully antagonized Adria with her words. "And good luck with whatever your plans are. I don't think they're going to work." Alex was being very passive in the battle so far. Ender had mentioned that she had a knife and knew how to use it, but she had made no move to attack Adria directly just yet. Part of the reason for that was the fact that Rylos was hanging around the girl, but she mostly wanted to see how this would play out first.
Meanwhile, the Pokémon battle seemed to be going swimmingly. The Ninetales was powered up with her own fire that had been mirrored by Firo and was using that to practically light the entire room up. Ender protected himself and Tary from the intense blaze, at the cost of being attacked from behind by the Gengar that had revealed itself. Tary was still mostly cloaked in shadows, so it was difficult to tell just how she was faring. Whatever the case, it seemed that she wasn't willing or wasn't capable of helping during the fight, as she hadn't moved from her spot in the corner. As the smoke cleared, her trainer bag could be seen sitting in another corner and well out of both Tary's and Adria's reach; not like her Pokémon would have been much use in such a high caliber fight. Both Adria and Alex were stronger than her.
Rylos didn't know a single water-type move to help fight off the blazing Pokémon, but allowed his trainer to stick close to his side and away from the deranged woman. As the smoke cleared up, he sent out several yawn bubbles above, close to the ceiling and towards the Ninetales and Espeon, both Pokémon having about two of the bubbles for them, and allowed Adria to huddle behind his cool body and protect her from the intense flames of the fire Pokémon, as she was able to feel the flames from where she was.
Firo was unable to escape the attack and was taken down almost instantly. He was the second weakest on Adria's team and was quick to faint. Darteng was the third weakest, just short of the half way point into Pokémon growth. He caked himself in mud using Mud Bomb, belching the substance onto himself for some extra protection from the Ninetales's fire attack. His Dry Skin wasn't good for the fire, and began to summon clouds in the room for a Rain Dance to weaken the fire power and replenish his health before crouching somewhere to try and avoid the flames as best he could.
The Ninetales needed to be taken out quickly; she was dealing some seriously devastating attacks to Adria's Pokémon. Luckily for Adria, one of Rylos's Yawn attacks reached the Fire type and she staggered dizzily before slumping to the floor and curling up for a nap. Alex laughed at the sight of her Pokémon being put to sleep. "Well, wasn't that rather adorable." She had thought it was rather cute when her Ninetales curled up in the middle of the floor as if it hadn't just devastated the room. With the Ninetales temporarily out of the fight, everyone in the room was safe from her fire attacks until she woke up.
Now that the smoke was clearing out of the room and the light was once again visible, the status of the fights became a little clearer. Ender was losing against a ghost type stronger than himself, despite knowing several super effective moves. The Gengar knew just as devastating moves, and used Hypnosis to put the talking Haunter to sleep. That was three Pokémon out of the fight so far: Ninetales, Firo, and Ender. Psy was bouncing about; lithe and amazing at dodging the annoying Yawn bubbles as well as any other attacks that ended up sent her way. She sprinted for Darteng now that the Pokémon had practically cornered itself.
Covered in mud and slowly replenishing his health as the cloud formation grew dark and spilled out rain, he could see that Psy was coming his way. He knew it would be over, but he wanted to take out that Ninetales with one Mud Bomb if he could now that she was asleep and take the powerful fox out of the battle for the time being. Using the last effort move, he belched out more mud at the Ninetales before Psy could reach him.
Although Adria had to admit to herself that it was rather adorable to suddenly see a fierce Pokémon curl up and fall asleep in the middle of the battle ground, she didn't answer Alex. With the smoke filtered out of the room and disappearing into the hall and any tiny crack in the walls of this abandoned base, both Alex and Adria were able to see one another, which didn't make Adria all that happy. She was still huddled behind Rylos, using him as the only wall between her and whatever harm was coming. Rylos didn't seem to care he was being used as a wall. He wasn't pleased with the result of the battle, seeing Ender and Firo out of the fight so far. Firo was much weaker than anyone with an exception of Honey, but was the weakest among the Pokémon here, most likely. Rylos was the last line of defense for Adria. He was her strongest Pokémon.
The Mud Bomb scored a hit against the sleeping Ninetales, taking her out of the fight for good. With Darteng attacking the fire opponent, however, Psy had a free shot while he was distracted and used that chance to try taking him out with a powerful Psychic attack. That would take one more Pokémon out of the game.
In the corner, Ender was suffering. This Gengar knew the move Nightmare and it was a painful experience for anyone caught in such an attack. It was taking chunks of his health away from him while he was already relatively injured from the Gengar's previous attacks.
And, with only the Gengar, Psy, and Rylos still in the fight, Adria was outnumbered. Psy was careful to watch the Dragon Pokémon that refused to leave his trainer's side; she needed to figure out how she was going to take this Pokémon out so Alex could get to Adria.
After that Psychic attack, Darteng was out of the battle. It continued to rain in that small section of the room, despite Darteng being taken out of the battle. Adria found she was biting her lip again as Darteng fainted. Now it was Rylos against the Espeon; that Gengar was still there, too. Perhaps Rylos could attack the Gengar with Dragon Pulse.
With nowhere to run, Adria was rather trapped. It was a bad idea coming along in the middle of this danger, she admitted, but she'd assumed that she and Matt wouldn't have been separated and they would have been able to deal with Alex more efficiently. She found herself questioning what she'd gotten herself into. It was for Matt's younger sister she tagged along to help, but it didn't seem she was helping very much. She was on her last legs with Rylos while the mad woman had two Pokémon left, both seeming to be faring quite well. "Dragon Pulse on the Gengar," Adria instructed quietly.
The Kingdra drew in a breath to ready his Dragon Pulse and built up the power for it in his mouth and released a blue beam packed with power toward the Espeon rather than the Gengar. Rylos didn't like to listen all the time.
It was probably a good thing that Rylos hadn't listened. The Gengar was still guarding Tary in the corner while using Nightmare on Ender and an attack in that direction could have very well harmed the little girl if the Gengar moved out of the way. With how much the Gengar had used nightmare on his opponent, Ender was probably out of the battle for good, now. That left the Gengar free to do what he liked, though he still seemed rather keen on sticking to the corner and tormenting the little girl in the shadows.
Alex, meanwhile, was planning to make her move soon. As soon as she could get Rylos distracted or out of the way she would be able to close in on Adria and have some real fun. She was just itching to get close and use her knife; it had been a while since she had a little hands-on fun; aside from Tary today, of course.
Psy did what she could to avoid the attack, but was still knocked back by the force of it. She wasn't out of the fight yet, though; her Psychic was neither weak nor strong against Rylos, but that was fine with her. It was a powerful attack and she darted forward to try and attack him with it. Rylos may have been the strongest on Adria's team, but he wouldn't be able to last forever against the Espeon and the Gengar, both of which were strong in their own right.
Rylos turned his full attention to the battle against Psy and whipped up a fierce wind, pulling dust and debris from the corners of the room and sending it Psy's way in a Twister against her. His only two damage-dealing attacks were Dragon Pulse and Twister, both of which were neither super effective nor not very effective against the psychic Pokémon. In this battle, it was merely a match of special power and special defense.
The Twister didn't reach far enough to get to the Espeon before the Psychic took effect against Rylos. The stones and dirt dropped to the ground with heavy clatter as he took the attack as best he could. But Kingdra were all-around durable and powerful. His attacks and defenses were at about the same power level, though against an Espeon with a powerful Psychic, it would only take a few hits to knock out a Kingdra with full health.
Since the Twister hadn't reached her where she was standing, Psy chose to stay that distance away. It was her best bet of taking out the Dragon Pokémon before he could really hurt her. From her position several feet away, she continued her onslaught of Psychic, trying to take him out quickly before he recovered and attacked her again. She wanted this fight to be over with. It had been hard enough to deal with the other two Pokémon in the Smokescreen and she just wanted to go back to napping, now.
Alex was watching with baited breath, waiting for the moment that she could finally strike at her target. She was nothing if not patient, however, and so stood her ground in the doorway as she waited for the battle to conclude.
Rylos made another attempt to hit the Espeon with a Dragon pulse, though the attempt wasn't quite as strong as before. After a minute or so longer, Rylos gave into the power and was out of the battle for good. Adria was left without a single Pokémon to help her and keep Alex and her Pokémon at bay. She was completely defenseless now and completely at the mercy of Alex. Without the Pokémon she had no help, there was no way she would make it out of this alright in any way.
Adria fumbled her hands into her bag, but found nothing to help her in any way. All she had was a flashlight, Honey in her Pokéball, the deck of playing cards, and a few other things that would be of absolute no help to her. She panicked, looking back toward Alex.
Alex had moved away from the door frame now, practically waltzing toward her prey. "I bet you're regretting tagging along right about now," she commented, reaching a hand into the left pocket of her jacket and pulling out a switchblade. From the way it shone in the dim light of Flash, it was obviously that it was a well taken care of weapon and Alex treasured it. She advanced on the younger girl, her intentions clear. "Psy, watch the door."
The Espeon leaped to her task, despite wanting nothing more than to curl up and take a nap. Alex wanted to be sure that Adria was not going anywhere and that no one would interrupt. Should James join them, then Psy would let her know. There was no telling just when James was going to be done with Matt.
She did regret tagging along, but only because she was alone. She wouldn't have been alone here to face Alex if James had stayed out of this. But he had wrapped himself up in this mess and was one of the reasons they had gotten separated. She hadn't thought that they would be separated, which was why she did tag along. There were so many factors Adria hadn't counted on that had led to this trouble. She couldn't ever say she regretted it from the beginning because in the beginning there was nothing to regret.
Looking at her options, there was nothing she could do at this point, and she didn't seem fond of the idea of having a blade run across her skin. She stepped backwards and away from the woman, keeping an eye on her as she did, fear shining clearly in her eyes.
Alex giggled again, able to read the fear printed clear across Adria's face, advancing further without hesitation. "So afraid of little old me? You seemed pretty brave this morning when you were facing off against my good friend Relo." That must have been the Tentacruel she had out; it was the only one that Adria had personally faced. Adria had seemed pretty brave this morning, though, leaping into the water and taking on the Tentacruel with her Pokémon by her side. She wasn't so brave now that she didn't have any Pokémon with her.
Alex continued to draw closer and closer, blade at the ready yet sitting loosely in her fingers. There was no escape for Adria. She could run as much as she liked in this little room, but she would eventually be cornered.
Adria stepped further and further away from Alex as she advanced. "Th-that was different! It was Pokémon against Pokémon!" Adria stuttered out. It was different, wasn't it? That time they had used Pokémon to attack humans, and there was only one target to attack. They only had to save Matt from the Tentacruel and Adria had several Pokémon pitted against it. In the end it was a success since the only goal was to get Matt from its clutches. After that, Alex had called Relo back.
This time it was much different. Adria had several battles going on at a time, and Alex neither recalled her Pokémon nor seemed to let her Pokémon go easy and attack a single person. That was different, she kept saying, kept convincing herself.
"But still, jumping into the water where there was an angry Pokémon; that was a pretty gutsy move. You're a pretty gutsy girl. It's a lot different when it's just you and me, isn't it?" Alex continued, moving slightly quicker and changing the direction she was coming at Adria from to try backing her into a corner. She was getting excited and she wanted to get a few good shots in at her. "Now be a good girl and hold still so I can have a little fun before I run off." It would be best if she left as soon as she could; she was aware that Adria had messaged someone about their location. It would be best if she and James left before whoever she had messaged showed up.
Adria changed her direction as Alex did, not aware she was being backed into a corner. The parameters of the room had slipped her mind as the need and will to survive and escape began to take over. "Like I said... that was different!" Adria repeated uselessly. "I had Pokémon who were equally angry with me in the fight in the water against the angry Pokémon, not a team to pit and lose horribly against another team and a mad-woman with a-a switch blade!" Adria protested, backing up further until her back hit a wall. Shit! she inwardly cursed, throwing glances to either side of her, then attempted to dive to one of the sides to get away from Alex.
"No you don't!" Alex lunged forward as Adria attempted to dart away and latched onto her arm. That would keep Adria from getting too far away from her again. Now that Adria was in her clutches, Alex could have a little fun. "Would it help at all if I told you that I don't plan on killing you? I just want to have a little fun first. After I have my fun, I'll let you go and you can take the girl and be on your merry way," as she spoke, she gestured to Tary with her blade. "If you're still fit to walk, that is."
Adria panicked and yanked her arm back to get it loose, gripping Matt's flashlight tightly in her other hand and swinging it at Alex to get her to let go. This idea of 'fun' wasn't appealing, even if Alex had no intention of actually killing her. Even knowing this, Adria wouldn't stop fighting the mad woman. "No!" She squealed in protest, trying to detach herself from the woman's grasp. She was scared of the knife and the unbearable sting that came with cuts and gashes, scared of sharp things which could slice open almost anything. She was scared of knives because of how easily they could cut with just a graze onto a surface. She was scared of the 'fun' this woman would have in mind.
Alex hung on gamely, refusing to let go of her prey even when Adria was swinging the flashlight at her. It struck her upside the head and knocked her hood loose, exposing what was underneath. Honestly, the woman looked very average. Her hair was brown and cut short, styled into a pixie cut. Her eyes were also brown, though there was something about them that was very strange without actually looking any different than a normal pair of eyes. The resemblance to Matt was evident in her face, and the same could be said about Tary, although Adria hadn't actually laid eyes on the little girl's face just yet. The grin was even more prominent now that he hood was down and the shadows didn't veil her features. She was excited. "Now that wasn't very nice."
Alex shifted her position abruptly and twisted Adria's arm hard behind her back to both throw her off balance and cause pain in her shoulder. This move would also, hopefully, shift Adria so she could no longer swing and hit Alex with the flashlight.
Seeing her face only made Adria even more fearful. Eyeing that sinister grin of hers, she yelped out in both surprise and pain as she was suddenly twisted into a most uncomfortable and even more so painful position, nearly falling face-first into the cracked wall of the room. The flashlight would no longer be at her aid, as it hurt to squirm about and attempt to swing the object again at Alex. She prayed for someone to come in suddenly to help her, to save her from this sadistic beast of a woman. She was cruel and twisted in the head!
Adria had contacted her brother a bit ago and could feel her phone vibrating in her back pocket. He was calling, and she had no means of answering it with her arm bent back. She knew it was Nathan because only Nathan would call her at a time like this, or call for that matter. Nathan called even when she found it easier to text. He called her despite her urging to simply text. She only allowed her grandparents to call, and they only called on the weekends. It was Thursday. She knew even without looking at the caller I'D picture it was Nathan because only Nathan called. He was checking in, which also meant he was only on his way if he wasn't outside the base already. He was most likely on his way, meaning the only help she could get for a while would be from Matt, who was with James.
Alex heard the tell-tale sounds of the phone's vibration and her grin widened noticeably. "Ah, I'll guess that's going to be whoever you contacted before you entered the base. Too bad they won't be able to help you out of this situation." Suddenly, the knife blade was at Adria's throat, pressing gently against her jugular to warn her that squirming would not be tolerated. "Drop the flashlight, please. I don't particularly want to be hit again." The knife pressed into the girl's skin, just barely nicking it and letting a drop of blood or two to flow from the tiny wound. It was a warning of what might happen should she not comply, as well as a promise of what would happen in the future even if she did comply. Alex was not gentle with her toys.
Adria swallowed hard, freezing completely in her grasp. The image of the tiny nick popped into her head, growing into a relatively long, painful slice across her throat, blood spilling freely down her neck, staining her shirt within precious seconds, her life ending there. She could imagine Nathan running frantically through the dusty halls of the abandoned base only to find a body with absolutely nothing for him.
Adria didn't like those visions of what could happen if she didn't comply and obey this woman and her wishes. She didn't want to die, she valued her life. Her brother treasured it. Their mother would be heartbroken. Grandma would keel over with a heart attack, Grandad following her, or the other way around. Chain events would occur if she ignored the warning. It was either her life or the flashlight, and she'd much rather keep her blood in her body. It was, after all, kind of important to living and all. She dropped the flashlight, listening to it clatter against the ground. The bulb was probably broken now.
"Good. Very good. Now we can have a little fun. Just a little; I promised James I wouldn't kill you." It was no fun to actually kill a target, after all. Killing someone was a permanent end to their life and it didn't leave much in the way of future fun and encounters. All Alex really wanted was a little fun; it was too bad that her particular brand of 'fun' wasn't legal or sane in any way.
The knife was retracted from Adria's throat for the time being, leaving her with a little more freedom of movement now that her life wasn't at stake should she so much as twitch. Alex wouldn't allow her such freedom for long, though, and brought the butt of her switchblade down on Adria's ribs to bruise and wind the girl. Bruises were one of Alex's favorite things to inflict on her toys; it was right up there with little cuts and slices through their skin to let the blood flow free.
The girl yelped out with staggered breath. Her instincts were to move away from what was causing her pain, but that only further caused her pain with the little freedom of movement that remained while Alex held her in the same position. By now, she was aware that this was going to cause some mental breakdown in the future and scar her in some way other than the physical damage. She found herself already seeking safe havens among the homes she knew of to escape to and hide in until the memories of pain were no more, and there was nothing in the outside world that could hurt her. There were many places she could go after this, at least until the danger disappeared.
Alex seemed to just drink in her pain and terror, absolutely pleased with how things were turning out. With Adria's Pokémon down, she now had some alone time with the girl. Alex's Pokémon were watching, but they made no move to interfere. It was just Adria and Alex now.
The woman shifted her position slightly and slipped a foot around to the front of Adria; she pushed against Adria's back at the same time she yanked her foot back to force Adria to trip and take her to the ground where Alex could have a little more fun. What proceeded from there could only be described as a severe beating as Alex used both her fist and the butt of her blade to deal bruises anywhere she could reach.
The whole process melted together in Adria's mind. The beating seemed like just a beating that lasted a century. Blow after blow after blow rained down on her and all she could do was squirm and cry out, pleading for help that had yet to show up. She was stuck in the world of pain and suffering under the hands of this woman, salty tears staining her bruised world. At this point she wanted to curl up into a ball and endure this, but she'd have to endure the pain without curling up. It was more painful that way without the defensive position, but there was no choice to be made. She couldn't fight back, not against this woman. She was insane to think this was somehow fun and not cruel. She was absolutely insane.
When Alex seemed to have finished beating her, she turned the knife so that she would be using the point instead of the butt. Now for a few finishing touches. The cuts she opened across Adria's back were small and shallow and there weren't very many; she didn't want Adria to die of blood loss, after all. She had promised not to kill the girl, and so would stay good to her word.
The last few cuts that Alex wanted to make were spread across Adria's lower back. They were small, straight lines that connected together in some cases and formed a simple, capitalized word: 'MINE'.
The blade was removed from Adria's back, flipped back into its handle, and then stashed back in Alex's pocket. With her hand now free, Alex took hold of Adria's hair and pulled her head back so she could speak to the girl's face. "There. That wasn't so bad, was it?"
Screams filled the entire room as the sting of the blade seeped past her skin: shrill screeches echoing through the room and down the hall. Her screams and frantic crying didn't stop until the very end when Alex pulled the damned blade away, reducing to light sobs and heavy trembles. The cool air nipped at her skin and played with the fresh wound, violating the cut in any way it unintentionally could. A heavy shudder ran through her as she tried to level her breath, flinching when Alex pulled her head up by her hair. She didn't answer. She refused to answer. It was bad, though; it was very bad for Adria. She stared at Alex with a mixture of fear, hate, and anger, but had no energy to even think of how she could possibly rebel, even in some small form of saliva in Alex's face. Along with the small amount of blood, Adria's energy was leaving her body, only in much larger loads.
Alex acted as if Adria had reacted in some way, releasing her hair as she spoke, "I didn't think so." The cruel woman stood, moving away from Adria to get her things. "Now, I hate to play and run, but you've got back-up incoming and I think I should go find my new friend. I'd love to catch up and swap a few stories." As she continued to speak, Alex was recalling her Ninetales and moving to pick Psy up. The Espeon retook her position on Alex's shoulders, watching Adria impassively. The Gengar remained in the corner, tiny clawed hands on Tary's head. "Stay here, Gengar, and keep an eye on these two for a little while. Don't attack or otherwise engage anyone that comes in, just report back to me when someone shows up." Alex stole a glance at Adria, "I'm curious to see who's coming for her." A pause as Alex double checked that she had everything she had brought. "Welp! I guess I'm out of here, then! Toodles~" Her goodbye was punctuated by a cheery wave before she practically skipped out the door.
Adria waited until she could no longer hear the footsteps of Alex before she struggled onto her hands in knees, flinching and crying silently to herself from the pain left behind in the form of black and blue and purple, and the red that stained one of her favorite shirts. She crawled along the floor to where the dark shadow was and where the young girl huddled up, the Gengar still at her side. She didn't know if the sinister ghost would allow her to go near, but she wanted to see if she could get close to help her. Plus, she didn't like it tormenting the small girl with wicked nightmares. Soon, though, her brother would arrive. He would arrive soon.
That must have been the reason that Tary had said and done nothing; the girl wasn't even aware that Adria was in the room. She hadn't been conscious for quite some time. The Gengar was keeping her asleep, perpetually using Hypnosis when it seemed like she might come around due to noise or pain or any outside stimulus. The Gengar knew the move Nightmare and was utilizing it, forcing nightmares upon the 11-year-old to further torment her. Signs of Alex's fun were scattered all over her. Similar to Adria, she was absolutely covered in bruises; the bruises were slightly more extensive due to just how much time she had spent alone with Alex. There were also cuts littered about rather infrequently, some of the worst of which had been sloppily bandaged over to keep the bleeding to a minimum. Even in sleep, Tary was crying, though it was hard to tell what the actual cause was. Whether it was pain, the nightmares, or both, was probably irrelevant. She had curled in on herself and was trembling terribly as she slept.
The Gengar was watching Adria warily, though didn't seem too adverse to letting her near. If she tried to wake Tary up, however, he would probably make a move to stop her. These Nightmares were positively delicious and he wasn't going to let Adria spoil his fun too soon.
Even as a black shadow was taking over her sight from sheer exhaustion, Adria could say for a fact that she didn't like the condition that this little girl was in. Alex had did a number on her, and continued to torment her without even being in the room! She was a monster, a horrific, sadistic monster. To torment a young girl like so without any remorse, to seek the joy and fun out of it was wrong on so many levels; Alex was wrong on so many levels.
Adria realized that she wouldn't be able to reach Tary, and gave up. Help would arrive soon enough. Soon enough, her brother would appear in the doorway and take Tary away from the Gengar, and his sister away from the base with Tary. Any minute now.
Frantic footsteps clopped down the hallway, growing closer and closer to the room, a voice reaching out into every room calling out the name of his sister. "Adria! Adria!" the younger version of James called, shining his light into the last room. Immediately he was at his sister's side, horrified by her physical state and checking for a heartbeat and breathing: she had both, thankfully. His eye was drawn to the other small figure huddled in the corner. This must be Matt's sister! he thought. He couldn't see her face so he couldn't be sure, but who else would it be? But that Gengar was there. Would he need to duke it out in a Pokémon battle to get to her? His hand rested on the side of his waist where he had several Pokéballs clipped, counting to 4 from the front, watching the Gengar for any sort of movement.
The Gengar watched the young man's movement, but seemed to be content to stay at Tary's side. He didn't make any threatening moves, though one might consider his very presence next to a little girl rather threatening. When Nathan looked over at him and made as if he was going to throw a Pokémon into battle, the Ghost type hissed in displeasure. This wasn't a fight he wanted to get into; Alex had specifically told him not to get into a fight with anyone who showed up. Instead, he sank into the shadows, moving along in the rather dark room towards the other corner, where Tary's bag had been left. He peeked out at Nathan from there, not yet completely leaving the room. Alex hadn't wanted him to engage in combat, but that didn't mean he couldn't stick around and gather some information on this boy. Intel was always good for Alex.
The young man unclipped his Pokéball and released a rather calm Alakazam into the room. The Alakazam took one look around the room and had a look of being very displeased firmly on his features. What a mess. Fainted Pokémon littered the ground. Then there was that ghostly presence in one of the other corners. He didn't pay it much attention since the Gengar didn't seem like it would attack soon and instead used his Psychic abilities to clean up a bit while his trainer gingerly lifted the young girl in the corner and brought her closer to his sister. He and Benn would meet up elsewhere. Within moments, Pokémon were recalled, bags were nearby, and Nathan had Ender with him as well, and the small group simply teleported out of the room.
