A/N

Wow, this took a really long time. Koilate and I have been writing this whole time, but I've gotten behind in editing and posting this stuff. I need to try getting back on a semi regular schedule for this stuff.

Anyway, major WARNING for this chapter. Blood, violence, torture, and the whole shebang. So be warned.

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 10: Branded

The morning following James and Alex's almost heart to heart about apples, Alex was off on her merry way to see if she could lure Nathan out of his hiding place. It wasn't like the kid was actively hiding from her, but Alex was taking it as a personal challenge anyway. Having stayed at James's little shanty for the night and waking feeling rather refreshed in the morning, the woman was excited to have a little more fun. James wouldn't join – he had said that he didn't like to do anything hands-on, which was quite different from what Alex liked – but maybe Syler would have a crack at the boy. That Scizor seemed to like to cause things pain.

Finding her way back to Nathan's house, Alex just had to figure out how she wanted to trip the alarm. Well, that wasn't that hard. She flipped her hood back up to mostly avoid the cameras and walked straight up to the nearest window. For this special occasion, she had picked up something of hers that she hadn't had when she was playing with Adria and Tary: it was a long, thin, metal rod with a circle at the end of it. She used this item to swing at the window to shatter it into pieces.

The glass went all over, but most of it inside, shards clattering onto the carpeted floor and submerging themselves in the confines of the couch cushions, waiting for something to dig their hand between for the remote. The alarm shrieked the moment the glass shattered, all camera's looking for the source of the property destruction. This was sure to grab Nathan's attention as his smart phone was linked to his security.

The boy's phone went off the moment the alarm went off. The cops would be on their way if they weren't already, but Nathan had to be there to shut off the alarm if it was simply a baseball through the window. Again.

Although reluctant to leave his sister's side, he did so with promise of return and disappeared to do what he needed to do, falling straight into Alex's trap. He'd be there sooner than the police would be, that was for sure.

Alex used the time to her advantage. She hopped through the window with ease, her shoes protecting her feet from the glass littered about the couch and carpet. She explored the house, picking through things and seeing if there was anything interesting that she could use when she got her new play toy. A few things were broken and another window, this time upstairs, was shattered by the thing metal rod in her hands. This was a nice house; she rather liked the interior. It was especially nice when the interior was littered by glass. No blood, though. It was too bad she couldn't really stick around and have her fun in the house. Alex would have to drag Nathan into the trees instead and find a more suitable place, away from the cops, where she could have her fun. Too bad, but it didn't bother her enough to ruin her good mood.

Outside, Nathan had appeared with the help of his Alakazam's teleporting abilities, and analyzed the damage to his window. Someone was breaking in? He wouldn't stand for that! He could hear more destruction upstairs, too, which pissed him off even more. Not even bothering to go and use the front door, Nathan hopped through the window and into his living room, making sure not to land on the couch and accidentally fall into the glass shards that littered the floor. He'd have to do something about the couch; he'd wanted to replace it for a newer and nicer one for a while now.

He heard movement upstairs in Adria's room. The intruder was upstairs now! Stepping carefully along the carpet flooring, being careful to not make too much noise, the young man proceeded up the stairs slowly, cautiously.

Alex was aware that Nathan was in the house; her Gengar told her so. The Pokémon was prepared to catch Nathan from behind. For now, however, Alex just waited. She was standing against the wall, out of sight of anyone outside the room. She was actually leaning against the wall quite close to the door, just waiting patiently. Her Ninetales was out and about, sniffing through the room curiously; nosing through Adria's things, knocking things over by accident, and making more of a mess. She was the very picture of a wild Pokémon that had wandered in. Alex doubted that Nathan would fall for such a simple ploy, but it was simply meant to distract him temporarily. Her Gengar was the Pokémon he was going to need to look out for.

Nathan crept up the stairs and peered into the room where the source of the noise was coming from; ready for almost anything that would jump out. But when he saw the Ninetales with her nose curiously violating almost everything – things like the wood carving of an Ursaring holding two Magikarp in its claws, the box of Pokémon treats and other things falling from their perch – Nathan seem to freeze. Was it really just a wild Pokémon that had broken into their house?

But that wasn't right. Their habitats were grassy plains and fields, preferably by volcanoes, or in the mountain areas, not in a forest-infested area at the doorstep of a house just a bit out of the way of the city confines next to a lake. This wasn't a wild Pokémon. It couldn't have been. It may have looked the part, but it was very unlikely.

The Pokémon treats seemed to have especially gotten the Pokémon's attention. She could smell the treats and was curious about how she could get at what was inside. Only a solitary sideways glance was spared when Nathan came into view; she could smell him too and he wasn't very interesting to her. It did alert Alex, however, that Nathan was at the door. Perfect.

While Nathan was briefly puzzling over the Pokémon in his house, his shadow moved. Really, it was only Alex's Gengar peeking out from his hiding place. He'd stolen himself away in Nathan's shadow to try avoiding detection until the time he was supposed to move. Noticing Nathan's preoccupation, the Gengar leaped onto Nathan's back and crashed his head against the boy's. It wasn't a particular move or anything, but he wanted his claws on Nathan and he wanted to distract him for a moment longer. In seconds he was latched onto Nathan's front instead of his back and his big red eyes were staring straight into Nathan's as he used Hypnosis.

The young man was startled by the sudden crash of heads, giving a slight yelp of pain and was bringing his arm up to rub the back of his head when the ghost Pokémon captured his gaze. He was immobilized in the red stare, completely absorbed in his gaze and Hypnosis. Falling victim to the Pokémon move, he crumpled towards the ground, suddenly feeling drowsy and falling right asleep. He'd returned Alakae to his Pokéball the moment he'd arrived, which was a bad move on his part. If Alakae was there, Nathan probably would have been able to avoid this trap with Al's psychic abilities and power. Alakae was Nathan's first Pokémon, and strongest; he trusted the Pokémon with his life, but had stupidly recalled his Pokémon after arrival.

Bad idea.

The Gengar giggled in complete and utter happiness. It had worked! He loved it when his Hypnosis worked. Alex stepped into the doorway to observe the boy that had walked straight into her hands. "Isn't that cute? I think it would look cuter if he had a few nightmares, what do you say," she smiled and looked to her Gengar, indulging him.

The Gengar loved to put people to sleep. Nightmares were fun, too, but it was just as fun to just put people to sleep. Alex seemed to want Nathan to have a few nightmares, though, so he was more than happy to oblige. Those clawed hands took their place on Nathan's head and stirred up a nightmare in his head that would last him until he woke up from natural causes.

"Alright, good job," the insane woman patted the Gengar on the head and then called the Ninetales to her. "Let's get him out of here before the cops show up." Following through her words with her actions, she stripped Nathan of his Pokéballs and hefted him onto the Ninetales's back. From there, she led her Pokémon down the stairs and out the nearest door, escaping into the trees behind Nathan's house.


Darkness. That was all Nathan could see. His body felt heavy, yet weightless at the same time. Was he floating, or was he sinking? He couldn't move his arms or his legs, trapped and bound by invisible... ropes? Chains? His head was set straight. He felt like he was floating on a wave, but at the same time on a giant ride tilting back and forth, left and right, yet at the same time felt absolutely still.

Then, he suddenly felt a chill up his spine. His legs were free, and there was a sudden light that was far away, then in his face, blinding him. He ran from whatever was chasing him despite nothing being there at all. He felt heavy again; slow, and knew it was absolutely impossible to make it to the end of the wherever he was running and whatever he was running in.

To his left he heard something cry out. It was familiar, and sounded almost light static mixed together with a groan, or a grumble. Turning his head, his eyes widened in horror as his best friend and first Pokémon Alakae fell to his knees, something sharp and shining brightly against the light protruding through his back. Blood spilled out of the wound, and the image haunted Nathan. He cried out, and his only response was the voice of his Pokémon, Alakae, wailing in pain. Suffering. He could hear the blade grinding against his bones, and he could hear the nasty sound of organs being punctures and the squelching sound. He cried out again, only this time feeling pain as he realized he was in the body of the Pokémon. The blade was being rotated by an unseen force in his chest. It was agonizing, and constant, but he never felt himself go numb and die.

The Pokémon's thoughts melded together in Nathan's; he could feel the pain and hear the thoughts of his Pokémon. It crushed him, taking over his mind. The blackness spun around, and his head was splitting from the cries and screeching. It hurt a lot.

He flailed in place, but felt no movement. He cried out, screamed out, willing his arms to slap something. He flailed in place for what felt like hours, years, and eternity. His body loosened, and tingled before he finally began to feel something- cool grass? A soft breeze? Nathan's eyes shot open, body still heavy from the dream, but it took a long moment for him to realize he was laying in a patch of grass near a small body of water.

It was a little pond, in the middle of the trees. Unsurprising, really. There was a small creek trickling near-by, feeding into and out of the pond and winding its way through the trees. It was a scenic, beautiful setting; even Alex, standing at the edge of the pond and skipping rocks, couldn't ruin the picture. It was almost like she fit in, there at the edge of the pond. Maybe she did. Maybe she did belong on the wild. The Gengar was tugging at her sleeve and she turned to look at what he was pointing at. Her hood had been lowered once more to expose her face, and she offered a smile to Nathan. It was soft and, in that moment, she didn't look crazy at all.

"Oh, you're awake! How good of you to join us in the land of the living." The picture was ruined when she spoke. Even though her tone was normal – no mocking, no laughing, no insane happiness – the sound of her voice broke the peace that had settled over the pond.

Nathan had been bound as he slept. Alex had borrowed an escape rope from Tary and, although she hadn't used it on the girl, she was planning to use it on Nathan. The rope had been cut to pieces to fit her need. Nathan's hands were bound behind his back and his arms were bound to his sides. His legs had been left free; Alex wasn't all that worried about him running off. Her Ninetales and Psy were wandering around on the outskirts of their clearing to make sure he wouldn't be going anywhere.

The young man threw his gaze around, startled by the sudden appearance of the voice of the woman. He wriggled and tried to get himself free of his bonds, but it was to no avail. He realized that they were too tight. His Pokémon were gone, too, and he was out in the middle of the forest next to a small body of water connected by a creek on either sides. He'd not known that these were here, actually, until now.

He glared up at his captor, taking in her face while he could, ignoring the creepy voice of hers. "Who are you?!" Nathan demanded. "And what do you want? Where are we?" Classic lines in situations like these, more often never answered with something the captive deemed good and liked.

Alex trotted over to him, plopping down into a cross-legged sitting position just in front of him. She leaned down so they could talk more face to face. "Oh, well, I thought you could have guessed a lot of that. I hope you don't mind if I answer your questions a little out of order," she grinned contentedly. "My name is Alex and I brought you here. This is a little pond and creek a little ways from your house. I'm afraid I don't know exactly; I couldn't tell you just how far away we are. As for what I want, I just wanted to have a little fun. James was telling me all about you and I just thought you were absolutely adorable," she pinched his cheek as she said this, practically fawning over him. "Plus, you're a boy, and boys are always more fun to play with. They're more durable and it takes me longer to get what I want. Oh, I better answer that question before you ask; I want you to scream." Her eyes darkened and her grin grew into something terrifying. There was an insane glint in her eyes as she grabbed Nathan by the hair and dragged his head back to expose his throat. "Will you be good and scream for me?"

He didn't like either of her answers; he didn't like that he was captured by Alex, the one that was new to their radar; he didn't like that he was away from his house, didn't like her objective of taking him here nor did he like that she wanted him to scream. What he didn't like most was that she found boys to be more durable to her little 'fun'. This was the woman who played with his sister, then, and it only made him angrier. Flames of defiance ignited in his eyes as he stared up at the woman. His mouth went dry. "No," he responded calmly, refusing to do as his captor asked. He wouldn't scream, and it was his mission not to, now. And Nathan didn't like failing.

"Good," Alex grinned, releasing his hair patting him on the head. "It's far more fun to have to work for it. I'll warn you now, though, I've got an ace up my sleeve." She flicked her hand lazily, looking at her fingers. "I know how to make you scream if I want to, but I want to have a little fun first. If you make me too frustrated, though, I might hurt you more than I intend to. I don't really want to kill you. You see, it's no fun to actually kill toys; it means that I never have a chance to play with them again. Dead bodies don't scream. I'm not above killing though. If you prove not to be a very fun toy, I might just leave your corpse out in the road for someone to find." She cast a glance at him from the corner of her eye, sizing him up. "But you're already proving to be quite entertaining, so I'm not too worried about it."

Nathan gritted his teeth. Someone would come looking for him. He'd gone to investigate the break-in at his house. If he didn't return or call back, someone would come looking for him, and that was a guarantee. With all the possible threats out there, there was no way he wouldn't be looked for. He'd get out of this; he just had to hold himself strong and resist against this mad woman.

He said nothing to her, refusing to respond. There was no need to respond to her; that was the purpose of him being there. She wanted to see him respond, and she wanted to hear him in pain from the attacks and little fun she had in store for him. He silenced himself, only glaring daggers.

"So you want to play it that way? Fine, just try to hold your tongue. It's a battle of the wills here, isn't it?" Alex laughed, clapping her hands and taking to her feet. "This'll be good fun. I do hope you don't disappoint."

Bringing her fingers to her mouth, Alex emitted a loud whistle. This sound brought her Tentacruel into the scene. Relo had been in the water, apparently, watching and waiting for her. He didn't seem to be all that interested in whatever was going on, but Alex was his master and he was dedicated to his master. He loved her greatly and Alex loved him in return, always offering affection and praise. Relo would listen to no one else as long as Alex was kind to him, even if that meant doing things he didn't like. The insane woman had run to him the instant he emerged from the water and had clambered nimbly up to the top of his bell. "Relo~" She chimed, laying down on his bell and making as if she was trying to hug him; he was too big to hug like that, but he appreciated the action anyway. "Grab the boy for me, would you?"

The Tentacruel moved out of the water and towards the helplessly bound boy in the grass. One of his many tentacles reached out and wrapped around Nathan's ankle, using it to lift him completely off the ground and bring him up to eye level. Those big shadowed eyes examined Nathan rather curiously, offering some small amount of pity without words. Relo did not envy the boy that had been caught by Alex, but would not defy Alex to help him.

The boy was left hanging upside down, upsetting the flow of blood for him. He watched and identified the pity in the Pokémon's eyes and would have felt a bit touched by it if this Pokémon wasn't helping her. But he could see this Pokémon was loyal to this woman. He guessed that because of that, this Pokémon wasn't all bad and was probably a really good Pokémon if in the right hands.

But he wasn't.

Nathan averted his eyes back up to Alex, glaring at her, but refusing to say anything. He didn't know what she would do to him; dump him in the water and keep him there? Keep him upside-down and make gravity push all his blood to his head? This woman was a mystery to him, as she should be since she'd only met him... well, only a minute ago when she'd introduced herself.

Alex was watching him, wondering what he was thinking of everything that was going on. She hadn't done much of anything to him yet, and she honestly didn't have much of a range of torture methods. There were the few that she liked and certainly there were one or two methods that were more experimental and she was interested to try, but she usually kept it relatively simple. For now, they would start with the water; Alex loved water. Maybe that was because her favorite Pokémon was a water type, but maybe not. She just really liked the water.

"Start by holding him under the water, Relo. I want to see how long he can hold his breath." That was somewhat of a warning to Nathan that he was going to need to hold his breath very soon. It was a round-about warning, but a warning nonetheless. Alex remained atop her Tentacruel's bell as Relo carried Nathan over to the little pond. Once there, he moved into the deeper water closer to the center of the small body of water and thrust the young man in his tentacle down into the depths. He continued to hold Nathan by the ankle to keep him under and to be ready when he needed to be brought up for air.

Nathan wasn't all to surprised by the decision and took a deep breath, inhaling through the nose at first, then taking another breath just before being plunged into the water, and he held his breath. He was able to hold his breath for about two and a half to three minutes, depending on if he'd inhaled enough. It wasn't all too impressive since Nathan didn't do diving, but his training under the Resistance also consisted of how long he was able to hold his breath under the water. Some of his colleagues were able to hold theirs for about three and a half. Others could do maybe two minutes tops. Nathan was in the average. Despite having this time, he knew that when missions involved water, and lots of it, there was an aqualung for each member when they needed it.

Adria often liked to use it, though.

Alex watched quietly from atop Relo, counting silently to herself. So far, no thrashing or panic so Nathan was doing quite well. Alex expected nothing less from her new toy. It was fun to watch him try to be strong, though. She did hope that some of her nastier techniques would get him to scream. Bruises and cuts wouldn't cut it, this time; this time, she needed to be a little more drastic. That was completely okay, though: drastic was fun, oftentimes.

Relo swirled the boy about in the water, drifting him from side to side slowly, almost lazily. He was watching the young man, waiting for him to make a genuine sign that he could no longer breathe; Alex didn't want him dead, she just wanted to panic him a little. The body would automatically panic when it didn't get enough air, and that was what Alex was looking for. When he appeared to be at his limit, then they would lift him out of the water.

Thirty seconds passed, then a minute, then a minute at a half. Nathan kept himself calm despite the light thrashing Relo made, swirling him in the water to disorient him a bit. A few moments longer passed by before he started to run low on oxygen. Scrunching up his face and trying to hold on; his time was running out. His head throbbed, then his heart, and lungs. They were going to explode soon without the oxygen! They were heavy against his ribs. It was getting difficult to think with his brain going into a high-demand mode.

A few bubbles surfaced; he'd let go of what he was holding and began to wriggle in his binds. Air! He needed air!

Alex and Relo both noted the change in behavior and the time that had passed. It was time to bring Nathan back up out of the water. Relo lifted the boy easily, pulling him from the water and dangling him clear above the surface where he could catch his breath and get some air. Alex watched from atop Relo. "Not bad, kid! Not extremely impressive, but certainly not bad." It was rather fun to cause him such discomfort. Alex planned to continue this routine for a while: drag him under and then bring him up for air. The longer the pattern continued, the harder it would become for Nathan to continue holding his breath underwater. He would become fatigued, tired, and in desperate need of a break to catch his breath.

Upon being lifted out of the water, the young man went into a fit of coughs and gasps for air. He didn't know how long he'd be able to keep this up if she continued to shove him under the water again and again like that, testing his durability, his lungs. The first breath was always the best, and then it went downhill from there. Continuing this pattern would put his lungs under a great amount of strain. He'd be able to go under less and less unless he was aloud some time to rest.

His heart thumped heavily in his chest as he took in the precious air once again, regaining what he'd lost under the water. He said nothing to the woman, though, keeping his rebellious silence. He refused to cave.

His silence was practically goading her on. She was excited to push him to his limits and see just how far he could go. This was an excellent durability test and she planned to continue this until he was worn down enough to be susceptible to the other activities she had planned. "Again." Her voice chimed and Relo obliged, quietly dipping the boy back under the water at the order he was given. Relo would not disobey, but he would not allow Nathan to die; he was carefully watching the human boy in his tentacles to make sure he didn't actually drown. This was merely an exercise, not meant to kill him or fatally wound him in any way. This pattern would continue four or five times until Alex was satisfied.

Nathan took that as his cue to take another deep breath and hold it. Lowered into the water, he remained quiet and unmoving, not wanting to even expend any energy at all. This time his limit was shorter than the first. The first time he'd been able to hold his breath for a few minutes, but this time it was reduced down to two minutes maxed. He figured that about the third or fourth time he'd be too exhausted to try this again. It was only the second time. One or two more times, then he'd be at his very limit.

The young man began to think while he was in the water – his best ideas always came when he was bathing, doing the dishes, or swimming in the back for some reason – about how he was going to get out of this mess. He was bound pretty tightly. The escape rope was tight against him. He didn't have a blade hidden on his person nor did he, or anyone else he knew, have shoes that concealed blades in the toe like he'd seen in action movies when he was a kid. He wasn't some kind of super hero that could break the ropes, either.

Abruptly, bubbles escaped him again and he begun to wriggle in the water, the familiar thumps of pain against his chest resonating in his ears once again.

Relo lifted him from the water once more, allowing him a moment to cough out any water and catch his breath a little. This was wearing him down, slowly but surely. It was expending his energy. Anything Alex planned to do later would probably affect him worse once his body was exhausted.

This time, when Nathan surfaced, Alex wasn't on top of her Tentacruel anymore. Now, she was sitting on the bank playing with a long length of rope; probably another stolen Escape Rope. She looked up when Nathan surfaced, amused with his attempts of silent defiance. Things were going quite well so far. "Once or twice more, please!"

Relo silently obliged after giving Nathan a moment to recover. The process was repeated twice more, each time allowing Nathan to reach his limit and then pulling him out. The final time, Relo dragged the boy above water and tossed him onto the shore. Alex waited only feet away, ready for the next phase of their fun.

Each time Nathan's endurance wasn't as long as the last. It was understandable, and Alex had even panned it like so. He wasn't at all happy and glared between his coughing and gasping for air as he was finally thrown onto the shore. This woman was trying his patience, though there was nothing he could have possibly done about it when it finally hit the brink. He still refused to say anything, though. He was exhausted, but he refused to say anything to the mad woman. There was nothing to say, anyway.

Whatever was next, Nathan obviously wasn't looking forward to it. Although he was curious to know what he was in for, he'd probably regret it the moment she told him what her next move was.

Relo relaxed back into the water, content to stay out of whatever else Alex had planned. She could do as she pleased and Relo wouldn't make a move to stop here. Alex's other Pokémon had also stopped to sit and watch what was going on. All were apparently interested in what was going on between Alex and Nathan.

"Still tight lipped, are you? All the better; we're just getting started." The woman closed in on the helpless young man, retrieving her blade from her pocket; time for a little more of her standard treatment. Just as she had beaten and cut Tary and Adria, she beat and cut up the young man before her. Bruises we beautiful, dark marks left behind from her fun. The red of blood, even when diluted by the water still covering Nathan's body, was a beautiful contrast to the dark marks of bruises. Of course, she was just as careful this time as she was when playing with the girls. No need to be terminating Nathan too soon; that wouldn't leave time for any fun later.

If there was one thing about having a little sister, it was being used to being beaten and bruised. He and his sister had gotten into plenty of wrestling-matches and bet each other chores and other things. He was bigger than she, so he was always going easy. He never escaped without a few bruises here and there. He was relatively use to the bruises, holding his tongue and refusing to cry out. He bit back his voice as she went on with beating and cutting him.

It didn't not hurt, though. It was painful, but he didn't want to give her the satisfaction of a scream or a shout ripping past his lips. He silently let her litter his body with her 'beautiful' creations, uttering nothing and biting back every noise of discomfort and pain. She wasn't going to win that easily!

Of course it wasn't going to be that easy; the beating was merely a formality. Alex couldn't very well let him go without a few bruises (read as: a lot of bruises). When she had finished with her short fun, she forced him to lie on his stomach so she could sit on his lower back. For a moment, she just sat there and admired her work. "You've been doing very well holding yourself together, kid. But, if I may say, I think that I'm going to change that."

It was time to move onto something new. She wanted to hurt him; she wanted to make him scream and she would go as far as she needed to in order to get what she wanted. "Let's test the waters, shall we?" She reached out and took his hand; more specifically, she took the pinky finger of his left hand. With the thin digit in her grasp, she twisted sharply to break it. She wanted to see how he would react to something so simple.

The young man gave a sharp gasp as his finger was sharply jerked and then hissed in pain. That, no doubt, had hurt him. The pain was scrunched up on his face, as well. It hurt quite a lot, and it would take a while for his finger to heal back. With Benn, though, it would heal correctly. He was a good doctor.

Nathan as he finally began to show his discomfort, hissing and using a deep-breathing exercise to get the pain to feel less powerful. It wasn't particularly working. At least, not as much as he really wanted. But he didn't scream, either, like Alex wanted.

"Oh good! I think I surprised you that time. No screaming, I'm impressed, but I got a reaction this time!" It was good to see that he was at least registering the pain and that her fun was actually doing something to him. Of course, she wasn't going to just stop there. She repeated the process with the rest of his fingers on his left hand, including his thumb. Then, just for shits and giggles, she broke the middle finger of his right hand. After finishing her little finger-breaking spree, she sat back to admire her fabulous work; those twisted fingers and broken bones were a beautiful sight to behold.

By the time Alex was done, admiring the hard work she'd put into breaking all his fingers on one hand, Nathan was trembling, not daring to move either of his hands. He'd let out hisses and grunts, biting back his voice as much as possible. He did just about everything, except scream. He didn't want to scream for her. It was her mission to make him scream, and it was his mission to do no such thing.

This crazy woman was insane. Never in his life had he met someone who liked to do this, nor had he even heard about someone so messed up. James was more for a game of Cat and Mouse. Syler liked to just inflict pain and bash people's bones and making them bleed. But Alex was a different kind of sadist. Syler didn't care for making his prey squeal; he just wanted them to bleed, and that wasn't a battle of willpower. That was just a bloody battle.

Alex liked to see that she had this effect on him. She was finally getting somewhere in this game! Nathan had been winning, before; now, he was beginning to give a little ground. Alex was determined to win this game they were playing. Now, it was time to move on to her next act. Breaking his fingers was just the first part of her fun; she had something else wonderful in store for him.

Her knife was in her hand once again and her free hand grasped the broken pinky of his left hand, hurting him further by putting pressure on the broken bone. If just breaking his fingers had gotten such a reaction, maybe this next activity would get her what she wanted. Without saying a word to Nathan about what she was doing, she placed the tip of her knife under his nail and began to push it in. The grip she had on his pinky would allow her to hold it still will she poked, prodded, cut, and eventually ripped his fingernail right off.

The moment he saw the blade he knew what was to come and he knew that it was going to be very painful. Often times when Nathan was sewing a hole in his shirt or pants, he'd poked himself with the needle, thankfully each instant it was with a needle not tiny and sharp, and hissed out in pain, almost throwing the needle away. Throwing a needle was the last thing he needed

The tip touched the delicate skin under his nail and tried to rip his hand away, but was only met with pain. He twisted his neck and glared hateful daggers at Alex. He wouldn't scream, though. He refused to scream for her, though his willpower would only carry him so far. His hatred was like a fuel, burning his fire more and more, willing him to hold his voice a little longer.

Alex took great pleasure in levering and ripping the nail from the nail-bed. Given the chance, the nail would grow back; the human body was durable like that. It was great fun to watch him try to hold his voice while glaring daggers, though. He wouldn't be able to pull through forever. Alex just needed to cause a little more pain. Time to take another nail off!

The bloody knife drew back from Nathan's pinky finger and dug into the skin beneath his ring finger, holding tightly to the broken digit to keep him from pulling away and ruining her work. This was great fun; slowly destroying his hands was great sport and Alex rather wondered why she hadn't taken this up sooner. Any normal man probably would have been screaming in her hands by now, but Nathan was holding even stronger than she had expected; this only drove her to try harder and hurt him more.

Nathan wasn't exactly normal, but he also wasn't invincible and could take the pain as much as he really did want to. He could feel himself eventually cracking. Just like Adria, Nathan was not a fan of sharp things if they weren't in a kitchen; he preferred using a gun, instead. Sharp things only made chills go down his spine if they weren't in a kitchen, or in their proper place.

He hissed and squirmed under the treatment, but otherwise didn't scream out like he both did and didn't want to. He could feel it touching his throat, but held it back out of sheer will. Tears pricked the sides of his eyes as he fought it off, but it was becoming a bit much. Fuck, he hadn't realized how mad this woman was and what she would go through just to hear him scream!

The second nail came off as easily as the first did. Nathan hadn't screamed yet, so Alex would keep going. She moved out of order, this time, and latched onto his broken thumb. The knife descended once more, pressing underneath his nail and levering it up and off the nail bed with painful slowness. Eventually he would crack under the pressure. He was so close to screaming already! The sooner he screamed, the sooner Alex would stop. If he didn't scream, she might just take off all ten fingernails. If he screamed, she would probably only take off another one or two instead of all of them. There was that unspoken incentive; Alex hadn't exactly mentioned that, so Nathan had no way of knowing what she would do.

Nathan held his tongue, but as the blade dug deeper and deeper into his skin, his whimpers and squirms grew into a light thrashing, and his voice grew louder until the scream he'd dreaded so much ripped through him like a jet plane speeding over head; the sound was quiet as it passed by, and then there was a sudden boom as the sound finally caught up.

He'd tried as much as he could to suppress the scream, but it just got more and more painful as the moments ticked by. Voicing his pain helped, in some way, to relieve the pain. It was strange, but it somehow helped, and after suppressing the screams for so long, he was at his very limit.

Alex gleefully tore the third nail from his thumb and giggled like a madwoman. "Finally! I thought I'd never hear from you. You're quite the tough cookie, kid. I admire that about you. Not a whole lot of people could have taken that much of a beating without screaming, like you did." Alex grasped the pointer finger of his right hand while she spoke, digging her knife under his nail for the fourth time. "Just one more nail and I think I'm just about finished. I just have the piece de resistance."

While she spoke, the knife was digging under Nathan's nail and levering it from its bed. When she had finished with that, she wiped her dirtied blade onto the grass by Nathan's face. There was one more thing she needed it for, though. With a few deft slices, Alex had torn open Nathan's shirt and cut a long strip of fabric from the torn material. After that, she sheathed her blade and stored it safely away in her pocket.

Nathan's mind was hazy, barely listening to her; hazed in the pain that was brought upon him with the knife, staring down at the hideous, bloody work she'd put into his no-longer existent nails and broken fingers. His entire hand trembled, and he could only stare in horror at them, tears falling from his eyes. He'd reached his limit, and it wasn't over yet. What would come next, he wondered? More knives? Would she break his toes, rip out his toe nails? But when she sliced his shirt open and stashed her knife away, his theories disappeared. What was she going to do next?

The strip of cloth that she had cut from his shirt would make a serviceable blindfold; Alex wanted this next part to be a surprise. As much as she liked the look of horror on his face and the tears that fell from his eyes, this would be much better if it was a surprise. As such, she wrapped the cloth tightly around his eyes and tied it in the back with a double knot. "I've got a little surprise for you, Nathan~" she chimed, hopping off of his back and leaving him there to stew in his darkened world.

It took her a good few minutes to get back to him, pressing her foot lightly onto his neck to keep him still. "Ready for your surprise?" Nathan wouldn't see, but in one hand was a phone and in the other was the metal rod from earlier. This time, however, the rod was white hot at the tip, courtesy of her Ninetales. The white-hot tip was brought down on Nathan's shoulder-blade, pressing the insignia into his skin and permanently burning it into his flesh.

It took Nathan a moment to identify something was on his back. For a fraction of a second, the scorching metal felt cold against his skin. Then the pain came like a wildfire. Another, more shrill and far more pained scream tore through his entire body; he thrashed against the earth and her foot, listening to the sizzle of his skin burning away under the heat of the rod. Above all, this wasn't something he expected to come from this woman. It caught him by surprise. The young man screamed in nothing put pain and horror, crying a river of pain past his blindfold. A flock of Pidgey and Spearow squawked and flapped off in a flurry, spooked by this much louder scream.

The pain was intense; too intense for Nathan to comprehend. His mind was all sorts of black and white. The smells, the sounds – they all started to blend together to a point that nothing was registering in him anymore, other than the searing pain of the branding tool.

Alex laughed, her happiness mixing with his terror and pain in the air. The laughter and the screaming sounded strange, almost demonic, when put together like they were. The branding iron stayed planted against his back despite his thrashing and Alex only pulled away when the metal had cooled slightly against his skin and she was satisfied that the result would be favorable. The branding iron was pulled away from the abused skin and Alex knelt down to examine her work. The rod was placed aside, though the phone was still sitting in her left hand, and she traced the capital 'A' surrounded by a circle that the design had created. The flesh was red and raw, obviously tender to the touch, and she took great pleasure in feeling the mark with her fingers. "Perfect. Don't you think it's just perfect, Nathan?"

The cool air bit and nipped at his exposed skin and the new burn on his shoulder blade. His pain was unbelievable. His mind was fogged over in nothing but pain and it wore him out. He was tired – exhausted, actually. His entire body quaked in his bonds and he was reduced down to sobs and not-so-loud painful cries. He refused to verbally answer her question. No, it wasn't perfect. It was horrid. It was loathsome, to put it simply, and even then that itself wasn't enough to describe Nathan's feelings, let alone thoughts. His mind screamed at him that he was in pain and he needed to get away, and escape. But there was no escape for him.

Alex giggled once more at the sound of his sobs. It was amusing to her to see the once-strong boy reduced to sobs and cries. She'd gotten him to scream, though. More than that, she had managed to get him to scream multiple times. This counted as a success in her books. "Looks like it burns a little, though. Maybe you ought to take a dip." She disappeared from his back and suddenly there was a tentacle wrapping around his ankle again. The next thing Nathan knew, he had been dropped without support into the little pond. The cool water might feel quite good on the brand on his shoulder, but this was otherwise a rather bad situation.

On the banks, Alex was preparing her final gift to Nathan. After this, she would leave him alone. At least, she would leave him alone today, in the woods, by himself. The phone she had borrowed from him now contained a video recording of his lovely reaction to the brand and she planned to send it to everyone in his contacts. There was bound to be someone that would come looking for him and she was going to leave the phone with him so that someone might find him. She wasn't just going to leave him lying on the ground, though. No, that was far too easy for Nathan.

No doubt people were looking for him now. Nathan had several missed calls and text messages; majority of whom came from Benn. He'd not answered his phone, and it was worrisome. With new and old threats out there, it was clearly a bad sign if he wasn't picking up his phone. Benn sure as hell wouldn't be at all happy to find his friend in such a condition.

Nathan broke the relative calm surface of the pond with a nice splash, unable to take a breath this time. He was too tired, though. Alex had exhausted him with all he'd been through because of her, and he would have been too exhausted to even try to hold his breath. His mind was blanking, the screams dying from his head as his world began to turn dark.

Relo fished him out pretty quickly and laid him down on the bank. No need to have him dying on them. In seconds, Alex was leaning over him and slapping his cheeks lightly. "Nu-uh, you don't get to go to sleep just yet. There's still one more thing you've got to do before you keel over."

Alex enlisted Relo's help to lift Nathan up to his feet. "If you go and fall asleep on me, I might just be forced to cut something off, so you better stay awake." By 'something', Alex was probably referring to any of the many extremities that were extremely easy to remove with a knife. She would not shy away from taking a finger or a toe off if he didn't comply with what she wanted.

The man wobbled on his feet. This person was persistent. She wasn't done with him? Even after the branding – which strung even more now that it was away from the touch of cool water, searing his back and making him flinch – she still wasn't done with him? What did she have in mind this time, besides slicing something off if he didn't comply with her wishes and not fall asleep like his body was practically forcing him to do? Make him to tricks? Break his foot, rip out a tooth; almost anything that horrified Nathan came to mind. She'd gone far enough and branded him, so she couldn't possibly do anything all that much worse.

Alex had nothing so drastic in mind. She just wanted to keep Nathan on his toes until help arrived. Although breaking things was rather fun and Alex was not opposed to breaking Nathan's bones, she was mostly finished with him today. It didn't seem like he would be able to take much more, after all. Even though he was a boy, he was still a human and humans had their limits. He lasted longer than Adria and Tary would have, though. That thought was enough to make Alex practically giddy with happiness.

She had Relo drag him over to the base of one of the large trees in the area; there were many of these and so Alex just picked one with a few low hanging branches. At the base of the tree, Alex had placed a large, gnarled piece of wood. It looked to have been part of an old, fallen tree trunk. It was only a foot or two high, but that was all that Alex needed. Not that Nathan could see any of this with the blindfold Alex had neglected to take off.

Relo lifted the boy clear of the ground and set him on his feet on the gnarled piece of wood. It was wide enough to be sturdy, but not so wide that he had a whole lot of room to stand. In mere moments, Alex had joined him and looped something around his neck. The escape rope she had been playing with earlier had transformed into a noose, which was tightened about Nathan's neck. The trailing end was slung over a low-hanging branch and pulled taught so that Nathan would be forced to remain standing lest he strangle himself. The rope was secured somewhere on the ground and Alex dusted her hands off as she admired her work.

The last thing she needed to do was send the mass text. It took her some experimentation with Nathan's phone before she figured out how to send a mass message to his contacts list, but she sent the short video and then set the phone down at her feet. "Well, I think I'll be going now kid. I do think I'll see you again, someday, yeah?" She sounded almost hopeful that they would meet again in the future.

Before she left, she dropped his stolen Pokémon down by his phone. No need to be keeping those, though it would be rather entertaining if she kept them. No, Nathan could have them back for now, along with his phone, whenever someone showed up to cut him down and take him to safety.

Nathan's energy was completely depleted. He was nodding off, even when on the log, until he felt the tug of the rope against his throat. It woke him up, but only just. Nathan was tired and probably wouldn't last all too long. But when the message was sent – Nathan could hear the little noises his phone made when selecting things and even the familiar chime of a message just sent – he was sure that he wouldn't be there for long. Using the signal, the last place the message was sent, they'd find him in no time. And if Benn was among the search party, he'd be there in a split-second. He had his Hypno, and his other Psychic Pokémon that were able to teleport, like his little Kirlia.

He never understood why his friend was into Psychic Pokémon so much; he just was, it seemed, having a neither rhyme nor reason. It was interesting, actually. Nathan's Pokémon consisted of a large variety. Adria's Pokémon mostly consisted of 2-stage Pokémon, though that wasn't exactly her choice, but she had various types with her. Adria...

What was she doing now, he wondered?