This fic is raking in the reviews way too quickly for me to comprehend. Am I that good of a writer? Or is it just the hype from the old version?
Concerning Radi's untimely death, yeah, a lot of you guys probably saw that coming if you've read the original. He'll hold a special place in our hearts. Okay, maybe not that special. Sorry I had to kill the poor guy off so early, but it was an inevitable thing, see.
Skroy Horitz: Indeed. But how would I go about making an elegant badass? Not quite, but it's a mystery that will hang around for a while. Dunno how many parts. I'm aiming for at least 20. Yes, ambitious.
ShadowDragoon32: Yeah, they're kind of off for kidnappers, but that's just how they roll. Thank yew!
ClinicallyInsaneAndDangerous: …Really? I was feeling kind of iffy when I gave him that name. To clear things up for anybody who doesn't realize, Cancer's named after the Greek zodiac, not the terminal disease.
the book master: Meh, sort of. I'll give you points. 23 books a month? Damn, I thought I used to be the avid reader in elementary!
DelinquentDuo: Apparently, you didn't get the reference. Random… as in out-of-the-blue random?
Insan: Not much to say, thanks for the review! You too, all of you!
I do not own Pokémon. If I did, the anime would have something that at least resembles an actual plot.
"Radi! Take Luma and run!"
"But-But Mom!"
"Just take her to the forest and wait there!"
"But you told me…"
"Forget what I told you! Just go! We'll find you later!"
Radi slowly nodded, gripping the baby pachirisu tightly against his own body as he fled the scene.
000
"You damn idiot," Pace growled. "What do you take your life for, throwing it away for someone you don't even know?" he muttered to Radi, who was inhaling his last few breaths. The blood spilling from the horrible gashes in his sides mixed with Pace's dried blood.
"No!! Brother!" Luma cried again, rushing over to him. "You're hurt! Wait here, I'll get a berry!" She muttered to herself as she started to dash away, obviously trying to convince herself the wound wasn't that bad.
"Sister…" Radi murmured weakly, leaning against Pace. His body was being sustained by the speeded healing, as his body rapidly tried to repair the damage as Pace's had.
"Dumbass," Pace spat. "Fruit isn't going to save him." The wounds were too serious. Radi's death would only be prolonged by any healing.
Cancer chuckled as Luma stopped in her tracks. "Well, that wasn't entirely the plan, but it worked," he smiled darkly. His left eye had already recovered from the scratch, leaving only faint marks around it. "So Cross, what will you do, now that I've taken a life?" He asked, turning to the scyther.
Cross glared back at him, a growl rising in his throat.
"Cancer… you…" Nyra gasped, her face flickering between shock and fury. Kraid was silent, slowing looking between Radi and the gliscor.
"Pah, you lot can't even respond," Cancer spat. "You truly are pathetic. Perhaps another one will push you…" An ear-splitting noise interrupted him. "What…?"
Luma was covered by a storm of surging sparks. Lines of blue electricity crackled as they danced around her small frame.
Pace stared at the flashing sparks. "What…?" he groaned out as all of the others watched. Even Radi, half-alive as he was, was bewildered by the sight. Barely visible, Luma turned to face the gliscor. The streaks of lighting suddenly converged, cloaking her entirely in a layer of blue light.
"What is this?" Cancer mumbled. The light around her tail suddenly bulged. The electricity formed three massive spikes, above where the natural spikes would've been. With a roar of fury, Luma jumped at him, faster than any of them would've believed was possible. The three thorns, constantly twitching and shifting in size, easily sunk through the gliscor's right wing. No one responded, only staring. Cancer gasped faintly as the spear-like spines moved, tearing through the leathery material of his wing with an audible rip. The points dripped blood as they continued to flood the area with the crackling noise.
That's- That's crazy! Pace thought as he watched Luma swing the thorns again. That's no iron tail, is it!? How can she hold a move that powerful for that long?! They met Cancer's claws with a loud clank, which he brought up sluggishly, still in shock. One suddenly extended, scratching his neck. As he flinched, the other two broke through the guard as Luma shoved them straight towards his torso.
Before they hit him, Cross, in one complex maneuver, knocked Cancer away and brought his own blades down in an x, trapping the spikes by the base. Luma growled loudly at him, the points clanking loudly as they bristled against each other.
"Cross… what…?" the gliscor gasped.
"What the hell are you doing!?" Pace shouted.
With a grunt, the scyther shifted his feet for a more solid grip on the ground. "If I let you die," he finally said to Cancer, "If I let this child take a life, I'd be no better off than you."
The gliscor stared up at him wordlessly. Pace, meanwhile, spat. "So that's what you believe," He muttered. "You really are soft."
Cross looked up in surprise. In that moment, one of the spines retracted, only to reappear above his blades. The point slashed through his exoskeleton, scoring a gash right under his left arm. He jumped back as Luma forgot her previous target and leapt forward, all three spikes bristling randomly.
"No!" Both Kraid and Nyra shouted.
"Damn it," Pace growled, lightly pulling Radi off himself. The pachirisu barely noticed, watching the monster his sister had become. "Kraid! Get this webbing off my back!" He was still pinned down because of the silk.
"But…"
"Now!!" Pace roared at him.
"Aye!" At the harsh tone, Kraid immediately dashed forward. Pace leaned over, giving him a clear shot at the webbing, which the spider pokémon cut through in three bites of his fangs.
Meanwhile, Cross was parrying all the spikes with mad speed, though he was losing ground. Luma, still engulfed in the blue electricity, crawled forwards slowly as the thorns on her tail individually stabbed at the scyther. He shrugged off two stabs to the side with his right blade and was forced bring up his left to block another, wincing as he did so. Blood leaked from the gash in his armor, weakening his left arm. This isn't good. She's too unpredictable; there's no pattern whatsoever in her attack. I won't be able to keep this up. He brought up the left blade and stepped sideways, sliding away from another flurry of jabs. At this rate, I may be forced to...
"Damn it, you, get a hold of yourself!" While Cross kept the spikes busy, Pace dashed in, forming a spinning orb of water between his paws. "Brine!" He shouted, tossing the sphere at Luma. It hit her like boulder, splashing over her as the weight threw her across the clearing. The layer of electricity split erratically, becoming branching arcs of electricity again.
"That was... close," Cross sighed. He glanced worriedly at Pace. "You shouldn't be fighting with those injuries." Luma had recovered and stood up, leering at them without any trace of recognition.
"Shut up," Pace growled, leaning over. The wound had started bleeding again. "I'm not going to stand back and let that brat kill everyone." The berserk pachirisu interrupted them, firing a massive bolt of electricity at the two. Finally, Nyra made herself useful.
"Mirror Coat!" She leapt in front of it, wincing as the surge slammed into the shimmering layer that coated her body. It let off a brilliant glow as it reflected the massive amount of electricity, spreding it everywhere but behind her. Unfortunately, the shield didn't hold. The mirror coat shattered in a blinding flash, leaving the chain of lightning free to electrocute her. She fell to the floor, screaming out and writhing in pain as the sparks kept coming
"Damn it!" Pace roared, forming another sphere of briny water. He hurled it at Luma again, but this time, she noticed and dodged. The electricity was cut off from the glaceon,
"Stop! You…!" Cross shouted.
"Shut the hell up! I already told you!" Pace roared, taking another deliberate step as all of the lightning converged on him. "My body… Gaagh!!" He stopped as the electricity found a hole in the mud, the x-shaped wound.
Pace's body jerked in spasms as the energy forced itself into his body, activating every nerve in his body. His muscles were overloaded with commands, and white-hot pain seared every inch of his skin. The gashes in his chest burned the most fiercely, drowning out any remnants of thoughts he may have had. He couldn't tell if he was standing or squirming on the ground. All there was was the endless pain…
"Sister!!"
As suddenly as it appeared, the storm of electricity disappeared at once, letting Pace crumple to the ground, twitching. Luma fell to the floor gasping, then she looked at Radi. His death had been delayed this far, but his end was approaching.
"Sister…"
She quickly dashed to his side, ignoring her body's exhausted protests. Cross sighed. After a glance around and a quick priority check, he barked out orders. "Kraid! Get medical supplies for the buizel!"
"Aye!" The ariados scurried into the woods.
"Nyra," he said to the glaceon, who had recovered from the shock she received, "Take care of the traitor," he growled.
Nyra nodded and walked towards Cancer, who had been leaning on a tree after his wing was torn. He couldn't go anywhere fast on his short legs.
"What?! Get away from me!" he spat as she approached.
Nyra's eyes glowed. "Sheer Cold."
Meanwhile, Luma knelt by Radi. "Brother… why?" she asked.
He was silent. He finally gathered enough breath for his last words. "Follow… him…"
"Why? Why!? I don't understand!!" she cried.
He didn't respond, but only closed his eyes.
"…Brother… Wake up…" she murmured, her voice giving up on hope even when her mouth didn't. A solid thump on the back of her head. Her vision faded as she crumpled over.
Cross heaved another sigh. "Cross! I got them!" Kraid shouted, dragging several bags out of the undergrowth.
"Don't tell me! Apply them!"
"Aye!" The ariados quickly pulled a roll of bandages from one bag and started to unroll it.
"Kraid! Wait!" Nyra shouted. "His body's still covered in static. I have to take care of that first."
Kraid stopped, and nodded. Nyra approached Pace, her body covered in the shimmering layer again. She placed a paw on his back, and at once, great bolts of electricity lanced into her. For a second, the layer absorbed them all, then her body suddenly erupted in a crackle of blue lightning as the mirror coat reflected them away in random directions. Pace's body jerked under her paw as surge kept going, but it quickly receded.
Nyra let out a sigh, letting the mirror coat dissapiate. Quickly, he turned his body so he was laying on his back, his wounded chest facing upward. "The wound seems to have been completely cauterized by the electric shock," she muttered as Kraid rushed by, dragging the medical supplies. "I can't be certain, but his chances for survival are minimal, considering he took on enough energy to break my mirror coat."
"He'll survive."
"What? Cross, we can't be sure of that!" Nyra shouted at him.
"I'm sure," the scyther said simply. "He doesn't occur to me as the type who would die easily."
She blinked at him bemusedly. "Nyra! Focus!" Kraid said, roughly shaking her.
"R-Right! First, we have to clean the wound off..."
Cross sighed, reaching into a bag and skewering an oran berry with his blade. He ripped the azure peel off with his mouth as the two others worked on healing Pace.
000
Pace slowly came to consciousness. He blinked blearily. He winced, remembering what had happened moments before he passed out.
"You're awake."
Pace glanced up at the voice. His neck moaned in pain as he did so.
"A direct x-scissor in the chest, and run through by thousands of volts, which pretty much cauterized the gashes. There was a good chance that you wouldn't survive," Cross told him, his figure illuminated by flickering firelight. Pace's weak body confirmed his words. "We did all we could, but bandages and berries can only get you so far. Your body is still suffering from internal burns, so you'll need to get to the city soon." Each of the stripes over his body gleamed in the glow of the campfire.
Pace didn't respond for a while. "Where's Luma?"
Cross blinked at him. "Oh, the pachirisu. She's on the other side of the fire."
Pace sat up, ignoring his body's groans, and glanced around. Nyra and Kraid were sleeping near the blazing fire. Luma, looking well and healthy, was curled up tightly near the glaceon. Pace watched their chests fall and rise before looking up. A pine tree. A perfectly normal pine tree. All needles, no broad leaves or daisies hanging out. Normally, he would've been so glad that he could've sent a silent prayer of thanks to Palkia or whomever, but he was feeling too shitty for anything.
"We're out of the mystery dungeon," Cross said, following his gaze.
"The what?"
"The mystery dungeon."
"Yes. What's a mystery dungeon?"
Cross stared at him. "Did you lose a few brain cells when you got zapped!?" he blurted out before biting his tongue.
Pace growled back. "I had amnesia," he explained. "I woke up today with no idea who I am or where I was." Except that I was human. But I can't just say that without sounding insane.
The scyther was silent. "Mystery dungeons," he finally said, "are anomalies in the fabric of space and time. Space folds over upon itself to create endless, ever-shifting mazes which defy the very laws of reality. Time uncoils, speeding up your body's natural process, such as healing and metabolism. We only have theories on how they're created and how it's possible for them to exist."
Okay, that explains a lot. Pace thought to himself. Except, I'm pretty sure mystery dungeons didn't exist when I was a human. He glanced down at his chest. It was completely swathed in white bandages. He traced a forepaw across it, feeling the rough scar underneath. Pace blinked, then sighed. "Luma's still hanging around?"
"We knocked her out."
"Ah. And she's still out?"
"We've been feeding her a sleeping drug," Cross explained. "We weren't sure what she would do if she woke up."
Sleeping drug? Oh yeah, these guys are kidnappers… "So…"
"We buried the other pachirisu in the mystery dungeon."
"…" The fire crackled loudly.
"Cancer, Nyra dragged him to the city. They'll recognize his wanted poster and jail him."
"But not Nyra?"
"She has her means of avoiding detection."
"…A jail," Pace spat, glaring at the scyther. "Why didn't you let Luma kill him?"
Cross glanced sharply at him. "You believe I should have?"
"Yes." The answer was flat and immediate. Pace lay back on the ground, shutting his eyes.
"Your sense of justice is harsh, isn't it?"
"Harsh?" A snort. "This is a murderer we're talking about."
"And you think he should've been killed for that?"
"I would kill him myself if he was here." Pace said, opening his eyes just enough to glare at the scyther. His tone was dead serious. "A bastard is a bastard, no matter how many years you lock him in a box. Just get rid of them, I say. Immediately. Permanently."
"…You were ready to kill him yourself." Cross's face took on a grim expression. "Have you no respect for life?"
I've experienced death before…
Pace's paws visibly twitched underneath his head. "Respect for life?" he snarled, sitting up and shooting him a dark glare. "You're trying to tell me about respect for life?"
Cross met his glare evenly. "…I saw death one time."
Pace's glare wavered. "You did…?"
"Not head on, like you did back there. No, it was more like, as a bystander." The scyther continued, looking into the fire. "I was watching from the sidelines when I got a glimpse of it. In fact, it was already almost gone by the time I saw it. But even so, that one glimpse…" He trailed off, his eyes focused not on the blazing fire in front of him, but on the past. "I decided that, no one deserved it. No one deserved that terror, that awful emptiness, that void that was death…" He turned to Pace. "You've seen it straight in the face. And yet, you can still wish it on others?"
Pace looked back at him before lying on his back, shutting his eyes again. "It's not as if anyone would miss him."
"…So you have made up your mind." Cross's expression was unreadable.
…
"If you could drag that bastard to jail, why not me to a pokécenter?"
Cross looked blankly at him.
"…A hospital."
He understood that. "I wanted to make sure you understood what you meant by wishing death on Cancer."
"You risked my life to ask what I felt about murderers?"
"Just because you could've died doesn't mean you would've died. Somehow, I knew you would survive."
Pace blinked. "Um…"
…
"…If the mystery dungeon speeds my healing, couldn't you have kept me there?"
"Well… How should I put this?" Cross mumbled. "If stay within a mystery dungeon for too long, it will simply expel you."
"Expel…?"
"It just shoves you out the way you came in," he answered.
Pace blinked. "That sounds… I don't know. Why would that happen?"
"There are theories, but the most common one is that as you traverse the chaos of the dungeons, they eventually find your stability … repulsive."
"What"
"As I said, it's the most orthodox theory. Not that I get it, but… I haven't heard anything better." Cross shrugged sheepishly.
"…Hold on… Luma and Radi- they've told me they lived their entire lives in that mystery dungeon," Pace mumbled, now understanding Radi's words from earlier. "And there's those wild pokémon too…"
"Well, you see, mystery dungeons will only expel those who know what they're doing. As I said, the mystery dungeons will eject your stability, and you with it. If you're lost and confused, the chaos will embrace it, keeping you in. As for the Wilds, they exist as part of the mystery dungeon. They're simply mindless brutes, who know nothing but to fight and destroy."
"...Then I wouldn't have been expelled."
"But we would've," he answered. "And we had to be around to make sure Wilds didn't get to you."
"The more I hear about these mystery dungeons, the less sense they make," Pace grumbled, rubbing his head. He glanced at Luma. "Speaking of no sense… What the hell was that freak show anyways? I've never seen anything like that," Pace muttered.
"Naturally, didn't you have amnesia?"
Urk. He's right. How could I be sure of that?
"I'm not quite sure what the pachirisu did there myself," Cross continued nevertheless. "However, there are hundreds of such mysteries in the world…" Cross shook his head. "It's not important …Anyways, that pachirisu, Luma, came to protect you. You have the best chance of keeping her under control when she wakes up."
"And when will that be?"
"Tomorrow morning. We'll be leaving you on your own, I'm afraid. I no longer have any obligation to help you."
The fire continued to crackle steadily.
"…Good night."
Okay, I was mistaken. That flashback didn't answer anything. Next chapter should give more explanation about the pachirisu siblings' behavior. I mean it. So, DelinquentDuo, still think Pace is a cool, cool guy? :P I got this up pretty quickly, haven't I. Sorry, but it's past midnight here, so I'll add comments when I'm not half-asleep.
Okay, now that I've gotten five hours of sleep (gawd) and got back from school, I still don't have that many comments. The fight scene took a bit longer to finish than I anticipated, so the scene I had planned, which would've looked at things from Luma's PoV, got pushed to next chapter.
Review!
Edited 10-17-09
Minor changes up until the second scene. I've pretty much redone that one entirely, so go and reread it if you haven't.