Yeesh, these things are a lot harder to do then they look. Having to expand on something without removing any of the main events is tricky at best, and this redux is probably the expanding at its hardest. There was so little to play with and I couldn't spoil later events either (although I did change a little detail here and there) so there was a lot of fiddling. And several draft forms. Still, the next few should be easier and really start to expand on what the originals missed. I'll try and work on them when I get the chance.
Anyway, our maverick lizard finally gets an identity; and a major attitude problem. Cue chaos.
Episode Two: Matador (redux)
I couldn't believe where I found myself. I'd been transported out of my clearing, strait back into it! The place looked identical, but I could tell that it was a fake. There was no breeze or scent to it. I slumped to the ground, looking up at the even more fake sky and growling softly to myself.
"That kid is going to wish he'd never been born with legs after I'm finished with him."
---
However I was snapped out of my beautiful mental picture of what I was going to do to Moron by that tugging feeling, it wasn't as sudden as last time but it was there. This time, I didn't mind though. Mainly because it was pulling me out of the simulated clearing and into a real one instead. I got to my feet when I'd reappeared, sneaking a quick glance around. It wasn't my home clearing, the grass was much darker and the clearing was a lot smaller. There was no apple tree, but the rest of the trees seemed to be the same. We were still in Viridian that much was for certain.
---
There was a whistling coming from above and I glared up against a bird that was barely half my size, which isn't exactly large to say the least. Anyway, while I was trying to figure out what the hell was going on, this bird was hopping back and forth along a branch while staring at me the entire time. It was kind of creepy. Those large piercing eyes just staring. Not blinking.
---
"Flame! Attack the Pidgey!" that familiar annoying voice of Moron sounded out from behind me and I growled, turning around to stare at the little brat.
"What did you call me?" I snarled, making sure that my rather pointy teeth were bared. I couldn't believe it, I'd been caught by an idiot who expected me to just attack things for no reason at all. That and he'd given me a stupid name, while that Squirtle didn't. How was that justice?
---
I growled again, feeling the inside of my throat heat up as a fireball began to take shape. Just as I was about to launch it at the confused Human's face, just to show him that I wasn't going to listen to his retarded orders, when there was a loud screech from behind me and I instinctively dived face first onto the floor as a shadow shot over head. That bird, that I now knew was a Pidgey, had tried to divebomb me. I growled and launched the fireball I'd prepared strait after the damn thing but it just swerved and came back for another go.
"Oh, hell no," I muttered to myself, spotting just how nasty looking those claws were and rolling to the side to avoid being gutted by them. The brown feathered freak spun around and landed on the branch again, it's wings still outstretched and ready. That didn't matter anymore, sod trying to talk my way out. It'd attacked, it'd started the game and I intended to win. Another fireball was charged and launched, the bird diving off of the branch just in time for the flames to shoot past and just miss its tail feathers.
---
I pushed myself up so I was standing and kept using small fireballs to keep that bird away from me. It was ducking and dodging everything I threw at it, even that rock I'd snuck in, and I was really starting to get annoyed. The fact that its damn squawking was giving me a headache wasn't helping much either.
"Just die, you stupid birdbrain!"
"Fire doesn't seem to be working, maybe we need a new plan here," a voice in my head spoke up, I heard it occasionally when I was in a scrap and it usually provided helpfull advice. Although sometimes it did just get plain abusive.
----
But I decided to listen, stopping my fireball barrage. Slight problem was that I hadn't came up with a new plan and the bird now had a clear shot at me. I barely avoided serious injury as I dived to the side, its talons raking my shoulder enough to cause a small cut in the scales and flesh. Moron was mercifully silent as I spun around to see a follow up attack coming and evaded that too. That one I managed to dodge completely unscathed, just. The gust of wind that followed was enough to send me crashing to the ground.
"I'm out of here," I growled under my breath as I hauled myself back up and inhaled, the movement causing the Pidgey to veer away to avoid a fireball that never came. I wasn't planning on using fire, I was going to use a much different airborne attack from my arsenal. I exhaled and a massive cloud of thick black smoke that rapidly spread out around me. The arid taste almost caused me to gag, I hated using that technique, and it did manage to make my eyes water. Which made no difference to how far I could see, the smoke was that thick that I could barely see my feet. But that meant that the Pidgey would have a problem seeing me too.
Unfortunatly, the fact that I hadn't moved kinda made the Pidgey's inability to see sorta pointless. I only knew it was coming by the sound of its wings and the smoke waving in the wind they kicked up. I threw myself out of the side of the cloud and rolled onto my back. The talons had shot over my spine, I'd felt the points just scrape over my scales. The Pidgey blasted out of the rear of the cloud, looking a little disoriented itself for a few seconds before pulling up and letting the smoke finally fade away.
But that didn't matter to me, I'd had an idea. I now had a weapon or, more specifically, several potential ones. I hauled myself to my feet as the Pidgey turned back, ducking under its attack and hauling tail towards the nearest tree. I let loose another smokescreen, one much thicker and having an even worse aftertaste than the first. Again I heard the Pidgey approach and this time I dropped strait down, the bird shooting overhead. There was a loud crack, kinda merged with a squawk, and I smirked as the smokescreen started to fade and revealed the bird crumpled to the floor. There was a large spiderweb of cracks in the bark of the tree, where the Pidgey's beak had hit.
"Beaten by a tree," I sighed, untill a loud cheer came from nearby.
---
I frowned, I'd forgotten about the Human idiot completely.
"You did it, Flame!" the Moron in question said as he leapt up and down, waving his hands in the air, "I knew you could do it. A little unorthadox but you won!"
"No thanks to you, numbnuts," I growled, flaring my tail flame up as Moron removed another of those red and white balls from his belt. No way was he throwing anymore of those around. Not in my forest. He dropped the ball, and himself, to the ground as I launched a fireball strait at his grinning face.
Stupid brat deserved it.