The Tale of Twin Hearts

(Chapter 3) Into the Abyss

[Page 3] Vs. Satchel

"Gaahhhh!"

Wasting no time, May charged at the strange Gardevoir with her metal, feather-like sword. Laughing at the attempt, the Gardevoir simply pointed at May and shot another Thunderbolt, aiming straight for her face. As soon as the bolt made contact, it feebly clanked against her skin and dissapated. The Gardevoir's eyes widened and quickly ducked and weaved skillfully as May unleashed a 5-fold strike at them. Upon the fifth swing, the gardevoir stopped the blade with the tips of their fingers, now in the shape of a sharp claw, holding it in place.

"Not bad May, I see you've been training since I've been away, heheheh," The Gardevoir cackled. You can just hear the malevolence in their voice as they inspected the blade. "Did you also train yourself to be resistant to my electricity? Sweet 'o May, how thoughtful of you to be thinking about me~.

"I trained it incase one of the mistresses needed me to dispose of some old rubbish. Looks like I get to do it for free," May said slyly. Hearing it, the Gardevoir's face revealed a hint of twisted anger as they frown. It was clear it got to them as the Gardevoir reached over with their free hand in attempt to grab May by the throat. With quick reflexes, the Human-like Skarmory knocked the gardevoir's hand out -of the way before kicking them in the chest, knocking the orb out of their hand and them to the ground. Out of nowhere, the Gardevoir scuffed and began laughing, this time, it was more harsh and scornful.

"Me? Rubbish? Hah...They needn't to look far for some old trash lying in wait. Afterall, who'd you think sent me here, huh?"

Hearing it, May lowered her stance a little.

"What? I highly doubt any of the majesties took you back in."

"Well, you'd be WRONG! AH-HAHAHA!" With no warning, The gardevoir opened her mouth and let loose an Ice Beam that May rolled out of the way in time for, but something was slightly off about the move. The ice was so clear, it looked just as dark as the night sky, blending in with the surroundings. Any Pokemon would have assumed it was some kind of weird dark move, but I knew better; It was black Ice, the most dangerous kind and no, it's not because of how slippery it is. It's heavy, full of water, and if launched at full speed, it can puncture steel that's several inches thick. If a Pokemon uses Ice Beam and it comes out as Black Ice, it usually means they're inexperienced and using waaaay too much energy. Heck, it'll even knock'em out if they use it for too long. However, this Gardevoir definitely wasn't inexperienced with it. Her aim was precise, going for May's chest; her heart. They had the intent on killing.

Whipping their head around, They continued firing the beam, hitting trees, freezing off branches, and even almost hitting Lave in the process. Furious, Lave tried to rush in with flame in his hands, but May held her hand out, stopping him. Lave gritted his teeth. Noticing the frustration, the Gardevoir got up with a twisted grin on their face as they stared down the Ralts.

"You want a piece of me? Come on, I don't have a all day for rejects like you."

Unable to stop him in time, Lave charged straight for the Gardevoir. Going in for a Fire Punch, the Gardevoir flashed a nasty grin and extended their fingers, turning one of their hands into a sharp claw once sb. Noticing it, My heart sank as I shouted "LAVE! LOOK OUT!", but it was too late. May, who I still thank to this day, dashed in lightning reflexes and tackled him aside, taking the Shadow Claw straight to the face. Hunks of metal flew into the air as the attack created a huge metal gash, disfiguring May's face. As excruciating as it looked, May showed no signs of pain. In response, she quickly grabbed one of the flying hunks of metal out of the air, morphing it into a small blade. With retaliation, May slashed at the Gardevoir, aiming for her neck. Unable to move out of the way in time, the blade instead sliced off the frill that curled around the Gardevoir's ear, cleanly.

"Grrr," Wiping the sadistic grin off her face, extended her other hand turning it into a claw and began trading blows with each other, swords against claws. The clashing of metal filled the air as May and the Gardevoir hack'n slashed at each other, almost as if they we dancing. For a while, it felt like the two were at equal footing with each other until May, with her larger blade, spun around and hit the Gardevoir's arm with the flat part of her blade, causing the monster of a Gardevoir to stagger. Before they could retaliate, May held the smaller blade up to the Gardevoir's throat, stopping them in their tracks.

"Bravo, May, you've bested me. Go on, finish the job. Heheh, you know you want to."

May eyed the Gardevoir, showing no change in emotion. "...Who sent you."

The Gardevoir scoofed, rolling her eyes as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "There's no way you're this dense, May. I guess the last 200 years hasn't been kind you that pretty head of yours, or well, what's left of it, kekeke!

Unamused, the human-like Skarmory slashed the Gardevoir across the face, right in the same place she cut them earlier, creating a gash. Slowly, she raise the much larger sword under she chin. The Gardevoir gave her a crazy grinned.

"THAT'S MORE LIKE IT! GO ON! DO IT! WHAT'S STOPPING YOU!"

"I want answers," May said flatly. "And I'm not going to ask you again, Satchel. Who sent YOU!"

The Gardevoir cackled once more. "Who else? The Electrified, Cryophoenix herself, Francine Aerostine!

The Gardevoir let out a horrify, evil laugh that filled the area. Their voice echoed, filling the air to the point that it sounded like the entire forest was laughing too. Confused, May lowered her blade and took a few steps back, shaking her head profusely.

"N-no...she would never do that, she's my mistress' sister! She's always been a just Pokemon

Noticing something was wrong, Miya ran up to May, grabbing her by the arm and shaking her.

"May, I don't know what's going on, but you need to snap out of it. Look!"

Pointing at the Gardevoir, May stared in absolute horror. The Gardevoir, in the middle of her nightmarish laugh, feel to their knees. Slowly, their eyes began turning black. Hazy poured out of their mouth and out of the gash, a thick liquid that looked like tar. Shaking and contorting, they let out an eerie screech. The same tar-like substances that poured out of the gash began flooding out of her mouth as well. Slowly the substance covered her body until the was nothing left but a shadowy figure. With its mouth wide open, a pulsating yellow glow illuminated the inside, giving light to its monstrous fangs as a Arbok-like tongue whipped around in the air. As we thought it couldn't get any worse, giant shadowy-like appendages, almost like long, thin Ariados legs, sprouted out of their back, lifting them up off the ground. Pressure was in the air...

"Come. Enjoy the sweet embrace of DEATH!"

"What in the living heck is that..." I said, unable to look away from it. I was afraid that if I did, I'd be too late for Mr to get away.

"...I...I don't know." Miya said, also unable to pry her eyes away from the nightmarish figure. "May, what is that thing!? What do we do!?"

Without looking, May quietly said "Run". Without hesitation, we all ran the opposite direction, grabbing the Orb along the way. Behind us a horrific screech ripped through the forest, causing my skin to crawl as I heard what sounded like a large beast following us, ready to devour.

Thinking we'll escape, Miya said something I was hoping to never hear.

"Wait, we're missing someone!"

"Who!?" I said, looking around, still running for my life. "You're here, Lave, May, myself, and..."

My heart sank like a rock. You have to be kidding me...

Pumpkin's Missing...