The pokemon contest wasn't as boring and uninteresting as Riven thought. It was actually quite the spectacle. The contestants were called coordinators. They took the stage and made their 'appeals', combining different moves to make dazzling visuals and effects.
Some looked "cool", some were beautiful, and others were simply stunning. The girl he was supposed to be protecting afterwards, this so called 'Princess of Hoenn', made a wonderful appeal that made diamond dust come down onto the stage. He had to clap; it was impressive. This green-haired kid's was equally as impressive. His Roserade created figures made of leaves that interacted with each other, before finally bursting into brilliant lights.
The battle rounds looked similar to regular pokemon battles, but instead the contestants had a point meter that went down if their pokemon were hit by stylish moves. Riven was intrigued by the flashy combinations and reversals between green hair kid and May, realizing why the crowd was so energized. He simply stared in awe and wonder, too mesmerized by the combinations to criticize or clap.
It was a fierce and spectacular battle between the two final coordinators, but May ultimately won, winning with only a few points remaining. The audience clapped and roared at her victory.
Van stepped forward, bringing May up to the very front of the stage. He smiled wide and presented the ribbon and the jewel to the coordinator, placing the necklace around her neck. Riven's eye started to sting a bit again, looking at the small white jewel. He put on some shades that came with his guard uniform, the stone's light hurt his eye and made the black jewel on his neck pulse a deep blue color.
"I am proud to announce the winner of the 40th annual Petalburg City contest, the Princess of Hoenn, May!" The crowd exploded into cheers and congratulatory screams, proud that their home contestant had taken the ribbon. There was only one oddity however.
The security team next to him was deathly silent. No claps, whistles, smiles, or any hint of joy. They kept glancing at their watches, most of them were sweating. The contest hall was air conditioned and pleasantly cool, they shouldn't be sweating. That niggled at him in a way that set off his paranoia and raised his suspicion.
Why do they keep looking at their watches? Are they waiting for something? Maybe it is just the attitude of a security? No. Not possible. Van said I was the first, implying that these other six had come later.
Which meant that they had seen the flier like him and signed up, but judging from their behavior, all of them signed up at the same time. Given their demeanors, why would six capable looking men like this all get a job as security detail where they barely asked for last names? In fact, he had expected a bunch of random people and desperates like him to lazily guard the place. Not these blowhards. Ulterior motives?
Feigning ignorance, Riven continued clapping and applauding, while keeping an eye on the men next to him. On the stage, Norman joined his daughter and waved at the crowd. They began walking off stage and out of the contest hall. Riven followed, while the other securities escorted the other contestants out. They headed outside, walking in between two sides of the crowd, which were separated by metal railings.
May and her father were shaking hands and taking photos with fans. Nothing seemed off at first.
Then the feeling he got back in the hall returned stronger than before. It made him nauseous, causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand up and a wave of electricity to crawl down his spine. Fully alert and vigilant, he scanned the crowd for any danger.
His paranoia spiked and became almost overwhelming. He turned in every direction, analyzing faces and looking at hands. Seeing nothing, he turned back to May, who was about to shake the hand of a man in a business suit.
A glint of silver, and Riven moved.
The businessman's eyes turned hollow and empty, like a madman's, as he shook May's hand. Then, he placed a vice-like grip on her right shoulder, hurting her. "Stop it. You're hurting me!" Norman was about to step in when the man in the suit pulled out something metallic, holding the knife in reverse. He was about to bring it down on her when someone gripped his arm. It was her security guard, a black haired young man with shades.
Knife, assassin. Not today, not while this is my job. This man wanted to assassinate the girl. There was no time for questions. He needed to put him down before the others came. This was no random occurrence, it was pre-meditated. There would be more in the crowd, assassins never came alone. Unless they were good, but he doubted this guy was sufficiently trained. If one fails, send another to finish the job. I want to get paid.
He brought the man's arm down and twisted it, snapping the bones in his wrist. The knife dropped and Riven caught it as it fell, flipping in reverse. He held it up and stabbed the man three times in the chest, burying the knife all the way to the handle into the assassin's heart. The man stared at Riven in dying surprise and fell lifeless onto the floor.
May screamed, shocking the crowd who only stared, witnessing the death of a man. They looked at Riven in disgust and mortification.
Chaos erupted. Adults and children bolted, running for their lives. Some got on their knees, screaming in horror. People shoved and pushed through the crowd, trying to get away. The news crews stared, cameras capturing everything.
It was then that a man rose up from the crowd and flashed a small, metal weapon. It flashed and a loud bang rang their ears. Riven turned around, seeing Norman back away a few steps. He put a hand to his gut, seeing blood cover his palm. He sunk to the floor, wounded.
Riven turned to his Absol, "go! Mega horn!" The shooter desperately tried reloading, his first shot had missed the girl and had hit her father instead. He replaced the bullet and aimed the gun again, nearly getting the girl in his sights, until a green light appeared next to him. His eyes widened, feeling something tear into him. He looked down, noticing that the security's Absol had cut him from left shoulder to right hip. Blood sprayed out as he fell. It coated the ground and railing, as well as some of the people around him.
May had screamed so much she couldn't anymore. She was deathly afraid, her knees were weak and quivering. She watched her father struggle to breathe, having just been shot. Someone shook her. It was her guard. His face was full of dire concern. "Snap out of it. Focus May. I need you to focus."
She wavered, " I-I-I c-an't."
"Yes, you can, now listen to me." He held her face with his hands. "I need you to help Norman up and take him to one of the news vans. Tell them you need to get to the hospital right away. He is bleeding badly and needs medical attention right now. My pokemon will escort you there. Now go!"
"What about you?"
"I will be fine, I will take care of anyone who tries to follow you. They are after you, May. Do not let them catch you." He motioned his absol and his kirlia to follow them. "You two, protect them. Keep them safe. If anyone tries to hurt them, take them out." His pokemon nodded and stood beside the girl and her father, leading them back to the van.
The rest of the security team broke out of the hall. They looked at the two dead assassins on the floor and cursed. Spotting Riven, they knew he had been the one who ruined their primary plan. The tallest and most foreboding of them, a bald man with tan skin, hissed. "You little shit. I knew you were going to be trouble." He looked past Riven, spotting their vehicle. They had to get through the security before they could chase after the girl. "I guess we'll just have to kill you. Then we'll kill the girl." He pointed at the black haired young man, "Kill him."
One of them rushed forward, eager to carry out the deed.
Adrenaline rushed into Riven's veins. Life or death. Kill or be killed. This was it. He fell into his stance, waiting for the man to come to him.
He predicted the man's right hook, dodging to the right while grabbing his arm. He turned his back towards his attacker and used his body weight to throw him over his shoulder onto the pavement. Riven lifted his leg and mercilessly crushed the man's windpipe. He left him writhing on the floor, gasping for air.
Two more incoming.
He exchanged blows with them both, parrying their rights and lefts with practiced ease. They were not experienced fighters. Diving in between both of them, he rolled on the ground behind them. Delivering a low heel kick to the side of the knee of the man on the left, he heard a jarring snap. The man howled in pain and fell onto his knees, screaming in anguish. Riven recovered and narrowly dodged a baton to the head, now right next to the man. Shifting in a side stance, with his left hip facing the other man, he spun to the right, striking the man's skull with a spinning kick. His assailant fell on the ground like a sack of grain.
He had no time to breathe as two others swung at him with metal batons. He dodged baton strikes, backing up considerably, trying to evade vicious blows aimed at his head. Ducking under a horizontal attack, he gave a right elbow to the man's floating ribs, followed by a knee strike to the diaphragm, knocking his air out. Seeing the other man approaching, he elbowed the gasping man in the temple, dropping him to the ground.
Riven was unable to react fast enough to dodge the metal baton from the other attacker. It smashed across his left side, no doubt bruising if not cracking his ribs. He recoiled in pain, staggering back a few steps, grabbing onto the metal railing on the right. Predicting a vertical smash to his head, he grit his teeth together and dodged to the left, while extending his own baton. The enemy's weapon clanged against the railing, missing him.
His attacker whipped back, only to be met with a baton to the fingers. His fingers cracked, causing him to drop his weapon. The black haired man struck again, smashing the baton on his clavicle, then into his head, knocking him out.
Riven now faced the last man. The largest one of the group. The man was massive. His opponent extended his own baton.
They clashed, batons clanging against each other. However, the bigger man was at an advantage. He was stronger, beating Riven back with his brutal strikes. He swung down in a powerful overheard vertical strike, smashing against Riven's weapon, forcing it out of his hand. He kicked it away and slammed his weapon across the smaller security's mouth.
Riven fell back a few paces away, bleeding from the mouth. The strike disoriented him and left his vision blurry-too dazed to notice the larger man discard the baton for a much deadlier weapon.
The larger security guard laughed at the younger man's pitiful attempt to save the day. "You want to play the hero, huh kid? Wake up. On second thought, never mind. You're dead anyway." He grabbed Riven's head and smashed it into the railing, causing blood to run down from his scalp down into his right eye. He stood over him and lifted him up. Then he took out a knife and plunged it repeatedly into his abdomen. Blood dripped onto the ground. The older man cackled sadistically. He enjoyed seeing the boy die.
Riven gasped, feeling the blade stab him. His vision started to blacken.
Dying. Time seemed to slow down, his consciousness fading.
He found himself in a pitch black space, with no lights anywhere to be seen. A large reddish black ball of energy appeared to him.
Pathetic. You used to be strong. You used to be relentless. Merciless. Now you are soft. This world has changed you. And now look at you, dying like a bitch.
You discarded your strength for freedom. Trainer? Hah! You are a soldier, loyal to the Cerul clan. Do not forget where you came from. Draw your strength from me, or I will consume you.
It chuckled, low and diabolical.
Now… time to have some fun.
Riven stopped gasping, clutching the other man's arm with inhuman strength. He growled, like a frenzied Houndoom. A deadly aura washed over the area, scaring the crowd, but especially the other security guard. He couldn't pull away.
One second he was overpowering the runt and the next, he was stronger than five men put together. What the fuck? Freak! He tried to pull his hand away in a futile attempt to get away. The kid's grip was too strong. How did he get so strong? He looked at the young man's face, which had blood running down from his face down onto his right eye, his shades were cracked and broken. But the most terrifying part was the savage grin that the boy had on his face. His teeth were stained red, a look of vicious glee on his face.
Then he felt the boy crush his hand with a vice like grip. The bones in his hand creaked and he was blasted backwards with a strike that seemed to have come from a Machoke, not some kid. The kid stood there looking down at his wounds, his arms displaying faint black circuits that hadn't been there before. He gripped the knife stuck in his abdomen and pulled it out, blood shooting out. Then he stopped bleeding. How?
Walking slowly over to him, the larger man screamed in pain and fear. "DON'T COME CLOSE YOU FUCKING FREAK! GET AWAY! SOMEBODY HELP ME!"
Riven stopped in front of the cowering man, stabbing him in the knee with his own knife. He was not going to escape. He smelled the man's fear and released a guttural and deranged laugh. His right eye opened up, a blood red color, glowing dully.
In his eyes, the other man saw madness and evil. It was like staring at your worst nightmare. The younger man looked crazed, bloodthirsty, and sinister. The security guard was about to scream.
His scream was stopped by the monsters finger. It spoke, mad and demonic. "Hero? Me? I hope that was a joke." The freak slammed a fist into his jaw, knocking loose teeth and rupturing gums. Blood sprayed out onto the pavement. The blow felt like a car had hit him in the jaw, dislocated in one hit.
The demon continued hammering away with explosive punches to the man's face, leaving him a bloody mess. The man slumped onto the contest hall's doors, already unconscious. He was about to deliver the finishing blow when something inside stopped him.
Get out.
Riven awoke in his body again, struggling against the monster in his mind. He had never experienced this before, even as a soldier. This was entirely new, and utterly terrifying. The deadly aura lifted, leaving behind only the horror and fear which were present before.
He spat out crimson fluid. Inspecting his abdomen, he found there were no stab wounds. They were completely nonexistent, healthy skin where there should be puncture wounds. He clutched his burning ribs, looking around. The crowd was silent. They were staring at the young man, who seemed completely different from a moment ago. Forgetting the psychotic behavior from a moment ago, they only saw the man that protected the people and the Princess from killers. However, they were still wary of him, backing away from him considerably, fearful of the blood.
"Is everyone alright?" They slowly nodded in confirmation. He groaned. Sirens were heard, the police were coming. The news crews could not believe what they had just captured on live tv. Reporters stood deathly still with their mouths agape. The cameramen held onto their cameras for dear life, paralyzed at the scene.
The police arrived and flooded the scene, escorting people out, gazing at all the blood. Three men were dead, with five other unconscious. One of which was brutally battered near the contest hall doors, leaving blood stains on the walls. It was an ugly sight. They had seen things like this before but the feeling of disgust never got old.
A detective examined the bodies. One of the men was slashed diagonally from left shoulder to right hip, a bloody mess. The other had a crushed windpipe. He probably died from asphyxiation. The final fatality had three stab wounds in the chest, with the murder weapon still stuck inside his body. Taking the other unconscious men custody, he looked at the sole standing figure in the middle of the mess. A black haired young man bleeding from the mouth and scalp, clutching his ribs, hands bloodied and beaten, gaze distant.
The detective cuffed him.
Back at the police precinct building, the detective had the young man in an interrogation room. He was still bloody and beaten. His right eye was swollen closed and blood was drying around it. He had washed his mouth of blood into a sink in the bathroom. He looked like shit.
The detective, John Williams, gripped the bridge of his nose. This was a high profile case. Attempted assassination of a celebrity in broad daylight, the murder of three suspects, and several reports of the man in the room going insane. Motives of either side, unknown.
Witnesses testified that the man in the cell protected Norman's daughter from an assassination attempt and stopped pursuers. However, the detective was highly suspicious.
A security guard, stopped a whole team of men by himself? Security guards are never trained for combat. At most, they sit around and let things unfold. Looking at the footage, he saw something that deeply disturbed him.
The young man fought professionally, and didn't hesitate to kill. He's killed before. But he's so young… and I've never seen a style like that before. Karate? And then there's that. Williams rewinded the recording and played it over, watching the radical shift in behavior after being stabbed. His attacks became wild and relentless, almost bloodthirsty. Witnesses reported a heavy feeling in the air of dread and evil. Could just be shock.
Williams turned to his partner. "Rose, can you bring me some files on this guy? Residency records, hospital visits, jobs, anything. Check his prints too."
"I can't." She responded, surprising him. She never said that.
"Why not?"
"Because there isn't anything to give." Rose showed him an empty computer screen. The words read : No files found.
"What? No files found? That's impossible."
"I know."
"Check again, just in case."
This man was a ghost. A nobody. A shadow. Who the fuck is he? He groaned, dreading what the suspect was going to say. Guess I have no choice.
Williams stepped into the interrogation room, placing some files on the desk. The man across from him looked bored and impatient but far from nervous. He started, "Look buddy. I know you've had a rough day but I need you to tell me what happened. This is serious. Everything, since the beginning. I'll be asking you questions about anything I deem important. Is that clear?"
Nodding in response, 'Gray' started to explain ,"Fine. I walked in the office yesterday to apply for a job. I saw the posts around the city and figured, why the hell not? I have no money, and my pokemon were starting to starve."
Williams interjected, "Why did you apply for that job specifically?
"I had no money," he repeated in annoyance. "I am a trainer, feeding growing pokemon is expensive. I tried searching for a week for a job but found nothing. This was the only thing I could find. And it paid well, more than enough for what I needed."
The detective scribbled something in barely legible script on a small notepad.
"Continue."
"So I came in around noon, got dressed and went to the event. Nothing strange happened during the actual contest. Then we went outside and you know the rest."
His explanation was incredibly vague. Williams needed more details. "What can you tell me about the other security guards there?"
"I did not associate with them. I was there to do my job, get out and get paid. However, they did change in behavior after the contest winner was announced."
"What sort of change?"
"They stopped looking at their watches and started staring at May, not in lust or admiration. It was more like 'acquired target'. I found it odd so I kept an eye on them."
"They were working with the men who tried to assassinate her?"
"I would presume so. I also found this." He showed the detective a bloody pin with an atomic insignia on it. It didn't look familiar to Williams.
Taking it, he examined the pin. He would have to cross reference it with anything in the records and see if anything came up. "You took it off one of them?"
"Yeah." His calm responses unnerved the detective. Calm and collected responses always set him on edge. They just weren't natural.
"Alright. Tell me why you killed those men." Williams knew that the boy didn't have to kill them. It could have been avoided. So why did he do it? Did he enjoy it? He certainly looked like a person that could go on random psychotic rampages.
"Is that a rhetorical question detective? I killed them because they were going to kill May and attempted to kill me. If she dies, I cannot get paid and if I die, money is pointless. So rephrase your question detective."
"You didn't have to kill them." The kid's responses were pissing him off, each successive response exponentially aggravated him. This guy just felt fifty shades of secretive and rubbed him wrong almost as bad as a serial killer did.
"Yes. I did. Lethal force must be met with lethal force. I did what I had to."
"Killing isn't something you can do so lightly. You're only a boy, you don't need to do this. They didn't have to die. We could have taken care of it. Security guards don't go out and murder people, that's not how it works."
Riven scoffed. "Morality is just a bunch of Tauros shit someone on a high horse invented to think themselves better than others. Oh, no killing? How good of you. Then when someone puts a knife at your throat, you can revel in how much of a saint you are because you deny your nature and refuse to end a life. Besides, I did my job. I am expecting my pay."
"We are dealing with a near assassination and you only think about money?" Williams was stunned, unable to believe what the young man had just said to him.
"I do not care for your concerns or of anyone else's detective. I simply want my money and be on my way. If they tread on me, I will destroy them. If they do not, I will ignore them." No hesitation, no waver in his voice. Resolute and simple truth.
Williams watched him sternly, wondering where exactly this kid grew up to think so cynically. "Then why did you protect her?! Why not just let her die?"
"Her life was my job." He spread his hands, indicating that his response was final.
The detective gathered his documents and left the room, almost snarling.
Rose asked, "John. What happened?"
"That kid is a fucked up mess, that's what. He thinks killing someone is totally fine. He says he just wants to get paid. He doesn't give a rat's ass about what happened. Girl nearly dies and all he cares about is his fifteen thousand? Fuck him. Probably grew up in some shithole and immigrated over here. Fucking savages. Now I can understand Unova's sentiments."
His sergeant put a hand on his shoulder. "John, calm down. We all know how you feel about people like him. But you need to let it go. We can't hold him. There are hundreds of people that saw that video. It was self defense. And, there was a request."
"A request? What fucking request? From whom?"
"Norman. You may be worried about letting this kid off the hook, but if his little girl died, Norman would've done much worse. We're lucky the kid only killed four of them. Last one doesn't have much time left, from all the brain damage he suffered. Kid's going free but we'll keep an eye out for him until top brass decide if we should arrest dangerous trainers. Interrogate the others when they wake up, they might provide more answers."
Williams sat down in his desk, fuming as he saw the kid walk out of the interrogation room and out of the building.
"Norman doesn't let killers go, no matter who they are. You know that."
The sergeant grinned. "Yeah, I do. These days trainers think they can do whatever they want. But we're not exactly letting him go, we're just giving him a head start, to appease the local leader. This kid turns up anywhere else again, you better believe it'll take the damn Champion kissing the government's boots to keep him out of prison."
The detectives laughed darkly, watching Riven as he walked out of the precinct, still clutching his side. He didn't spare them a glance.
I better get hazard pay out of this.
He entered the Petalburg City hospital, asking for a Norman. The nurse directed him to the fourth floor, where he was currently located.
He slowly opened the door, seeing a bed-ridden Norman with a breather mask attached to his face. May instantly sat up, realizing who just walked in. His Absol and his Kirlia were next to her, trying to comfort her.
Riven eyed her dully, feeling exhausted. "You all right?"
"Yeah." She noticed his sorry state. "I'm sorry. For what happened to you back there. And thank you. For protecting me. Most security guards wouldn't risk their life like that. Why did you?"
Wait, what?
"Really? I just thought it was my job. Although, I did not know I would be protecting you from a bloody assassination. Van better pay at least another five thousand or we will have words," he said, clenching a fist in the air. May shrunk at the gesture, remembering how he killed that man.
A few minutes of awkward silence passed by.
Riven stared at Norman, seeing his chest rise and fall."Is he fine? What... hit him?"
May eyed him strangely. "He got shot. By a gun."
Riven blinked several times, remembering the bang. Research guns, he reminded himself. "Right, so much was happening that I forgot."
May accepted the answer, shaking her head. She grimaced at the wound on her father's abdomen. "He's stable, but the bullet damaged his spine somewhat. He's going to need a lot of physical therapy. The news crew drove us here as fast as possible and the doctors started surgery right away. He won't be stuck in a wheelchair, at least. I'm really glad."
"Good. How did my pokemon treat you?"
"Your pokemon were amazing. Your Absol is very kind and beautiful." He scoffed at the kind comment. "But your Kirlia is a bit mischievous. It put its face in my chest." She complained, pointing at her chest. Riven choked. "I punched him for it, I hope you don't mind."
"Not at all, actually. He is a bit… uh, like that. I need to do something about that." Clearing his throat, he stood up. "Well, good luck to you and I hope your father makes a speedy recovery. I have been in the hospital before. Let me tell you, not pleasant." He snapped his fingers.
"Mischief, White Queen, time to get paid." He said as his two pokemon walked towards him. He did not want to worry the girl with such things. Instead, he gave her a warning. "May, hide that jewel. Keep it safe. Do not let anyone see it. It might be more valuable than you think. Maybe." Deliberately keeping the jewel's supposed significance to himself, he left the room.
May watched him leave, he was a strange guy but there was something of an other to him. It wasn't friendly or annoying, or even hostile. It was just there. There was no real feeling to it. Neutral, that's what it was. She sat back down, staring at the door.
Gray. I'll remember that name.
It was late. Riven stood in Van's office, watching him write a check.
"Alright, Gray. I have indeed included five thousand extra as your requested hazard pay. You did stop an assassination. You're a hero!"
Riven rolled his eyes. "I hate heroes. All they are good for is saying motivational speeches and dying."
"That's quite depressing. Well, uh, here you go! Exchange it at a bank and they will give it to you in cash or you can leave it in your bank account."
The black haired trainer took the check without a word and turned to the dressing room. He came back outside dressed in his casual attire, carrying a large case over his back. Heading for the door, Van spoke up, voice a bit apologetic. "Gray. I'm-" Gray cut him off.
"People have been saying sorry to me all day. Have a pleasant evening, Van." The door shut, leaving Van in silence.
Riven walked out of the building, more worn out than he had ever felt before. He made it back to the park, dropping onto the grass below. Spreading himself over the grass, he stared into the sky. It was clear, no clouds in sight.
Stars littered the sky, forming constellations and clusters. An enormous belt of stars was seen overhead. Galaxies. Collections of billions upon billions of stars, rotating around one center. He and his pokemon watched the stars, pointing out constellations he could see. The universe was vast. Bigger than anything he had ever imagined. He stuck a hand out, trying to touch the stars put it down, this time resting it on his right eye.
What happened to me? And am I even in the same world? Assassinations in broad daylight?
Turning on the soft grass, he saw a rose with crimson petals. Closing his hand over it, he crushed it.
"I hate roses."
Amy sat in her parents' backyard in Mauville City. It was a beautiful night outside. The streets were peaceful and the sky was clear, blankets of stars everywhere. The milky way was visible in the night sky, a bright milky ridge of stars clumped together. She stroked her Swablu, which sat on her head. Her plumage was extremely soft, feeling good against her fingers.
"So peaceful. I wonder who else is seeing the same thing?" She asked her pokemon, who chirped in response.
Her thoughts turned to Gray, whom she abruptly left in Petalburg. It had been nearly a week since then. She hoped that he had found a job and had enough money to go to Rustboro. She remembered his dour face, his majestic Absol, the smug little kirlia, and that impossibly cute Torchic. But most of all, she remembered that strange blue eye, that turned blood red that night. The same blood red eye that bothered her since then. Terrifying. Amy sighed, she kind of missed his presence. Having a travel partner was nice. Yawning, she stood back up and headed inside.
Her mom was watching the Hoenn channel 7 news. She had golden hair like her, that's where she got it from. Some people said that she was the spitting image of her mother, who hadn't lost her beauty either. Amy sat down on the table, preparing to eat her dinner. Lazily picking at her spaghetti, she watched the news absently, not expecting anything other than the usual.
The news anchors presented a story called "Blood in the City of Petals"—a ridiculous name. That is, until they began reporting what it was about.
A horrifying incident took place today in Petalburg City. The annual contest held there had gone off with a single flaw, until the contestant winner walked outside and was attacked by a man dressed in a business suit, holding a knife. It has been reported as an attempted assassination. The man who stopped the assassin was the head security guard, a young black haired male of pale complexion, standing roughly six feet tall. He has not been spotted since the incident and was questioned by the police at a nearby station. The security guard fought off six men, who were masquerading as security guards themselves. His pokemon escorted the contest winner, the renowned Princess of Hoenn, to a news vehicle, which drove her and her wounded father to the nearby hospital. Three of the assailants are reported dead, with one being in critical condition, having suffered severe head trauma. The entire scene was captured live by Alexa Laise from Kalos television. WARNING: the footage is disturbing and viewer discretion is advised. If young are with you, turn the television off at this moment.
Amy was silent, unable to believe what she had just heard. The television went black then showed a video of the scene. It showed the young man disarming the attacker, killing him then talking to the gym leader's daughter. She saw a white blur and a man in the stands fell, spraying blood out in front of him. Then it showed the head guard fighting off the other fake security with a variety of strikes and powerful kicks. She flinched, watching him smash the first guy's throat with his foot.
She watched in silence as the bigger security overpowered him and started stabbing him in the stomach with a knife. Then she froze. She saw the younger guard stop throwing up blood, then noticed the larger guard's face fill with terror. He had seen something horrifying. The younger guy then grabbed his arm and crushed it, using his palm to send the much larger man against the doors of the contest hall. He pulled out the knife and played with it, finally stabbing it into the man's leg. She could make out maniacal laughter amongst the screams, before the younger security started brutally smashing his face in with his hands.
He stopped suddenly, his arm shaking. He straightened up and spat blood at the man he had just beat to a pulp. He walked forward slightly, black hair blocking his face. Then the camera panned slightly, all she could see was a blood red eye looking right at her. The police arrived and the video cut off.
She choked on her food, recognizing that eye. It was the same as that night, but a deeper shade of crimson this time. The man in the video. It was him.
Gray.
Amy put a hand over her mouth, losing her appetite. She ran to her room, trying to get over what she saw. She saw Gray kill people, she saw him get beat down and stabbed, saw him beat that man to a pulp. Was that really the guy she encountered?
A killer?
Steven Stone sat on his couch, face pale, the color of his skin draining from him as he saw that chilling footage.
An assassination attempt on May? But why? Why have a team of men just to kill a coordinator? Why not use pokemon?
Unless…it wasn't her but something she had. Something the would be killers wanted. An object that was on her person, valuable enough to warrant such lethal intentions just to acquire it. Not using pokemon also implied they wanted a low profile assassination, one nobody would notice. It seems that the head security guard shattered their plans for that, so they improvised.
Too chilled to go to sleep, he instantly called Birch.
Birch's image appeared, wiping some drool from his mouth. Probably fell asleep doing research again. "Birch, did you see the news?"
The professor looked puzzled, "Why did you call me so late, Steven? I was dreaming of wonderful rows of beautiful wo-"
Steven waved his hand. "You don't have to finish, I don't think I want to know and I feel like keeping my dinner in my stomach." Forgetting what Birch just mentioned, his face fell. "Birch, did you see the news?"
"No, I was asleep. Why? Something interesting happen?"
"More horrifying than interesting. Go on the Hoenn channel 7 news website. Watch the video." Steven stared at Birch's hologram as he saw the professor turn on the monitor, expression grave.
A few minutes of silence passed, Birch placed a hand over his mouth in disbelief. "Oh my god." Birch shot up from his chair, furiously punching numbers into a phone on the wall. Steven saw him speaking to someone, yelling then slumping back into his chair, face filled with relief. He turned back to his holo caster.
"I just called May's mother, she said May's unharmed but shaken. Norman is stable. Thank god." He swallowed hard. "The whole city is on edge. Something this insane hasn't happened in a long time here in Hoenn. Not since Team Aqua and Team Magma were disbanded. Who could have done this?"
"I don't know either, Birch. But it seems there are unseen forces moving about again. I suspect they went after May because of something she had. I just don't know what, or what they planned to do with it afterwards. They wanted to kill her for it." He placed a hand on his chin, thinking of the two teams. "Usually, Magma and Aqua grunts would resort to theft or intimidation, but these guys are different."
Steven continued his speculation,"Recently I've heard in Kalos that…no. Not in Hoenn. Professor Sycamore said that the stones harnessed energy from Yvetal and Xerneas themselves, but no such stones exist like that in Hoenn." Steven speculated.
"Could be, but it could very well be something else."
"Yeah."
Both men stared at the figure relentlessly beating the other man. What was going on with the world?
Edited: 4/29/2021