Gah, I can't believe how late I am updating this. I've had quite a week, apologies on the delay! That being said, welcome back everyone to Chapter 15. :)
I do wonder if anyone read these though. Tell you what, everyone in the reviews let me know whether "The Nightmare Before Christmas' is a Halloween or Christmas film. I will die on the hill of it being a Christmas one.
My new fic 'Possessions' also releases this week, I have the first very depressing chapter written out, so everyone prepare for that! Not a whole lot to say this time around, but please send me a review/fav/follow as tit truly does help the motivation. Until then, see everyone this weekend!
Chapter 15
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Liza padded merrily down the street, bag in mouth. Max was keeping an even pace, his red eyes gazing in interest at her as they walked in a quieter part of the city now. While they were much closer to the guild, Liza had decided to walk him to his house instead, finding the Ninetails just as intriguing as he was attractive.
Her head still felt cloudy, with the situation of everything still swirling around like a swarm of Beedrill in her mind. She couldn't help but feel somewhat annoyed, as while her battling strength was among the top even among the seven other guilds, her pragmatic approach to these types of situations was a skill she took pride in. What the hell is up with me? It's like I'm not even myself right now. She wondered internally.
Outside of her allurement to her new friend, she felt grateful for his calming presence. Every sentence he spoke made her heart skip a beat and chipped away at the anxiety that secretly wrapped itself around her head. She almost was starting to feel rather disappointed that their time was drawing to an end as they moved closer to the location of his house. Selfishly, she didn't want to let him go, and couldn't help but ask Arceus to lengthen the walk just a little further.
Damn, when did I get so possessive? I must be coming down with something, I don't even feel like myself. I don't know how, but it's definitely Duncan's fault.
Taking a side glance at Max, she saw him looking back over his right shoulder with a little uncertainty and gave him a questioning look. Only to realize suddenly that she had been silent for a little while as she wrestled with her thoughts and blinked herself back to their conversation they were having.
She wanted to know more about him. "So, what made you finally move to Peridot City? I hope getting away from creepy pants wasn't at the top of the list." She said playfully.
Max sweatdropped. "I was a little spooked after the Scourge incident and wanted to move to a city where I wouldn't be disturbed by such an evil Pokemon again." He answered. "It appears I may have some Absol blood in me though, because it looks like I instead walked straight into another dangerous situation. Definitely not going to make my research any easier."
"You're a scientist?" She asked, feeling surprised. Scientists and professors were some of the most respected professions in the entire region, and Amethyst City led one of the greatest teams in the world arguably. They called themselves Sylph, and they manufactured many tools for numerous reasons, ranging from basic household appliances to guild equipment. They were also speculated to have a bigger hand than they let on with running the Pokemarts that every city had.
Max nodded. "Yeah, I worked for a team from Ruby Island, my hometown. There's a bunch of teams out there working on incredible tasks, ranging from evolution tactics to Hazaranmon studies, all the way to my forte: Pokemon Abilities."
"The ones run by Guildmaster Vulcano, right?"
"Not quite. He hasn't been too involved with helping in our research since joining the Ruby Island Justice Guild. The groups have branched off significantly and they relocated a lot of us to different parts of the region. I got lucky enough to do some research in Amethyst City."
This made sense to Liza, as Guildmaster Vulcano was a very interesting story amongst the seven Justice Guilds. He had only joined Ruby Island's Justice Guild a couple years ago despite already being the same age as Guildmaster Finnegan and worked his way to deputy before becoming Guildmaster in such a short amount of time, relatively speaking. He was already a renowned scientist, responsible in part for the discovery of Silph, as well as numerous other groups.
Knowing firsthand the responsibilities of a Guildmaster, however, she understood why he would take a step back from his research for the greater good. He seemed incredibly powerful from the one-time Liza had met him.
"You must have quite a big brain in there then, huh?"
Max gave an amused huff. "I can tell just by meeting you, your ability is 'Intimidate', right? Having an aura that makes anyone you battle hesitate with each physical strike must be incredibly helpful in battles."
Liza lifted her nose pridefully. "As cute as I am, I can be scary when I need to."
"Remind me not to cross you, then." Max replied with a nervous chuckle. "It's not just those types of abilities I'm interested in though. It's the unique abilities that every Pokemon carries that I want to know everything about. More importantly, the way they can be genetically passed down to children of different species. It's rare, but absolutely extraordinary to see."
Liza's mind jumped to Duncan and his Luxray-like ability to utilize a x-ray like vision when he wanted to. She kept her jealous thoughts to herself on her brother's natural tracking gifts.
Max continued. "Let's take your species for instance. Luxray's have some of the most powerful eyesight amongst all living Pokemon, capable of seeing through most objects when you activate your abilities. Some would even say your abilities are the most coveted."
Liza narrowed her eyes at him. "You best not be trying to steal my eyes on me." She teased.
"As beautiful as they are, I'm not exactly in the eye stealing business. I heard that this type of goal doesn't typically end too well." He replied. "I'm definitely more interested in how that ability would look passed down to a different species."
Liza's ears flattened against her head. "Let me tell you firsthand, actually." She paused as Max gave her an excited look which absolutely melted her heart. "My little brother got our gene despite being a Lycanroc. I'd even go as far to say that his eyes work better than mine."
Max was intrigued. "Really? But, if I'm not mistaken, your eyesight relies on electricity, no?"
Liza shrugged. "Yeah, I have to be careful on how long I use it for. His only issue is that it won't work in the rain for whatever reason." She replied, glancing up at the sky above. A light drizzle still fell from the dark gray clouds that covered the city and Liza cursed mother nature under her breath for deciding to send a series of rainy days in a time where they needed sun more than anything.
Now that she thought about it, it had been raining for about three or four weeks now, albeit very light drizzles. She couldn't actually remember the last time she saw the sun.
Sun…sun….
"That's it!" She suddenly exclaimed loudly, startling Max.
"Hm?"
She lashed her tail in triumph. "All we need to do is use Sunny Day! I know for a fact that the Pokemart sells DVDs on how to use them. Plus, Sunny Day is one of the easiest moves to learn, even Erin could learn it."
He cocked his head questioningly at her, although she paid no mind as she suddenly had the urge to rush to the giant Pokemart the city had and buy a copy of one of the Technical Machines they called them. Worst case scenario, she could just force Duncan to learn it.
"So, your brother has Luxray abilities as well?" Max interjected, sounding very interested in her brother.
Liza broke out of her thoughts, remembering him. "Oh, yeah. We have the same dad, just different moms. I still don't know everything honestly myself, but alas there he is."
Max, however, was very intrigued. "I'd love the chance to study that whenever you guys are free, I've never heard of a mutation like that in my life."
Liza grinned. "Sure, thing." She replied, mischievously. "If you do have to experiment on him, though, he's allergic to all sedatives and painkillers, no matter what he says."
Max snorted. "I'm not that barbaric." He teased.
They turned onto a side street, with little to no Pokemon around them now. The fuzziness in Liza's head was becoming stronger and she flicked her ear in order to try and shake it out. Her confusion towards it grew stronger, as she certainly felt much more at ease than she had just ten minutes earlier, so what was causing this trance in her head?
It was starting to severely bother her, but she decided to keep the conversation with Max going stronger in order to ignore it. "So, what type of mysterious powers do you Ninetails have? I haven't met a whole lot in my life."
Max gave a rather unsettling smile but didn't speak for a moment. Liza felt something off suddenly, but the fog in her mind wouldn't let her construct consecutive thoughts together. The whole tone of the conversation suddenly felt a little more tense, as though Max didn't want to answer the question.
He was 'saved' however, as a very loud, obnoxious voice screeched from the far end of the street and an Octillery swabbled his way towards them, anxiety in his eyes.
Tears fell off his face in the wind behind him as he very awkwardly made his way towards the two Pokemon, panicked and dismayed. Liza instinctively padded forward and dropped her bag in order to help the poor Pokemon. However, to her surprise, he ran right by her and to Max, who had an irritated look on his face.
The Octillery's voice was high and whiney. "Max, Max, Thorn wants to know what's taking so long. He sent me to help you find her, I'm here to help my friend!" He squealed childishly, whipping his head around in every direction trying to find something. His eyes landed on Liza and for a second in time, both feline Pokemon watched the gears very slowly turn in the Octillery's head.
A very extended silence was followed by the Octillery's horrified shrill scream. "Oh, Arceus, I Muk'd up the whole operation." He cried, beating himself over the head.
Max sighed, walking past the Octillery looking mildly annoyed. "Gurbo, at this point I've learned to expect the bare minimum at best from you." He told him, making the Octillery sit away silently in shame.
Liza felt the horror, meanwhile, start to flow through her body. Not just the fact the conversation was turning her own gears at the moment, but the fact that her body had completely locked up and the fog that had infested her mind had completely exploded in a dust of paralyzing toxin. A static of electricity shook her like a worm digging through her bones. Her vision was coming through in a haze, and her face was a kaleidoscope of horror and concern.
Max's emotions hadn't seemed to catch up to the conversation and he chuckled at her aura. "You said you were curious to the abilities of my species, no?" He asked with such microscopic break in character that Liza almost felt the terror of the second was nothing but a hallucination. "Possession. See, my species has the unholy ability to enter the minds of other Pokemon using one of the seven deadly flames. Mine…" As he said this, he started to hang his tongue out of his mouth in a very edgy manner, and Liza's body widened her eyes for her as a glowing Hazaran Mark was glowing on it, illuminating his crimson eyes into ones of blazing gold. "...is lust." He finished.
Liza was fighting her body to move and fight, but it felt as though a thousand puppet strings fought against her and manipulated her body against her will. She had just enough control to glare menacingly at him as his facade started to crack at the surface. Even access to her electricity was futile as she found even producing itself was out of its control.
"To turn such simple attraction into mind-controlled obsession in a matter of moments. All I have to do is simply use 'Attract' and have complete authority inside your own head. Terrifying, isn't it? I could have you wipe out your entire guild if I wanted to." He told her while Liza fought beyond what she thought she had to fight out of the haze and attack him. However, desperation was fighting through her as she thought of the thought of fighting her own guild.
I would rather him kill me…
"Don't worry though, we have no intention of giving you the pleasure of taking the lives of your guild. Besides, even if you surprise-attacked him, you couldn't kill your Guildmaster. So, don't worry," he said this with a face that reminded Liza that she physically couldn't do anything. "I won't have you do a thing."
As he finished, he sent a slash to Liza that made the world around her go off in a swirling darkness.
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Erin was nothing short of flabbergasted, blinking stupidly at the otter who was staring at the opposite wall with an innocent look on his face.
"You're lying."
"Why would I lie about something so dumb." He shouted angrily, pointing at Axl. "That stupid idiot is the one that locked me away." Forming a Sludge Bomb in his hand, he shot it at a very fast paced speed at Axl, who just as quickly knocked it away with a quick flick of his scalchop.
Axl clicked his tongue. "Hey, that's not cool man, you want to expose secrets, huh?" He asked, fake annoyed again. Axl looked at Erin and pointed back at Gilbert angrily. "He cried for twenty minutes after I beat him. All the way to the guild!"
Gengar almost seemed giant as he yelled. "I was in a very emotional space." He screamed.
Erin seemed just as angry, yelling next to Gilbert as Axl hid away from their wrath. "Why didn't you tell me you were a former guild member?" She said, just as loud.
Axl sweatdropped, feeling justified. "You didn't ask?" He pointed out.
Erin almost seemed even larger, and even Gilbert shrunk away in fright. "You think that was something I should have known when I was asking you about yourself?"
Axl crossed his arms. "Hey, hey, I take my juggling very seriously." He replied, grumped.
Erin took a breath to calm herself and started to have her own thoughts. Why didn't the Guildmaster tell her Axl was a guild member? Especially if he was as strong as a deputy, why would he send her by herself?
Which begged a bigger question.
"Wait, did he say 'former'?" This seemed to snap Axl to an emotion Erin hadn't seen before. It was only seen in an opaque light on the nonchalant face he tried to make, but a floating shadow of sadness seemed etched on his face.
Gilbert started to chuckle menacingly, and Erin snapped her head back to him. His confidence had returned, and he glared at Axl with a creepy smile.
"I will happily answer that question for him." He interjected with Axl raising no objections. "It was the aftermath of the Scourge incident. I heard your deputy died protecting you, specifically. The Guild had also lost several strong members as well, and your Guildmaster was crippled. In that mess, they needed a deputy to lead them through it. From what I hear, the choice was to make Axl the youngest deputy ever…" He trailed off and seemed enthused by the story. "But he was so scared from the battle, he ran from the title and abandoned his guild when they needed him the most."
Erin felt disbelief flow through her as Axl didn't look inclined to refute the claims. "Axl…is this true?"
After a moment of silence, Axl looked at her with a sad smile on an unbothered face. "Yep. Unfortunately, I'm a coward." He told her, and Erin couldn't help but wonder if it was a smile or a grimace on his face.
Gilbert started to cackle and melt into the floor, feeling at his most confident with this news. "It's true I'm not near the same threat I was a couple of years ago. Hell, I'd be lucky to get three stars on my head now." His eyes remained as he was almost melted back into the floor. "But there's no way some wuss that ran away will defeat me."
"Phantom Force!"
His shadow remaining, he swam around the floor at a fast speed, hard to track but Axl watched with his eyes following. Suddenly, though, the shadows multiplied into even more shadows and before long hundreds of different shadows were bouncing around the room.
"Double Team!"
Erin was lost as Gilbert's shadow was just a drop in the river that roared beneath them. She glanced around wildly as there was no feasible way to do it. Axl had his scalchop out and it emitted a light purple blade of aura from it.
Then, Axl pivoted on his back right foot and twisted his body, slashing his scalchop in a backhanded motion. At the same time, Gilbert had broken the surface and was reaching out of the ground with his razor-like claws extended to cut Axl.
With impeccable timing, Axl managed to crash his attack over the side of Gilbert's opened body and sent him to the wall, where he lay for good this time. Unaware of the world around him, he lay motionless as swirls rested in his eyes.
"Night Slash." He whispered, setting his Scalchop back on his chest. He glanced over at Erin's face and shrugged. "I don't know why everyone yells their attack before we use it. Those seconds matter."
Erin had her hands laid out but had not words to say with anything on the situation.
Axl suddenly grinned as he looked over Gilbert's knocked out body. "Would you say I 'shell-shocked' him?" He asked, pointing at his scalchop humorously.
Erin gripped two fists, struggling to contain her sanity, before releasing them, unconvinced. "Axl, I have so many questions right now, but I will ask them after we find Karl, ok?"
Axl nodded. "We probably need to patch up your face as well." He pointed out and suddenly Erin was very aware of the gash that Gilbert had given her. Falling to her knees, pain had exploded in her face now that the adrenaline was wearing off.
Axl rushed to her side and helped her up. Their eyes caught for a moment as she had his arm around her and they held the position for a moment.
"GUYS ARE YOU OKAY?" A Zubat had flown down like a bat out of hell, breaking the moment and Axl let Erin fall with a comedic bonk on her back.
He huffed. "Nolan, I told you to watch the Haunter." He pouted, crossing his arms.
Nolan smacked his head. "And leave you to die down here? Hell no, man!" He shouted, giving Axl repeated smacks on the head. "I am going to find my Iris no matter what!" He glanced over at Erin and flew up to her. "Arceus, what a nasty cut. We can have Iris patch that up as soon as we find her." His glance towards Gilbert's body gave him a slight smile. "Haven't lost a step, have you?"
"Tch, I think he just got more out of shape than I did." He replied humbly.
Nolan shook his head back to the situation. "But, please, help me find my girlfriend and I promise we will all help you two!" He pleaded.
"You won't be needing anyone's help, you idiot." A female voice rang from the top of the stairs and a Woobat flew down, looking annoyed at her boyfriend's antics. "I, unlike you two damsels, know how to get things done."
Nolan didn't pay attention to her insults. "Iris!" He sounded, beyond relieved. He flew in for a hug, but she knocked him down with a swoop of her wing.
"Don't 'Iris' me, you idiot. I'm half both of your sizes and was the only one that managed to get away. You're lucky I managed to get some help." She shouted, being very reminiscent of the short tempered Zubat.
Axl, noting this, whispered to Erin. "Perfect for each other, huh?"
Still unfazed, Nolan got up. "How did you even escape, though?"
Looking smug, Iris flashed her fangs. "A good bite to the forearm never fails. You should have seen him, he actually started crying." Axl snickered at this and Iris looked over at the two Pokemon. She looked surprised to see Axl.
"Axl? What are you doing here?" She glanced at Erin and her confusion furthered. "I don't even recognize you."
Axl spoked for Erin. "She's a member of the Peridot City Justice Guild, I'm helping her with a mission and brought her here to ask some questions."
Iris fluttered up to Erin, sniffing her wound. "Oh dear, that smells painful." She said sympathetically, before having a complete moodshift and yelling over the top angrily at Nolan. "Nolan, go grab the guys upstairs and have them take the ghosts away."
Nolan, whipped, sulked upstairs. "Where'd you even go, anyway?"
"I got the guild to help us, of course. His bounty is active again after all."
Axl gave Erin a sympathetic look. "Uh-oh, you might want to head out." He said sheepishly.
Erin, meanwhile, felt her heart stop. "I'm dead."
Iris looked confused. "Why would the Amethyst City Justice Guild have an issue with her?"
"Amethyst?"
Iris nodded. "Well, yeah, he's an Amethyst City criminal and they're just over the border. Don't tell me you guys still haven't talked?"
Axl was starting to show signs of discomfort. "We've got to go now!" He said frantically.
'I'm not leaving, we need to find Karl!" Erin protested.
Axl didn't listen and grabbed Erin's hand to head out. "It's going to be bad if they see me here, so we'll come back once they're gone." He argued. Erin tried to wrangle of his grip, but suddenly a thought occurred to her.
Guildmaster Finnegan was supposed to be visiting with the Amethyst City Guild today and could very well be with them. A pit spread in her stomach and she stopped fighting Axl's tugging, letting herself run in order to keep up pace with him.
As they pushed past Nolan, he flapped his wings at the. "Wait, girl, you need to get that wound fixed up or it will scar!" He shouted to deaf ears.
Axl dashed to the top of the stairs and opened the door where a Sandslash was standing, hand stretched out at the now vacant spot.
Axl recoiled and jumped back, startled. "Oh, gah!" he gasped, before smiling sheepishly at the ground-type. "Oh, heh, Ceren! Long time no see."
The Sandslash, Ceren, narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. "Well, well….Axl." He snarled darkly, showing contempt for the otter. Erin managed to stare behind him and see a massive Beartic coated in scars in the room along with an old Sawk that looked rather calm with his arms crossed behind his back.
Axl had seen them as well and seemed even more uncomfortable. Not that he would let his tone let that on. "Sergei, how's the shoulder!"
The Beartic curled his lip. "It's Deputy Marx, now." He replied coldly.
Axl paid no mind, however, as his eyes had wandered over to the Sawk that looked happy to see him.
"Axl…my son.." He said, looking almost relieved.
A sad look flickered in Axl's eyes. "Pops."
Erin has assumed they were members of the Amethyst City Justice Guild, Axl's former guild. She sensed his worry, but her heart sank as she locked eyes with the one Pokemon she was hoping, more than anything, wouldn't be with them.
Guildmaster Finnegan.