Destiny Village ~ Pasta Plaza

[Negrek]

Nate laid about blindly, swiping and kicking at whatever patch of black fur he could reach, until the poochyena's teeth sunk in and the pain jolted him back to clarity. "Motherfucker!" he roared. "Get--you fucking--" He twisted in the poochyena's grasp, ignoring how it tore the wound wider, and unloaded a hyrdo pump as much into the fucker's face as he could.

 

[Dragonfree]

Suddenly there was water everywhere, and Dave coughed and spluttered, losing his grasp. The force of the Hydro Pump sent him tumbling backward, and he flailed desperately as the shadowy Mudkip vanished into the mist again. No, fuck, no--

The ice-cold water bombarded him for a few more seconds, throwing him along the ground, soaking through his fur. When the stream subsided, he dragged himself back up and shook himself, water droplets disappearing into the mist. "Get back here!" he snarled, shivering. "Come on, is that all?"

 

[Negrek]

Nate stumbled away while the poochyena was recovering, favoring his right side. Jesus, where the fuck had that come from? The poochyena was a big fighter, sure, but Nate hadn't been expecting full on go for the fucking throat. Blood and water ran freely down his side, and his head pounded, vision blurring in and out.

Nate reached up to paw at the gash running up his shoulder, breathing heavily. Fuck. That was... pretty bad. Nate shuffled back instinctively when the poochyena rose, already yelling threats.

So what? You going to give up now? Got a little hurt, and now you're too scared to fight? You worthless piece of shit.

Water droplets stirred and rippled around him, flowing against gravity. Right. He was stronger now. No fucking backing down. Somebody had to teach this bastard a lesson.

Water streamed over his tail-fin, glowing bright with power. Nate snarled meaningless words and lowered his head, then took off at a run. He was going to smack this asshole clear into next week.

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave stood, heart pounding, staring into the mist at the chance he'd missed.

And then, by a miracle, the shadow-Mudkip actually reappeared, tail rippling with water, and Dave charged straight for him again with a roar, shadows pooling under his feet. The tail-fin smacked him head-on with more water, throwing him aside, but he managed to keep his footing and lunge back at the Mudkip's side before he could retreat, tendrils of shadow twirling around him. The blow sent the Mudkip tumbling end over end, leaving black smears in his wake before he came to a stop and didn't move.

Dave looked wildly around, taking deep, heaving breaths, but nothing changed. The void was dark, empty, silent. A cold shiver ran down his spine, but no, this thing must wear off eventually, it had to. The taste of blood was still sickening in his mouth.

He stared back at the Mudkip's shadowy form, the black puddle forming around it, and his insides twisted.

"Where's Mia?" No answer. He approached the shadow, couldn't see breathing, dread rising in his stomach. "Shit. Fuck. I--"

He pushed at it with a paw; it only distorted strangely, the touch not properly registering. He couldn't feel a pulse, or anything at all, but why the fuck would he, it was some kind of fucking shadow apparition, goddamn it.

"Mia, where the fuck are you?" he said to the air. His gaze returned to the Mudkip. "If you fucking touched her I'm--"

He was the spy, he was the fucking spy, what the fuck else was he supposed to do? Fucker had come here and attacked him out of fucking nowhere, and then put him in this state where he couldn't fucking tell what he was doing or even get him help, it was his own damn fault. Why would he even be dead, they'd survived fucking worse than that so many times over, you couldn't seriously--

There was a whimper behind him; he whirled around to see another Poochyena, eyes aglow, formed out of the shadow-mist.

"You shut the fuck up," he said, his voice shaking. It started to open its mouth. "Not a fucking word or I swear to God."

The other Poochyena let out a quiet whine, but then curled up, shivering. Dave sat, teeth clenched, fighting nausea, claws digging into the ground, and stared at the motionless form of the shadow-Mudkip, waiting for the void to fade.

 

[Negrek]

The mudkip didn't move, but in time color began to leach back into the world around Dave. The mudkip took on a more solid appearance, skin shading through midnight blue to navy to its usual bright color, perhaps a little paler than usual. The puddle around him flushed red. Slowly at first, then in one final sweeping rush, the shadows drew back, evaporating like morning fog. Dave would find himself in the alley again, damper than when he'd last seen it, with puddles in its dips and unpaved ruts. A few feet away was a discarded explorer's pack and, squashed beneath it, an inert Ultra Stone.

And Mia. The scyther familiar was crouched just behind Dave, peering with interest at the shivering poochyena behind him. One of her scythes was stretched back towards Dave, like she'd been reaching for him but had forgotten. Its tip was coated red.

 

[Dragonfree]

The world began to return to normal, and Dave scrambled to his feet, looking around. "Mia?" he said, and... she was there, Mia was there and she was okay.

She turned around and peered at him. "You're back. That's good. You were yelling nonsense and acting very weird."

The other Poochyena practically tackled her, pressing its head against her and wrapping a paw around her feet, and she tilted her head. Dave swallowed, staring at her bloodied scythe, and looked sharply back at the Mudkip, nauseous. He was... pale, bloody, but breathing. Jesus.

He exhaled slowly. "He didn't attack you? Do anything weird?"

"No," she said, like she was annoyed he even asked. "Weren't you paying attention? He thought you were going to hurt me. He tried to tell me I could escape now, like he thought I couldn't have gotten away from you before." She paused. "But then you beat him. It's a lot of blood. I wanted to eat him while I was waiting but I didn't."

Dave's stomach did a queasy flip. He glanced back down at the Mudkip, the sorry state of him, the puddle of blood he was lying in, and shuddered. Well, really this said nothing but good things about Mia's self-control.

They couldn't just fucking leave him, could they. He didn't exactly love the thought of taking him to the guild infirmary and trying to explain what the fuck had happened, but... no, wait, his bag was there. Dave padded over, rifled around in it and found a Tiny Reviver Seed; should at least stabilize him and hopefully make it safe to leave before he properly woke up and started back in on the wild accusations. (Nobody would actually take that seriously if he started spreading it around, right?)

"Who is this?" Mia asked. Dave looked up; she was prodding the other Poochyena with the blunt edge of her scythe as it was still latched onto her, and oh, Jesus, it was fucking crying, God, why. "Why do they look like you?"

He gritted his teeth. "Never mind. It's going to go away." It had fucking better. Maybe he just had to focus a bit more, or something.

"But what is it?"

"It's just some Cibus bullshit, okay?"

He brought the Tiny Reviver Seed over; once it was sufficiently close to Nate's body, it activated and dissolved.

 

[Negrek]

Nate came to feeling like he'd been hit by a bus. He was lying on his side on something hard... yeah, the alley. The poochyena, and... must've gotten hit. Shit, that was a lot of blood. Nate considered getting up, but lying here was fine, actually. He ached enough just doing that.

Until he heard voices. A voice. Again. That fucker was still around?

Lying there like a useless fuck. Get up! Nate forced his hands under him, forcing himself up off the pavement. Felt like he weighed a thousand fucking pounds, and it took him a moment to focus after he'd pushed himself halfway up, his vision going black and sparking. But once it cleared again it was plain enough what was going on. The fucking poochyena was leaving. With the girl.

"Think you can just fucking walk away?" Nate rasped. "I ain't done yet, you piece of shit. Come... come on." He spat a stream of water at the poochyena, but it fell well short, spattering pathetically against the damp pavement.

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave turned around in alarm at the Mudkip's voice, tensing, only to find him wobbling on his feet, vomiting out a puddle of water that didn't even reach him. Christ, the fucker was still going. It was deeply pathetic and extremely satisfying.

"You shouldn't try to fight when you're going to lose," Mia said, helpfully. "You're just going to get knocked out again."

"Come on," Dave said. "Little shit's not worth it. You said you were hungry? Because I could use another fucking drink."

"That would be nice."

 

[Negrek]

Nate's vision flashed bright and then dark again. Not worth it? Not worth it? You think this is over? You think you can just fucking walk away? I'll fucking end you, you piece of shit.

Nate clenched his fists against the ground, breathing raggedly. His temples pounded--was he even still drunk? Did he get the booze smacked out of him as well as the shadow? Didn't really matter. He'd never felt more awake than he did right now. He dragged at his legs until they started to respond, one and then the other, and peeled them up out of the congealing blood, watching the poochyena stroll off down the alley with his familiar. That's right. Keep walking, fucker. Nothing to see here.

"What...?" Rocky said groggily from somewhere behind him. It would take a few seconds for the familiar to get himself together again. Good.

Nate focused on the poochyena's retreating back, stretching in place, making sure everything worked. The gash on his neck pulled like a motherfucker, whatever kind of hideous scab was forming there threatening to tear and really make him feel it, too. Whatever. He wouldn't feel it until later. I'll show you, you piece of shit. I'll show you. You think you can turn your back on me? I'll fucking show you!

Maybe he couldn't win this one, but he sure as hell could wipe the smile off that smug fuck's face. Nate gathered everything he had left and charged down the alley, preparing one last Endeavor.

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave was all set to just leave this entire encounter behind, hopefully for good, when suddenly there was a sound behind him, and something hit him like a fucking truck.

He crashed into the pavement, blood rushing from his nose, his entire body aching, heart pounding with a sudden spike of adrenaline. What the fuck, what the fuck was happening, the Mudkip was half-fucking-dead, was there somebody else here--

Somewhere behind him, he heard Mia hissing, as if moving to counterattack, and desperately tried to heave himself onto his feet to see what was going on. "Mia, don't--"

 

[Negrek]

The poochyena went sprawling, and Nate only wished he could actually see the fucker's face. He'd ended up on the ground somehow, but now maybe, if he could just pull himself up before the poochyena got his shit sorted...

Something hissed, and Nate jerked around, only for something else to grab him from behind, and then he was going up, and up...

"Stop!" Rocky shouted. "Stop, stop! All of you." He backed away, looking warily between Dave and Mia. "Just go away," he said. "Go away and leave us alone!"

"Put me down!" Nate yelled. "Put me down, you asshole!" His legs paddled uselessly on empty air. "Put me--you--" He growled incoherently and fired a blast of water through the side of Rocky's face. Rocky responded by raising him higher, where he couldn't reach with another hydro pump, no matter how he squirmed.

"I mean it," Rocky said while holding Nate overhead, the mudkip still roaring and spraying water into the air. "Get away from us."

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave managed to rise, his vision swimming, legs swaying. All there was was... the Mudkip, squirming in the grip of his familiar. What the shit? It was seriously just him? What the fuck kind of move was that? Mia had her scythes raised, eyes narrowed.

"Yeah, well, what the fuck do you think we were trying to do when this asshole went and did whatever the fuck that was." Everything still hurt, his fur smeared with blood. Jesus. "Guess that's the thanks I get for fucking reviving you. Fuck you."

"I think it was Endeavor," Mia said, intrigued. "That's smart."

"Okay. Fantastic." Dave rubbed his pounding head. "I'm glad the fuckhead attacking me in an alley who thinks I'm abusing you is smart. Thanks, Mia."

He turned and limped back in the direction of the Cauldron, Mia and the other Poochyena following. He could really, really use that drink.

 

[Negrek]

As the poochyena set off again, Nate switched from yelling at Rocky to hollering after the poochyena's little group. "This ain't over yet, fucker! You better stay away from those fucking kids, you hear me? Next time I won't pull no fucking punches! And next time this dickface won't be around to save your ass, neither!"

"What does that even mean?" Rocky asked, exasperated. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Put me down put me down put me the fuck down!" Nate made an incoherent snarling noise, flailed his limbs, and then stopped, going quiet. After a second Rocky could feel energy building in the ground around him and shook the mudkip until it subsided. "Stop that!" he said over Nate's woozy groans. "I'm not putting you down until they're gone."

"Bastard. That poochyena deserves everything that's coming to him and more."

"He did revive you, you know," Rocky said. "He was trying to be nice."

"That bastard stole one of my reviver seeds?!"

"You're terrible," Rocky said with a sigh. "I'm so mad at you right now. Why do you have to be so mean all the time?"

"Me? I'm mean? You know what that fucker's been up to? Jesus." Nate put up a moment of furious struggle, pinwheeling all four limbs as hard as he could, but Rocky held on grimly until he had to stop, hanging limp and panting with exhaustion. Multicolored lights exploded across his vision. "Put me the fuck down," he gasped eventually. "They're too far away for me to go after anyhow."

"No," Rocky said. "You'll only do something else stupid. We're going home."

"You, you," Nate wheezed. "You bastard, you--"

"We're going home," Rocky repeated, and that's exactly where they did go, the familiar holding a snarling, cursing mudkip overhead the entire way.

<><><>​

 

[Adamhuarts]

In an alleyway between all the food stalls, restaurants and commuting pokemon, a garbage can rattled back and forth as though possessed by a phantom. The shaking got intense enough that the can toppled over and out came rolling a dark grew figure.

Ivy stood up right with a grin, having bested the confines of the metal can. She turned back to look at it and slammed her claw against its side.

"No prisons can hold Ivy. Adventure awaits, huzzah!"

 

[Namohysip]

"...What are you doing here?"

A Charmeleon with a cracked pattern of darkness along his lower half crossed his arms, staring down at the strange Ultra Shade. "I thought I sensed someone here... I don't think I've properly met you yet." He leaned forward. "My name is Wishkeeper... though your friend may also know me as Owen. That side of me is resting right now. It's been a long day."

The flame on the tip of his tail was black, though he didn't appear to be hostile...

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Hello! You look strange, like Ivy! What are you?" Ivy asked, propping herself up on her claw to look at Wishkeeper closer.

"Do you know where I am? I got lost. I need to find my friend, Soul. I found lots of yummy things in that big can over there, and I'd like to share!" Ivy announced, not bothering to keep her voice low or restrained.

A half eaten bread bun rolled out of the trash can, and the jagged edges on it suggested Ivy had been responsible.

 

[Namohysip]

Wishkeeper frowned, looking at the shredded bread, then back at Ivy. "Soul, mm... Celsete's." He looked back. "I was actually searching for Cal, my own familiar. She ran off again. I know where she is in this town, but every time I get close, she runs again. I'm going to try a different strategy by making her so bored she'll come to me."

He crouched down, looking Ivy over. "Where is your partner? Not Soul, but the one you are tied with."

 

[Adamhuarts]

"I don't know where. Cynthian doesn't want to see Ivy." Ivy paused, and her expression faltered for a moment before she went back to smiling.

"Let Ivy assist in helping you find this Cal person. It sounds like it'd be a fun adventure for Ivy!" Ivy said while puffing her chest.

 

[Namohysip]

Wishkeeper felt a headache coming on. And despite this, he pushed it down, and beneath that annoyance, he found a little smile. "...Right. Of course. Then let's go walking. She won't be far, and maybe if she sees me playing with Ivy, she'll get jealous."

 

[Adamhuarts]

"Sounds like a plan, and I'm up for that! What should we play? It better not be chess. I don't like chess," Ivy said as she trailed behind the chameleon. She stared at his tailflame, and poked at it without hesitation.

"How funny. It doesn't burn!"