Special thanks to K_S for beta reading!
Additional thanks to the following who submitted reviews!
Astinus
Chapter 23: Electric Extrication
(114)
June 3rd
It all came down to this.
My reputation, title, and friendship with Nikki.
I'd written off Isaac as a lost cause at this point... When we were kids, he was
never anything like
that. We both had lofty goals of becoming the new champion with a pact to do it together as rivals. Certain that no one would be powerful enough to challenge us...
How did it go so wrong? How did my playful competition with Isaac turn so cut throat? I would undo it if I could, but surely it was already too late...
As for Nikki, she used to say she was going to marry the Champion. What she said really stuck with me. I'm not sure why, but I
believed her. An adult might not take the promise of a kid seriously, but a kid doesn't even entertain the
notion that a promise would be broken. Or, at least
I didn't...
When did Nikki start looking at me so coldly?
Why? If she was going to pick someone, why wasn't it
me when I won all those games against Isaac when we were nine? Surely it could have been worth a date, even if only to the local playground...
I suppose Nikki changed her mind as she grew older. How
else would one explain her marriage to Isaac? I couldn't bring myself to blame her... Years are longer when one is young. Waiting would have felt like an eternity...
To make it worse, she had no clue I loved her. As I traveled and honed my deck and dueling skills, her and Isaac never stopped spending time together. It was an ideal situation for a couple. A shame Isaac was lacking in so
many things that Nikki deserved...
But in the end, both Isaac and Nikki let go of their aspirations from when they were young. I was the only one who held on no matter what...
The dreams of a child COULD be part of their future. Those aspirations shouldn't be an object of ridicule, even by oneself! I was living proof, having accomplished my childhood dream... It just didn't mean all I
thought it was supposed to mean...
Feeling frustrated, I shook my head with a groan, trying to dislodge the 'might haves' from my mind.
I had more immediate concerns.
Considering Stephanie's slip up from recently... That something
hideous was going to happen that MIGHT not kill me... I wasn't sure what to expect or what it could possibly entail. I'd have to be cautious around Isaac. THAT was for sure... At least I would have Rick and Tango there with me...
I emerged from the hyperloop pod and smoothed my hair. The g-forces of the acceleration were always no joke! The counter-gravity unit in the capsule could only do so much to off-set it. A feature they would improve upon in future models.
A quick look about confirmed there was no one but Rick, Tango and I in the lobby. After the violence
last time I was here, I wasn't
keen on ignoring my surroundings...
Tango's eyes darted around like they were looking for presents.
No hidden assailants for him to suffer blows from today!
As for Rick, he was unusually pensive. For once, he was missing some feathers to vacuum! Perhaps he was thinking of getting them on the way back...
(115)
Appearing timid or afraid was off the table, so I placed my hands in my pockets and casually paced into the light at the entrance of the main room.
The rest of the room was dark. There was a click, and then I was standing in complete darkness. Clearly, Isaac was trying to intimidate me.
I displayed no signs of unease. I merely waited.
Finally, Isaac's voice rang out. "Rick, you've done what you could over there. He's not going to listen. You don't have to hang around him anymore, but we could use your moral support if you want to stay."
Rick was still, apparently considering his options. "Thanks, but I intend to focus on data-collection. This will be a monumental match regardless of the outcome."
Isaac spoke again from the darkness. "Fine with me. You've always been welcome."
With a click, the lights turned on, but not in a way that obscured vision. In fact, the entire room could be seen clearly.
Isaac waited in the middle with Nikki by his side.
Nikki refused to make eye contact with me. I wondered what she might be feeling...
Isaac had a confident smile as he turned my way. "You and I have some unfinished business... old
pal."
His confidence was odd. He was the final hurdle for my deck to overcome, even
he should have been worried. Did he NOT care about the lawsuit? I had a sinking feeling that there was
more to this...
I raised an eyebrow. "You fetched the words right out of my mouth."
Tango's heads shot up as both heads glanced about quickly at the mention of the word "fetch".
Perhaps his previous owner played it with him? Maybe I'd give a try later... If I got out of that mess...
"But the time for words," I brandished my deck and pointed it at Isaac, "has ended."
In this game I did NOT share my red mini tarp with Isaac to sit on only to learn he had his own
yellow mini tarp!
(116)
The opening game provided me with
only a Porygon. As for my hand, it was full of energy cards, evolution cards and no draw cards. I was in trouble
already!
Isaac had three mon and Electabuzz as the lead.
Electabuzz was
quite the powerhouse. 70 HP, a one Lightning Energy attack for 10 damage with a coin-flip for added paralysis, and a two Lightning Energy attack for 30 damage or 40 with a successful coin-flip.
He went first and paralyzed Porygon with 10 damage to it.
One more energy and one more attack would mean my defeat in the first duel!
My turn came around and I used the Energy Removal card I just drew on Electabuzz, hoping to keep it down a while longer.
His turn came back around and he had no energy to play! No attacks this turn!
Isaac grit his teeth. "Enjoy the reprieve while you can..."
This went on for a couple more turns as I got three energy on Porygon to start attacking with Psybeam. I managed to inflict confusion on Electabuzz as well!
His turn came back around and he played a Bill card to draw two more cards. He then used Switch to bring out his Doduo, attached Double-Colorless Energy to it, and attacked with two successful coin-flips for 20 damage!
He also had another Electabuzz and a Voltorb on his bench. His deck was pretty similar to my own, except his had uncommon and rare cards in it. Also he was only running Colorless and Lightning whereas I was running those and Fire as well.
I
still only had
one mon left and it was at 10HP, so I used a trick I found that seemed to work against most opponents. I wasn't sure WHY it worked. It honestly
should not...
I played another Energy Removal on his Doduo and used Gust of Wind to bring out his weakened Electabuzz. I COULD have KOed it, but then he could bring out another mon and finish me off, so instead, I passed my turn.
As for the ploy: opponents don't like to attach energy once their mon is weak past a certain point. Everyone except myself and Doctor Wem seemed to view attaching energy at that point as a 100% waste with no way of it ever being useful in
any situation!
Sure enough, both Isaac and Nikki looked
completely stumped at that play.
It made no sense!
Both of them had MORE than enough raw intelligence to see through such an obvious ploy... But my absurd strategy worked
perfectly.
Isaac refused to attach energy to it which would allow me to stall for time to draw what I needed to recover. In normal circumstances, I might have pointed out such an obvious flaw in logic... But I dared not speak it there with the stakes being what they were.
Suddenly, I was reminded of the duel testing that Rick and I had with that Neo Island man! The guy had
more than enough intelligence to learn the rules of the game, yet when play was attempted, he couldn't understand how! Was a less
severe version of that happening with Nikki and Isaac?! Just what was going ON?! But that was not the time for speculation.
Everything was riding on my games...
After a few turns, Isaac played a Switch card to break out of the invisible cage he didn't know I had him in.
After a tense five turns, I played and lost multiple mon, but finally took down both his Electabuzz with a fully powered Dark Rapidash as my active mon.
He used Energy Removal on my Dark Rapidash and attacked with one of his multiple Magnemite.
I benched another Voltorb and attacked for 40 damage with Group Spark to bring down a Magnemite.
Isaac brought out Electrode and attached a Lightning Energy to it. Electrode could not attack with one energy, but with another it would KO my Voltorb. I switched to Dark Rapidash and attacked for 30 to keep Voltorb safe.
He used Energy Removal on Dark Rapidash, attached another energy to Electrode, and used Sonic Boom to attack for 30 damage leaving my mon at 30HP.
On my turn I switched back to Voltorb and finished off his Electrode.
He then brought out a Magnemite, but refused to attach energy to it. Back in the invisible cage, it would seem. All because I had the ability to KO it with a single attack from my active mon...
The next couple of turns allowed him to take down my Voltorb by keeping it locked down with paralysis by another Magnemite that already had energy attached.
Once Voltorb was KOed, I had another ready to take its place and used it to crush his last remaining Magnemite.
Victory was mine.
Isaac frowned in anger. "I honestly don't know
how you managed to win that game, but if the rest go even a
little bit better than that... You're done for."
He was right, I SHOULDN'T have been able to win that game. His tactical blindness was the ONLY reason I did!
Nikki, meanwhile looked like she had seen a ghost. I don't think she was too confident in Isaac's ability to win two games in a row against me.
Game two.
I had out a Doduo and nothing else. Bill's Teleporter failed. Gambler failed.
He had out Electabuzz and attacked, paralyzing Doduo.
I heard a crackle nearby that indicated Tango was enjoying himself. At least
someone was...
I drew nothing that could help.
His turn came back around, he attached another energy and finished off Doduo. I had no other mon on my bench so I lost after only
two turns.
Isaac smiled. "One more game like that... Just
one more and you will plague my family no more! Once I defeat you, I'll go on to become the
new Champion!"
He was getting too confident. Quickly, I thought of a way to keep the upper hand.
I narrowed my eyes at him as I smiled. "You
misunderstand. I've been toying with you in
both games. I threw that last one
on purpose."
Isaac's eyebrows raised for a moment. "Y-you're bluffing!
No one is that strong at the game, not even YOU!"
It wasn't hard to push his paranoia about me a little farther.
I raised my head with my eyes closed. A smile upon my face. "Ah, poor Isaac. You've never won a single
real duel against me.
No one has. You never had a chance to
begin with."
Isaac's eyes widened again as I could tell from his eyebrows over his sunglasses. He looked down at his hands. If he wasn't afraid of my skill before, I'd bet he was
then! There was now fear in his expression, but also a willingness to go down fighting.
Nikki looked to be an odd mixture of worried, bewildered, and excited.
I supposed if what I said was actually true, it
would be pretty darn impressive...
Rick was focused solely on his notepad. His expression inscrutable.
The final duel played out the same as the second initially, except this time Gambler came
through for me! It was all I needed to get things moving. As the turns progressed my field became more and more powerful as I kept him locked down. By the end, I didn't just win against him, I turned it from a hopeless game to one that I completely
dominated him in.
Isaac was silent, looking down at his cards wide-eyed as I could tell from his eyebrows. He was utterly still.
It felt as though a massive weight was removed from my shoulders. I
had won, and my champion title
was safe, but the
real battle was yet to come...
The one to reforge my childhood friendship with Nikki.
(117)
I
lost the match against Mister Gentleman!
What's more was the revelation about his skill that unfolded before my very
eyes... just what WAS he? A
deity of some kind?!
Suddenly, I realized that GR2 would NOT be enough to stop him! GR2's plan required them to
win a duel! If what Mister Gentleman said was
true and the only way he ever lost was by
choice... Then NOTHING I did would
ever be able to stop him!
Not even GR2!
I felt the fight drain out of me. It was like trying to fight a tidal wave with a
spoon. I had lost in every way
imaginable... My eyes burned as my vision blurred, but that was
nothing compared to the full
gravity of the situation dawning on me... Without GR2 able to succeed, there would be
no way to stop the imminent
lawsuit. With finances already thin, it would RUIN me!
I had failed my family!
And for what? Nikki calling his name in her
sleep? Even if she ACTIVELY fantasized about him, she was
still married to
me! Was my issue not becoming Champion? What was
that compared to the financial security of my wife and kids?!
It dawned on me just how
trivial those things really were as I stood on the edge of a financial abyss... To top it all off, I attacked a man who
actually used to be my friend! ...Just because he beat me in some
games!
I could feel the tears running down my face now.
What had I done? I even threw little Jennifer's feelings at him!
I felt a hand.
It was a familiar hand. Rubbing my back... Nikki...
(118)
The woman who I was so
convinced didn't love me properly... With everything
I had done, she SHOULDN'T have loved me! Yet there she was, no judgement... Just trying to comfort me... The one who deserved it least!
I choked out my words. "Nikki... I'm sorry! I'm so
sorry!"
She merely pulled me to her in a hug.
Not having the energy to do much, I clung to her arms as I wept. She was crying too as I felt them fall in my hair...
Why had I been so
cold to her all these years? Nikki was a
wonderful wife! She always had been! I was angry with myself. I couldn't live up to my dream and it never felt like I deserved her...
I heard Nikki call out as she held me. "Please Mister Gentleman... please spare us! I know I don't have the right to ask after what I did... But at least for our
kids, if not for us!"
Mister Gentleman crossed his arms. "Nikki... One way or another I'm going to make
sure this matter is settled. Before I decide, I need to talk to the instigator of this entire ordeal... Isaac."
Talk. To me?
(119)
I wasn't sure what he was looking for exactly. Even if I was wrong for biting off more than I could chew, it didn't change the fact that Nikki wanted him or that he would get close to my kids to be closer to her... He was
still trying to steal her from me. I might agree to never attack or antagonize him again, but I
hated him.
I removed my sunglasses, wiped my tears away, and put them back on, looking him right in the eyes. "If you drop the lawsuit, I'll stop the hostilities."
He looked right back at me. His eyes bold and piercing. "Not good enough. You need to understand how
wrong you were about everything. I will not bend until you do."
Oh that was
rich coming from
him. If he thought I would just blindly swallow his lies he ha-
Rick held up his vacuum and powered it on for a moment. "Attention, if you please. I'm not sure how you all
imagined this conversation would be going, but toss all those notions out the window. I'm going to mediate this discussion, and I will NOT be taking 'no' for an answer."
What was Rick talking about?
Glancing about, I could tell everyone else was just as confused as me.
Rick smiled. "I've had several ideas to fix this lovely mess you all created.
Clearly, an intervention is needed. I'll walk everyone through it step by step. Oh, and Isaac, you aren't going to like this first bit, but it's for your own good."
My eyes went wide. What was he talking about?!
Rick then pulled out his phone. "You see, during the
last time Mister Gentleman was here, I happened to take a recording
of the entire event on my phone..."
I felt my heart skip a beat. "R-Rick! There is NO need to be digging out things like that! Everyone already
knows what happened!"
Mister Gentleman's eyes narrowed. "Oh, but why not take a
look at it anyway? That way Nikki can be better...
informed..."
Nikki looked down at me and then at Rick. "Rick? What's going on? Why is everyone so tense about this video?"
Rick dropped his smile. "Frankly, Isaac's version of events twisted what happened around
so badly that he all but
lied to you."
I suddenly felt like I couldn't breathe. Just how bad
WAS this day going to get?! At this rate, would Nikki even STAY with me?!
Nikki looked down at me.
It had been a while since I had last seen a look like that from her. The last time it happened, she didn't speak to me for an
entire agonizing week...
She closed her eyes and balled her fists at her side. "Play the video, Rick."
Everyone was
dead silent while the video played...
I would have tried to escape the room, but Mister Gentleman's Doduo appeared to be napping
directly in the only exit of the room!
Nikki wasn't supposed to see that she-
smack
Suddenly I was looking in a different direction with my sunglasses flying across the room. My face, stinging.
Yep, I guessed this is where she would divorce me. It was nice having a family while it lasted. Throw in the lawsuit on top of it and I may as well find a hole to crawl in and die...
"ISAAC! HOW
COULD YOU!"
I couldn't believe Rick actually
did that to me. So much for being pals, I guessed...
But it was Rick who spoke up next! "I'm not done yet. What you just saw, Nikki, is a result of all the things that have been festering in Isaac's mind. I'm not looking to deal with the
symptoms of this problem, I'm going to rip out this weed by the
roots."
Huh. When he put it like that, it
almost made me think he was trying to help in some misguided way.
I finished retrieving my sunglasses from across the room and put them back on.
Rick pulled out a notepad and began reading. "Exhibit A. Isaac's assumption that Mister Gentleman let Jennifer win the duel out of malice. What do you have to say about that, Mister Gentleman?"
(120)
Mister Gentleman balled a fist towards Rick. It was the same gesture he used to make when getting pumped up for a duel when he was a kid. "I wanted her to have a good time at the park! I was willing to lose my game against her just so she could!"
Um, no. Not fair!
I wasn't about to let him get away with
lying about his intentions. If Nikki was going to divorce me and he was going to sue me anyway, why bother holding back?
I scowled. "This is absurd! Of COURSE he would tell YOU that!"
Rick held up... A taser?!
He clicked the taser on showing electricity between the two end points. "From here on out, the gloves come
off. When I said I was going to mediate. I
meant it."
I swallowed. "Rick... buddy... you wouldn't really ta-"
The taser activated again in his hands.
Aaaand that was my cue to shut the Mew up, I supposed.
Fine! But I was STILL going to speak up, if only to point out the errors!
Nikki was... Smiling?! "Yeah... I think we better just do as Rick says here. The last time he got like this... it wasn't
pretty."
Rick turned to Mister Gentleman. "It seems we need some more clarification.
Why did you want Jennifer to be able to go to the park?"
Mister Gentleman threw his arms by his sides. "Why? What do you
mean why? Have you
seen how cute Jennifer is?! Throw in that she is Nikki's daughter, and how could I possibly hurt her?!"
Time to jump back in.
I glared at Rick while raising my hand.
Rick nodded to me.
I put my hand down as I grit my teeth. "Everything he is said was to ingratiate himself with Nikki. He said 'Nikki's daughter'. Notice how he left
me out about being her dad! He wants to steal Nikki AWAY FROM ME!"
Nikki gave
me a look of pity!
Mister Gentleman tilted his head to the side mouthing 'what?'
Rick was shaking his head.
Was I REALLY the ONLY sane person there?!
Rick turned to Mister Gentleman. "Alright, you stand accused of trying to
steal Nikki from him. What do you say to that?"
Mister Gentleman was such a good actor, the look of anguish on his face ALMOST convinced me.
(121)
"Steal her? This may be stupid, but I don't
care. I
love Nikki. If she were single and I could marry her, I'd do it without hesitation. I've
always loved her, ever since before I was
nine!"
Nikki looked shocked to hear that, but I had known
all along...
Finally he revealed himself to be the
traitor I always
knew he was...
I crossed my arms. "Right from the backstabber's mouth. You all heard it. What more is there to say?"
Rick pushed his glasses up on his face. "Mister Gentleman admitted he loved her. But feelings alone are
not a crime. And Nikki is
not single."
I held my hands out like I was trying to crush grapes with them. "But he is trying to make her
divorce me! He is trying to MAKE her single! Even all
this must be part of his
plan!"
Rick crossed his arms. "Yes, that IS at the heart of this matter, isn't it? What say you, Mister Gentleman?"
Mister Gentleman closed his eyes. "...It's not my place to interfere in Nikki's marriage. I know loyalty is something she values in herself. Getting her to abandon that would be cruel to her. If things here cause her to divorce Isaac, it won't be from me
pushing it that way."
I slammed my fist in my hand. "AH HA! But you don't
deny that you would be with her if she DID divorce me! To
pretend not to cause it and THEN to have her! THAT is your plan!"
Mister Gentleman set his jaw. He must have been upset I sniffed out his little game!
Rick gestured to me. "Isaac. For him to do that, it would mean robbing you of your wife. To succeed, he would need to have planned it in advance and been taking actions gradually over time to reach his 'goal'. Do you agree this wasn't an impulsive plan and do you think he would be ok with doing that to you?"
Hah! If all the rest of the questions were
that easy...
I sat up straight and looked at Rick. I was determined to show them how messed up Mister Gentleman was.
"Obviously. He wanted her for
years, so he
planned this for
years. He never cared about me. I'm sure he thought it was FUNNY stomping me in duels before I told him I'd had enough! He's been biding his time, looking for the right moment to strike or for me to
die.
That's why he has been single all these years!"
Rick held up his prized piece of chalk. He never used it to write with. It was his lucky chalk, after all.
"Ah! In that case, why don't you have a listen to the conversation Mister Gentleman had with me on the drive over to see you last time, Isaac!"
What was he talking about?
Rick began the sound-only recording.
(122)
"So, Mr. Gentleman. When was the last time you saw Isaac? I'm not talking about during your bid to become champion. I mean before that."
"It was long ago... I was barely a teenager at the time. Isaac had put together a new deck. According to Nikki, he had worked a
very long time on it and was winning duels against the other members of the Lightning Club left and right with it."
"I suppose Isaac challenged you with it?"
"He did, but he wasn't able to claim a single prize against me after five games. After that, he told me he was done playing the Pokemon TCG with me. Nikki didn't want to play anymore either. She preferred grass types which were weak to the fire I used. Since we had nothing else in common, we stopped spending time together."
"Do you regret beating Isaac so badly?"
"...I've never been one to hold back, but losing their friendship was unacceptable. I wish I had been wise enough to understand how to avoid it..."
"That must have hurt, given your feelings for Nikki."
"I would have liked a way to spend time with her after that point, but things had ended a bit awkwardly and I didn't know what else I could suggest... I hadn't intended for us to go so long without spending time together. One week became two. Two weeks became two months... As the length of time increased, so did the awkwardness of trying to break the stalemate... Before I knew it, we had gone
years without meeting up..."
"That sounds like it was about the time she started dating Isaac."
"Once I heard that... there was no going back. It would have been too painful for me... What would we have done together at that point anyway? I regretted the fact that I was not already the champion. I thought if I
just had enough skill, I could have sped it up and I wouldn't have lost her OR him. From then on, I didn't just study and play the Pokemon TCG... I
breathed it, and devoted all my time to my academy studies."
"You graduated top of your class in an unmatched record standing, yes?"
"I did. Not that Doctor Wem made it easy for me. I suppose I was also partly to blame by taking the hardest paper topics and such. But I always assumed becoming champion would lead to a happy romance for me."
"Obviously things, didn't go as planned."
"I had no
idea Wems offer would be the
last decent one I would have in
years... So here I am, with no worthy romance prospects in sight. Not that any other girl caught my eye like
Nikki. Even now,
no one catches my attention like that. I'm not sure if I have high standards or if I am just too particular when it comes to women... If only I had
known finding love would be so elusive..."
"I did. I had always assumed becoming champion would lead to a happy romance for me, but here I am and there's no romance. Not that any other girl had caught my eye like Nikki. Even now,
no one catches my attention. I'm not sure if I have high standards or if I am just too particular when it comes to women..."
"Sounds like you have some regrets."
"If I could do it over, I would have
raced to become champion without attending the university. Maybe
then I could have been with Nikki. But at this point, I would have
easily settled for Wem. I feel like what
should be the best years of my life are just
slipping by and that they could have been
so much better... Sometimes I wonder if I've
ruined my life..."
That was quite a bit to wrap my head around... What was all that? Was it real?
...NO.
It dawned on me what must have been happening...
(123)
It was
Rick!
He's been IN on it the whole time! I didn't know when or why, but he took Mister Gentleman's side! They have been planning and plotting it all
TOGETHER!!
As for Nikki... I could tell this was WORKING on her! Her face was full of anguish.
That's the first step... Get her to feel guilty. After that, it would shift to painting me as a monster... Once that was done, he would smooth talk her and let her 'choose' to divorce me 'on her own'. He would make it look like HER idea!
They were all out to get me.
ALL OF THEM!
I balled my fists. "I see through the LIES! Rick is on HIS side! They recorded that in ADVANCE as part of their plan!" I held my hands out to Nikki, "Don't you see,
Nikki? They both
betrayed you!"
Nikki looked back at me. "That's
wrong. If they wanted to do
that, they would have just left things alone at the video."
No, no, no, no, NO!!!
I shook my fists in front of me. "NO! They are just doing that to make Mister Gentleman LOOK better to you! Don't fall for their
LIES, NIKKI!"
Nikki closed her eyes and looked away as she held her arms.
Just like that then. They had turned her against me...
They rigged this WHOLE thing against me!
Rick pocketed the taser and held his arms out. "Isaac... we aren't trying to gang up on you! I was keeping this to myself, but my goal here is to
help your relationship with not only Nikki, but Mister Gentleman too!"
I shook my head. "I can't trust ANYTHING you say anymore Rick!"
Rick brought one of his palms to his face. "Isaac, you thick DOLT! WHY?! WHY MUST YOU MAKE ME DO IT?!"
Everyone in the room was now looking at Rick.
Rick rolled his eyes heavily. "Fine! EVERYONE here, you are
ALL coming with me!"
Mister Gentleman spoke first. "Erm... why? Where?"
Rick grit his teeth. "
Why? I think
that's pretty obvious. Despite my best efforts, Isaac REFUSES to LISTEN!
Where? The only place
left we can resolve this... My final resort and trump card to play... A meeting with the Oracle.
MY meeting with the
Oracle! You bunch of thick-headed... JERKWADS!"
The Oracle? Yes...
That would work. They couldn't keep up their LIE if the
Oracle was involved! But to think that he would be willing to use his
lifetime visit to the Oracle on
this...
If he was lying, both his lie
and his hatred towards me would be exposed... If he was telling the truth?
IF that were to happen, it would mean I was wrong... about EVERYTHING!
Fat chance of
that...
After two rounds of travel from the Lightning Club via hyperloop, we arrived at the Pokemon Dome! Within it was the Great Hall, the audience chamber... for the
Oracle!
