lucetilogs | Mission: Burying the Past in Zompania

[Well, that's more like it.

He knows a mere slab of concrete isn't enough to end the beasts Red has raised, and it's be a pathetic shame if that really was all that was needed. It only takes seconds for Snorlax's arm to smash through, followed by a bright point of light that streaks blindly against the face mask over him. Looks like he also got Venusaur, and she's choosing to hit back without word from her Trainer first. What emotional creatures.

Rhydon grabs onto him and jumps, rolling them out of the blast once he sees it coming. The range is a lot bigger than expected though, and his tail get singed before he can leap aside. Surprising as always, Red.

Giovanni pushes himself up from the dirt, unfazed over Rhydon's aching growl. It'll only just fuel the fight further.]

I told you not to get soft while you're here, Red!

[ There's a reason why no command was given, and that reason is the body of a boy underneath Venusaur's body.

A still living boy, thankfully.

Red stirs once the attack has been sent out, Giovanni's voice and what had been the building on top of him still ringing in his ears as he pulls himself out from under Saur, body hitting against Snorlax's side before he finds his own feet. He aches from the impact of hitting the ground, but the suit has him protected from any scratches or scrapes, and no tears have been made into it either.

What that attack could've done and what it could've been, Red can't register that much beyond the alarm of danger pounding in his head. But still, he doesn't want to fight, not here, not this place.

At the same time, he knows Giovanni won't give him the choice in the matter either, and he couldn't make the same mistake again of leaving him standing with a pokémon -- even if the man already showed how much more power he controlled in comparison, back in Luceti. ]

Snorlax! Venusaur! [ His voice is uneven, as rocky as the steps he takes to Venusaur to climb onto her, but still there; he's not going to go down here. ] Earthquake!

[ They work in unison, growling out their rage and lifting up and readying their weapons - Snorlax his arms and Venusaur her front legs. Red clings on by the flower with one hand kept company by Pikachu already there, at the same time trying to concentrate just enough for a healing spell. A thought, a specific motion of the hand --

Legs and fists come crashing down, rocking the ground around them both as their shockwaves join and blast forward with nothing held back. The wall of rock around their front - or what's still left of it - gets blown further down across the street, and the wrecked buildings the waves hit groan as they threaten to tremble, or more. ]

[It may not seem like the appropriate time or place for a battle, but all Trainers have to be prepared to throw a few punches when they least expect it. Really, Giovanni's just teaching the boy a few good lessons here.

He watches Red emerge between Venusaur's hold and the rubble. Giovanni can't say it was his intent the crush the child but, well, it's a good thing his dedicated team was there to help him. There's already enough bodies that need to be buried around here.

It's hard to see exactly what Red's doing in the distance, and he just barely a second to drop to his knees when the quake hits. Even if Red still has a lot of catching up to do, a combined quake from two enraged, enormous beasts is nothing to brush off lightly.

Rhydon takes it the hardest, feeling quadruple the impact shoot through his legs. Between that and his charred tail, it's enough to send him collapsing onto his hands, roaring out in pain. Giovanni grabs onto his own suit, fumbling for where he stored his other pokeballs on the outside, but it'll be difficult until the tremors end.]

[ Lessons learnt: People and pokémon do not go under buildings. (Also, getting smacked onto the ground and having a body shield for a Venusaur hurts)

The shakes of the ground aren't going to continue for long. Snorlax could keep it up for a while, but the attack requires Venusaur to lose her stable footing more than it does the other pokémon. Red's attempt to even use the magic he had learnt as well was a failure, mind and body too jolted to focus. Red has to call for Snorlax to cease, if only for Venusaur's good. ]

Snor -- stop and slam!

[ Well, it's ceasing one action for another. It's not an attack that can go right away, Snorlax needing to find his own feet again - a little like like jelly now, after the waves that hadn't bothered him so much when keeping still - until he can break off into a sort of half-run. Each step may sound like an earthquake in themselves, but it's the approaching weight of a Snorlax that one should care more for.

To the pokémon underneath him, Red brings himself close to her head quickly, placing a hand on the front of her head as he speaks to her in a voice only for her and Pikachu to hear: ]

Get ready. If he swaps then I need you to charge next. And if I disappear, don't panic - just distract.

[ He has a plan, if a reckless one. ]

[Asking Rhydon to stand against a giant stomping Snorlax would be pushing it at this point. With the tremors stable, Giovanni gets a grip on the pokeballs and throws out two: one aimed at Rhydon and the other to send out Kangaskhan. He sure asked for a fight, and while returning to the village with an exhausted team might not be the smartest of plans, backing out isn't an option now.

Well, it is, if Kangaskhan digs them out and away from here, fast enough to avoid another round of earthquakes while they're still submerged.]

[ What a shame that Snorlax doesn't get to ram down anything. He's able to stop himself from toppling over, but his sights go straight for Kangaskhan, and he only needs a second to make his target be her, continuing where he left off with Rhydon.

But there it is: the next pokémon, and while the pokémon stands close to him, it's as much of a sign that Giovanni's going to keep this up. Red moves back on Venusaur and grips onto the stem of her thick flower, and following that, the monster begins charging forward for a take down. ]

[Going all out, huh? The disappearance of Rhydon is just enough to buy some time and plan out his attacks, plus a few backups plans in case that Snorlax really is out for his blood. Not that it'll matter - the creature won't be able to touch him.]

Sandstorm! [The suits are a plus for keeping dirt out of his eyes, but Red's got that advantage, too. The best he can do is hide in the dusty tornadoes, which Kangaskhan kicks up with her claws until the area goes hazy with grey debris. Giovanni grabs onto her arm and scales up her back once she stops thrashing, ready to leap aside and disappear in the storm. Whether he can get close enough to Venasaur to land a punch without running into Snorlax along the way is the real question, and he can't risk digging underneath.]

[ The pokémon end up stopping near to each other, the sand whipping up into their eyes, Pikachu shielded by Venusaur's flower but still making the pokémon flinch.

But it's true -- with Red, they don't need their eyes to see, and he still sits right on top of Saur. ]

Saur, ra-- [ no, too sharp-- ] vine whip to your left! Snor, stand on defence!

[ He wants to get off, but not knowing where Giovanni has gone, he can't do the plan he had in his head. But if he can try and get his pokémon to surround Kangaskhan somehow. ]

[Time is of the essence, as Kangaskhan won't even be able to handle the raging storm she created. Clinging to her back, Giovanni taps her shoulders to give silent commands on where to turn and how low to keep her head, as they approach Red through the dust. The cracking sound of whips break apart some of the clouds, and one end gets precariously close to Giovanni's arm.

It's a sign that they're close enough. He slaps his hand on the back of Kangaskhan's neck, and the beast leaps up with a roar, breaking through the clouds next to Venusaur, fist raised in preparation for a Focus Punch directly at her head.]

[ The roar catches all of their attentions, and on instinct -- ]

Thunderbolt!

[ If time is of the essence then Pikachu is the one to go with. Red flings out his arm to give direction, and the pokémon knows the way to go, following it with a leap up it and then jumping - the storm of dust and debris smacking against his body, all of which he ignores - up and onto Kangaskhan. All Pikachu needs to do from there is cling and, with a pre-cry of his own, send out a burst of electricity from his body to hers. Red flinches his arm back from the sudden light, and even Venusaur backs away on instinct, too close to the attack for it to be good. ]

[Thank god the suit has some rubber lining to it, or else Giovanni's hair might get fried inside. The electric impact is enough to throw him off Kangaskhan and onto his back over the ground with a hard thump. He gasps for air, feeling a few bones crick and his lungs ache for more oxygen than he can breathe in.

Nothing's broken, but so help him, he's definitely starting to age.

He pushes up and rolls to the side, forcing himself up on a knee and shaking out static tingles from his fingers. He can't even look at Kangaskhan through the blinding light of the Thunderbolt.] Outrage!

[Kangaskhan hears him through the pounding sound of thunder and thrashes her arms out suddenly, aiming for her opponents in a blind rage. It's a last-ditch move, just in case he's forced to use Nidoking to finish this.

Red's Pokemon work far too well together, when they're all out, under the command of a mere boy. He hasn't improved already, has he?]

[ Pikachu barely gets time to jump off, deciding it's not a safe attack to be so close to and not having the right amount of concentration to keep on while the sandstorm is whirling around them. He finds himself back onto Venusaur, but his grip is nearly lost again when she's the first to be caught in Kangaskhan's fury, her fists knocking into her face and sending her stumbling back.

Pikachu might cling on by a leaf, but Red's thrown off onto the ground, getting a knock to his own lungs. He loses what page he's on in the battle as a pain forces its way into his head, his sight a dizzy blur when he opens his eyes, but the sound of Venusaur's roaring makes him force himself back together quicker, and he tries to think through the foggy mind. ]

Snor, protect Saur! Use sleep powder into the air! Pika, get on the ground and thunder wave!

[ He shouts the commands to the ground, wincing to see the figures he can just make out through the haze of sand and his own fuzzy sight -- but he's got to trust the plan will work, and he picks himself onto his feet to get moving into the direction he suspects Giovanni to be.

Having been stood close to Venusaur and knowing where Kangaskhan now was, Snorlax is quick enough to intervene into the raging pokémon's path to act as Saur's shield, Snorlax grunting loudly for the grass type to get it together while at the same time trying some way to grab a hold onto the foe, block her, whatever he can, but receiving a fist that knocks into his gut.

Pikachu by then is already on the move too, though the sandstorm is working to make him short of breath and dull the electricity in his body. But a thunder wave should be easy enough to do, and with Snorlax acting a barrier to prevent Kangaskhan from moving her lower body, he tries to make a safe enough ring around her to meet her at the back, just to get close enough for the electricity to go through and reach her.

Venusaur just needs only some time to regain her senses, and do as Red says if all goes successfully enough - aiming up a blast of sleep powder into the air, which gets caught into the storm and mixes in with it, being spread by Kangakhan's very own attack.

Red won't be able to see if it's worked. On his feet with an ache in one wrist, he's searching out for an hazmat suited figure, ready to tackle that damn man back to the ground whether he's still kneeling or isn't. ]

[Faint sparkles of sleep powder get swept up in the chaos as the sandstorm continues to rage. He hears Kangaskhan roar over the noise, signaling she's inhaled the powder. She might get a few more enraged punches in, but she'll topple into sleep soon enough.

Red's not the only one feeling around for limbs. The insulated suits are more fortunate than ever; a sandstorm mixed with sleep powder would knock out everyone in the area in seconds. He ducks low, feeling pebbles fly and bounce against his mask, hand out feeling for something in the dust. His other silently plucks all three pokeballs from his belt, which roll away and disappear in the winds.

If Red's still searching for him, Giovanni will gladly help, once he gets his hand wrapped around Red's ankle.]

[ Old man, you're still on the floor? That makes it easier to find Giovanni, at least. But Red's first instinct isn't to see what it is that's got him; that comes second to trying to pull his foot free so that, when he does look, it's only a glimpse that he gets before Giovanni is successful in pulling him back to the ground.

It's less of a pleasant landing that it had been being thrown off from Venusaur, and it's hard to reorganise himself into a position he wants to be. All he can think to do first is to try and swing his legs, using his free leg to attempt to smack into Giovanni's hand. ]

[The ground shakes as Kangaskhan stumbles on her feet, doing her best to avoid the lull of sleep in the wind. The sandstorm also starts to ebb away once her thrashing stops; it's now easier to see what's ahead. He sees an ankle through the haze, followed by another foot that hits his hand.

He repels his hand and clenches it in a fist, willing off the sting and gritting his teeth. The boy sure knows how to go down kicking and screaming when he wants to.]

[ It's hitting his wings that's keeping him down longer than he wants to be down, but once the hand is off him he scrambles his legs upwards, a hiss turning into a groan as he forces himself to get up off of them. They're sore, more so than anything else about his body, but he knows going back down on them would be worse than not finishing getting onto his hands and knees.

Snorlax has soaked up most of the hits in keeping like a barrier between her and Venusaur, his arms up in front of him battered and bruised from what has hit in her mindless assault. He's more than glad for when the pokémon begins to lose herself to the powder in her system, though it at the same time is attacking his.

Whose it isn't is Venusaur's, who takes this time to send out her vines to grab around the bottom of Kangaskhan's legs to tug on once they're wrapped around. Please go to bed, Kangaskhan.

-- but back to Red, who doesn't stop to get his breath or wallow in the misery of his pain. His eyes narrow straight to where he'd seen Giovanni before, and his fists ball up just as he grits his teeth together. It's hard closing that distance between him, his legs like jelly when he picks himself halfway up just to try and leap right back out for the man, hands reaching out to grab him. ]

[The boy nails him heavily, like a ton of bricks despite his wiry frame. It's easy to slip onto his back a second time with the slippery sand beneath them; Red isn't the only one with aching wings here. The pain that shoots down his spine almost takes Giovanni off guard - so the warnings about keeping their wings safe was not to be taken lightly. He'll definitely remember that.

With Kangaskhan neutralized and blissfully asleep, the sandstorm falls, raining pebbles and dust over them. Giovanni jerks his head to tip sand off his face mask, and looks up at Red over him.]

[ Snorlax has fallen to the call of sleep, his body the last heavy sound to hit the ground close to them. Pikachu had made it back to Venusaur, but he couldn't fight off the powder either, too exhausted to do so. Only Venusaur still stands, panting heavily, her eyes searching out her trainer once the storm has cleared.

There's a pulsing pain running through Red's back by the wings. It makes him hold on tightly to the suit more than his intent to keep gripped onto and pinned over Giovanni does, trying to concentrate everything onto him. This is closest he's ever been to this man. This man, Giovanni, leader of Team Rocket, who laughs at him over and over, this person --

But when the dust settles, no longer like an unending source of background annoyance in his ears; once he's up there looking back down at the man whose face he can barely see; once he's where he aimed himself to be since Rhydon was still standing, Red can't get out any words or the frustrations he knows he has. He glares, plenty of every emotion still running through him as much as every single knock to his body is, and there's a silence before he can speak.

What he wants, what he really wants right then, most of all, is for everything to -- ]

Stop.

[ Red firms his grip, staring down towards eyes he can't see and refusing to break contact with the mask. His voice is harsh, but it's low. ]

Take down any building you want. Take them all down if that makes you happy. Wreck them. Destroy everything until no one knows a city even stood here. [ his knuckles push down ] Have the time of your life. Laugh about me all the time you're doing it!

[ He bangs his fists against Giovanni's shoulders, head moving with his words as his volume increases. ]

But don't start a fight with me and my pokémon here! Not here! People died here! I know you don't care... but I do!

[ He's shaking, and it's not just the pain. But it does hurt. It hurts. Everything about this damn place hurts. ]

They were everywhere in these streets... there was blood... there still is! [ Dried, staining everything. Red swallows hard, feeling his voice falter. No; he's not giving Giovanni that pleasure of hearing that. He won't let anything leave his eyes.

He breathes, swallows again - both so hard to do - and he doesn't allow himself to care about how strained or weak his voice sounds, how too overemotional it is, when he shouts: ]

I'm not doing this here!

[ Red grits his teeth. Somewhere (was it always like this?) his body's turned into something jelly, tired and exhausted, and it probably wouldn't take much now to push him off. He's not thinking about that anymore anyway.

He just doesn't want to fight.

Not here.

Not where all those bodies laid.

Can a human being really care so little about that? ]

Edited 2014-08-02 18:35 (UTC)

[That's the problem with children - they really do just never understand how futile this all is to be sympathetic and shaky over a pile of bodies and wrecked city. It happens every day in every part of the world. There's no progress or profit to be made over a few shed tears for someone else's problems.

The boy's still such an annoying bleeding heart. Giovanni remembers hearing distant rumors of Red's disappearance back home, willingly giving up his throne in the League and completely vanishing. He originally suspected Red got sick of those incompetent goons running the Plateau, but perhaps he also got sick of all the things he had to see on his own, if he's going to be this flustered over dried blood on the street.

Hasn't he already fought over rows of graves in Lavender? Giovanni wants to huff out a laugh, but it comes out as a dry, hacking cough instead. Up this close, Red may notice little changes on Giovanni's face - grey along the sides of his hair, and more wrinkles around his mouth and eyes. Three years sure can age someone.]

You care too much over the most childish things.

[What is Red even hoping to accomplish with his sob story? It doesn't change how this city is already long gone.

Cracks in the earth spread beneath where Giovanni lays. A smirk spreads along his lips as a massive shadow looms right over Red. Nidoking hovers over them both, grin spread wide with streaks of purple poison bubbling between his teeth.]

I thought you would have learned something from this, Red. If you truly want to be a Trainer, you'll have to fight during times when you least want to. Isn't that why you kept going after us, when you could have ignored us like all the others?

[No one else dared to approach Team Rocket, nor did they dare to fight them when they raided.]

But very well. I'll accept your truce for today.

[ He doesn't need to look up to see who it is making that sound, only a glimpse of a foot needed to know that isn't Venusaur's The flower pokémon already knew he was there, and her eyes are fixated on his location. She may be weak and tired, but she's waiting to see if the pokémon will attack. He's too close to wildly charge in...

Red listens in silence. He shouldn't even listen at all to what Giovanni says, but he does. They'll have to fight when they don't want to - Red knows that. Back all those times in their world though, he wanted to fight. He wanted to stop them, stop what they were doing.

Was he childish? Of course. Reckless, probably more clueless than he liked to believe he was.

He shifts his knees to lower his body, letting go of Giovanni in one hand but taking a strong hold again of him in his other. For the free arm he slowly moves it out and away from them both, flexing his hand. His eyes squeeze, he focuses hard, and with a motion -- flames erupt.

They cover to his upper arm, blue and flickering and with cold heat, and there's no sudden spread to the rest of his suit or the smell of burning one might suspect. Red looks back down to Giovanni, keeping his expression still. ]

Tell Nidoking to back off. No games.

[ The flames keep there for some seconds more before Red's face winces. He keeps the arm hanging in the air, and keeps as well the same look on him as he had before.

The message isn't that he would burn that suit of Giovanni's if he didn't comply - what kind of bleeding heart for others would do that, even for the one they despite the most? And how could he fool Giovanni otherwise after his preaching about caring so deeply for a ghost city.

But Giovanni shouldn't think he's got the upper hand here, with his one pokémon in full health and Red's own tired and sleeping. He may only been a child, a typical and ordinary over-his-head kid, but he was aware of that. And he was aware even more that he would have to fight even when he didn't have to.

But he wasn't powerless. ]

[Oh.

That's new.

Giovanni stays still but the smirk definitely falls from his face. Either there's some trickery going on here, or this boy legitimately can summon flames around his own actual arm. How long has Red kept that one from him? That's quite the handy ability to have, if Giovanni's really seeing what he's seeing. Still, threat heard and noted.]

Stand down.

[The looming shadow creeps away as Nidoking straightens and takes a few steps back. Giovanni stares at the arm, attempting to figure out the secrets behind it. Even like this, he can't help pushing Red's buttons a bit more.]

Would you really do it? [He can't tell how much those flames would really do, but he finds it doubtful the boy would truly harm him here. No games, sure. Red's too noble to try burning his flesh.]

[ It's hard to know if he trusts to get up now and let go of his one way of keeping Giovanni from sending Nidoking attacking. He lowers the arm anyway, not planning to ignite it again; it's too tiring to try force the flames to appear over only one part of his body and he doesn't want to try something so risky again.

... ]

Venusaur. [ He says the name slowly, just so not to alarm Giovanni too much. ] Grab me.

[ Obediently the pokémon's vines extend out over to her trainer, one eye on Nidoking and the other on her trainer. When she's wrapped around him properly, he lets go of Giovanni and allows her to pick him up into the air and take him over to herself, until he's secure and safe on her back.

Did Giovanni want an answer? Because he's not getting one. Venusaur takes steps back, but they're not going to go yet. Red wants to take out Snorlax's pokéball and take up Pikachu in his arm. ]

[Smart of Red to play it on the safe side. Giovanni and Nidoking stay in their spots, watching as Red gets lifted aside and placed safely on his Pokemon's back.

That's it, then. He'll assume Red isn't going to answer him today.]

Nidoking. Dig.

[The cracks below Giovanni spread and open wider, until the ground gives beneath and Giovanni and Nidoking fall into the collapsing earth. A few seconds pass with nothing but the sound of rumbling earth, then more cracks appear beneath Kangaskhan and the stray pokeballs scattered on the field. They too fall through the ground and disappear.

The rumbling stops there, and nothing else resurfaces.]

Mission: Burying the Past in Zompania

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject