PW - Sudden Death Battle
Chet Weaver
square with the nearby beach, stark sunlight making each a glaring sea of
luminosity. Mason "Mace" Adams and Maxine Diaz stared each other down, a
Poochyena and a Scyther between them. The assassin had her back to the sea,
effectively cutting off his escape.
No, that wasn't quite true. The area was open, with plenty of avenues to
escape. Mace just dared not turn his back on Diaz. He had questions
besides, and she had answers.
"You're looking a little tense," Diaz taunted, her eyes level with the brim
of her black cap and locked on Mace's. "Are you regretting sending a Dark
type up against a Bug type?"
"I know your partner's around here somewhere," Mace replied, peering out
from beneath a red bucket hat, scanning for hints in Diaz's body language or
expression. "I know she's going to shoot me when I least expect it. The
only thing keeping me here is the bait you set out. I don't trust this to
be a fair fight, or to even get what I want in the end, but I will bring
this to an end." 'I know she's around her somewhere. If I only knew
exactly where, if I could narrow it down, I could possibly, maybe, eliminate
at least some of their advantage. Where are you? Where are you...?'
Hera Yuin watched from above in the comfort of her hotel room. Well, not
hers per se, but she was able to sneak into it easily enough. Her sniper
rifle was already assembled, locked, and loaded. She had a perfect view of
the back of Mace's head. Like the expert sniper she was, the cap on her
scope was still covered, relying on her own unaugmented senses to aim. She
was taking no chances, even with his attention directly away from her, that
light reflecting from her scope would draw attention to her until it was too
late. But now she was ready. She flipped up the cap and looked through the
scope.
It was almost like in those cartoons, when someone looking through a pair of
binoculars would find themselves directly into someone else's eyes. It was
surreal. A second ago he seemed focused on the battle, but now he was
staring dead straight up her scope from the pavilion below with as much
certainty and intent as if he were right in front of her. It had to be a
concidence. An intense, unnerving coincidence.
Hera got over it and pulled the trigger, but it was too late. Mace was
running right for the hotel, leaving the bullet to embed itself in the
asphalt. Diaz pulled her own gun, only to have it grabbed from her as a
Dusclops appeared from nowhere and wrestled her to the ground.
Hera tapped the radio in her ear as she picked up her rifle and its case on
her way out. "What the HELL did you do!?"
"I didn't DO anything!" Diaz snapped back as she struggled in Gauntlet's
grip. "I didn't even know where you were, remember? I swear, I had his
full attention and then he just... Dammit! DeathScyther! Get... Mmmmph!"
Hera kicked open the door to the stairs and ran down two at a time. She was
most definitely not getting cornered in an elevator and she wasn't getting
into a Pokemon battle if she could help it. She had been told Mace had
something of a sixth sense, but there was no way it could be that accurate.
The door to ground level was in full view when Hera stopped, perched on the
stairs. Of all the staircases in the hotel, she picked one of two that
entered directly into the lobby. If Mace was smart and avoided the
elevators, he'd have a fifty-fifty chance of picking the stairway she was
coming down. Mace was on ground level already, while Hera was several
floors up. Unless he specifically waited in the lobby for her to come down,
he would've passed her on the way up by now. With four other stair cases
and seven elevators around the building, there was no way Mace could hope to
take a chance on just waiting by any of them.
... Right?
Hera raised her sniper rifle and aimed at the door. She knew his dimensions
and pictured his outline on the door, pointing at the chest, the surest
target. Slowly, she descended the stairs. Surely, she was being
over-cautious, but still... the look in his eyes...
She heard the doorknob turn almost before the sight registered. She squoze
the trigger and put six bullets right through the door. She heard *whumph*
on the other side, like a body hitting the floor. She crept down the stairs
again, keeping her rifle level. She stopped just outside the swing radius
of the door. She sidled over to the side of the door and, her rifle at the
ready, carefully opened it a crack.
A Kirlia sat in front of the door on a bullet-riddled suitcase.
A psychic push shoved the door open and violently ripped the rifle from
Hera's hands. She turned and bolted up the stairs, only to be stopped by an
invisible force. She found herself being flung out the door and across the
lobby. She hit the wall, then a suitcase hit her in the gut. She dropped
to a seated position on the floor, her hand on her stomach, and looked up to
see Artemis the Kirlia merrily skipping her way. Hera swore to herself and
pulled a PokeBall out of her pocket, only to have it torn out of her hand.
"I'll take that," Mace said as he pocketted the PokeBall. He stepped in
front of her and knelt down to eye level. "I'm tired of this girly little
game of yours. Now you're going to give it to me straight."
"Sorry to disappoint you," Hera replied. "But we don't know anything about
your past. It wasn't important to the mission. We don't even know who
hired us. We were given cash up front and told where to find you. That's
all."
"That's not what I mean," Mace said sternly.
"Then what?" Hera demanded, her eye narrowing.
Mace's eyes went all googily. "You're totally into her, aren't you?"
Hera blanched. "Hell no! Why does everyone think we're a couple!? We
barely tolerate each other!"
"I've seen how you look at her," Mace purred. "You're putting up a front
'cause you're so sweet on her!"
"You're seeing things that aren't there!" Hera insisted. "Figments of your
perverted imagination!"
"The more defensive you get, the more I'm right!" Mace swooned. "Hera and
Max-ine, sittin' in a tree..."
"If this is your idea of torture, you can just forget it!" Hera screeched.
"You dope," Artemis sighed, her face in what passed for her palm.
-- Chet Weaver
"What's the fun of being cool if you can't wear a sombrero?"
- Hobbes, Calvin & Hobbes
Diamond Trainer Name: Minnie
Friend Code: 0988 8637 4610
Progress: Sinnoh League Champion (Feb. 15, 2009, 302:7 Hours)
Location: Resort Area
Time: 312 Hours since April 22, 2007
PokeDex Completion: 153/213
Score: 20383
Current Goal: Complete National PokeDex
Event Pokemon Collected: "Lucario" Mew, "Rise of" Darkrai, Gamestp Deoxyx,
TRU Dragonite, "Sky Warrior" Shaymin
Steffan Alun
> Mason "Mace" Adams and Maxine Diaz stared each other down, a
> Poochyena and a Scyther between them.
Nice to see the return of Mace! I'm hoping to see this story resolved
soon - it's been a long time coming, so it'd be nice to have it tied
off with the PokéWars! still going.
Steffan
Chet Weaver
it. I also discovered that I don't have a file on Mace on my computer and
the one I found on Google was out of date. (I'm positive I evolved Artemis,
but the latest one I could find said she was a Ralts) I do want to resolve
his story, and I have an idea for a scene or two, but I'm waiting for
everyone else to catch up with him in... What was it? Mossdeep?
-- Chet Weaver
"Steffan Alun" <ice...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:ba7d745a-ee38-4c1d...@c1g2000yqi.googlegroups.com...
off with the Pok�Wars! still going.
Steffan
William Rendfeld
> Something popped into my head and I thought I should post it before I forgot
> it. I also discovered that I don't have a file on Mace on my computer and
> the one I found on Google was out of date. (I'm positive I evolved Artemis,
> but the latest one I could find said she was a Ralts) I do want to resolve
> his story, and I have an idea for a scene or two, but I'm waiting for
> everyone else to catch up with him in... What was it? Mossdeep?
>
That's where he was last I checked...and yes, Artemis did evolve from
a Ralts to a Kirlia somewhere in there.
If you need, I can write up a quick jump-off point for Cass to head
off with Kitsu and Keaton. Which reminds me, I still need to try and
check in with Beth...
Chet Weaver
want them to do right now. I suppose I could speed along to the final
battle with Ratcliffe (I think that's what I called him), but I don't have
anything for after that, either.
-- Chet Weaver
"William Rendfeld" <WARen...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:7ba2f6f6-4bd2-4ce8...@a36g2000yqc.googlegroups.com...
Steffan Alun
> I don't know if I need anything from you just yet. I'm not even sure what I
> want them to do right now. I suppose I could speed along to the final
> battle with Ratcliffe (I think that's what I called him), but I don't have
> anything for after that, either.
It's fine not to have anything planned, though - that's what the PW!
is all about, after all. I've been really enjoying reading about Alex
in Orre, because it feels like a brand-new story for a familiar
character. The Wars! could probably do with shedding some of its more
convoluted backstory, which is why I mentioned shiny Unowns and
Smasher elsewhere.
In summary, I'd love to read about the final battle as soon as
possible, so unless you've got something important that has to happen
before, I'd go ahead and write it now.
Steffan