From: "Chet Weaver - Chicks Dig Giant Robots" <zeroohki@netscape.net> Subject: Re: [PW!] Storm Warning [Was: [PW!] A Brief Intermission] Date: Monday, August 23, 2004 10:44 PM Clayton wrote: > > A bit behind the ladies, Derek was walking slowly. There was something in > the air and it was coming. That and they were heading towards it. Near the > human was a Medicham, on a similar state of High Alert. Sudden storms > were one thing, not common, but not impossible. > > But a storm like this without rain was rather unlikely. It reminded Chan of > the time him, Derek and Torch got a small pack of Pikachu startled. It > had rained Thunder and Thunderbolts for a solid five minutes, and then > the Raichu came. > > Chan sighed at the memory. Derek looked at him for a second, then looked > up, and plowed into the Medicham. A lightning bolt had just crashed into > the > space that Chan was in only seconds before. > > Before anyone had time to react, a second bolt came down on the group, > causing them to scatter slightly. > "Well, well, fancy meeting you here." The still reassembling Search Party turned to the source of the voice. Over yonder bushes were two familiar men: One muscular and nordic, the other lean and scraggily. Accompanying them was a powerful looking Rhydon. "Sven and Peabody of Team Aqua," Cass noted. "Are you the ones causing this storm?" "Nah, we're just passing through," the lanky Peabody replied. "A real beaut of a storm though," Sven, the larger one, added, scowling at the pair of Kitsus. "Aside from the lack of rain." "I suppose someone has to ask the obvious question," Derek offered. "What is causing this storm?" A nearby treetop exploded as a bolt of lightning struck it. Amid the smoldering embers of once leaf filled branches was a crouching figure practically obscured by its own electrifying aura. "Nice night for a storm, isn't it?" the figure said with a smirk as he rose to his feet. Peering through the glare, Keaton could make out the blue, rabbit like ears and the dashes in the blue dots on the newcomer's cheeks; Tell-tale signs of a half-Minun humanoid. The features that most stood out to Keaton, though, were the straight-up spiky hair and the silver jumpsuit with blue trim. "Reimaruten," Keaton growled as he drew his sword. It's iridescent glow confirmed they were in the presence of a being from the world of Aenaria. "THE Reimaruten?" Kitsu gasped. "You know this guy?" Aerie-Kitsu asked. "He's a mercenary," Kitsu explained. "I hear he's unusually powerful and quite loyal to Rossiter." "I always thought he was just a legend," Keaton added. "He doesn't look so tough, if you ask me." "A legend in my own time," Reimaruten snickered. "It's nice to know that my reputation preceeds me, even on this world. But I'll have you eating those words soon enough." His expression then soured, as he added almost dismissively, "As for you natives, run off and play somewhere else if you know what's good for you." To accentuate the point, another Thunder attack immediately blasted one of the Pokemon present. The Rhydon merely shrugged off the attack without even a scratch, which severely reduced the psychological impact of Reimaruten's display on everyone else. "Was that supposed to scare us?" Aerie deadpanned. "Don't be so cocky," Reimaruten growled. "Had that bolt hit you instead, you'd be dead by now!" "Me not sure about that," the Rhydon interjected. "Not with Lightning Rod ability." "So it looks like the big, bad mercenary has himself a big, bad weakness," Cass taunted. "Any electric attack you try to throw at us will redirected by Grimlock's Lightning Rod and nullified by his immunity." "A minor setback," Reimaruten scoffed, his glow intensifying briefly. "You don't get to be a top mercenary without learning a few tricks, like this!" Reimaruten disappeared from his perch and blurred back into view with his foot in Chan's gut. The Quick Attack sent the Medicham sprawling. The rest of the group had little time to react as another Thunder attack ripped through them on its way to Grimlock. "I think you see what I'm getting at," Reimaruten smirked again. "Surrender now and I may be merciful. Some of you may even live." "Surrender? I don't think so!" Keaton challenged. He charged forward with his sword ready, but Reimaruten just side-stepped him and kicked him in the back of the head. Aerie struck next, using Quick Attack to hit Reimaruten with a surprise slash from her copied Hellstrike Bisento. The half-Minun proved faster, catching the bisento and flinging the half-Ditto imitation of a wereNinetales into an on-coming Chan, who had been attempting a Fire Punch from behind. "Looks like we're up!" Cass exclaimed as she tossed out a PokeBall. "Go, Enigma! Use Earthquake!" "No, wait!" Aerie called out as she recovered from her tumble. She Teleported over to Kitsu just as Enigma materialized and disappeared with her before the Claydol could unleash its attack. Everyone who was on their feet were knocked off it. This did not include Reimaruten, who zipped into the air with a Quick Attack and came down with a fist between Enigma's front most eyes. Enigma was knocked back some, but quickly regained his bearings. Meanwhile Aerie and Kitsu had reappeared. Upon touching solid ground, Aerie called out, "Kitsu's a Fire type! You could've hurt her!" "Sorry!" Cass called back. "I'll be more careful next time!" "You're not going to let them have all the fun, are ya?" Peabody inquired of Grimlock. "Hold on, this isn't really our battle, is it?" Sven suggested. "Why not?" Peabody asked. "She is related to our assignment, and those are her friends." "Yeah, but that girl's a Fire type!" Sven argued. "Sven, you can't let your prejudices dictate..." Peabody began as Grimlock charged into battle regardless, "... what we clearly have no control over anyway." "C'mon, Kitsu, let's..." Aerie said as she began to charge back into battle. She stopped short when she found that said wereNinetales wasn't following her. "Kitsu?" Aerie turned back to her dearest friend and found her frozen with terror, but not at the opponent they were facing. She wasn't even watching the battle. Her eyes were focused on her trembling hands, loosely hanging on to the Hellstrike Bisento in their grasp. "I... I-I can't," Kitsu stammered. "It's too... I can't do this... I'll just... explode again. I can feel the Hellstrike drawing power from me even as I hold it. I can't do this, Aerie. If I fight, that terrible power will be unleashed again..." "Kitsu..." Aerie said in a hushed tone. She recalled the previous battle, when Kitsu called upon her Fire Blade attack to finish off the enemy. The attack exploded into an uncontrollable inferno, endangering everybody's lives. Aerie could now sense the steady trickle of energy flowing from Kitsu into her weapon. She realized that even her counterfeit Hellstrike was doing the same with her energy. "Enigma, Psychic!" Cass called out. "Chan, Fire Punch!" Derek commanded. Reimaruten sleekly avoided these attacks and more, dancing around his opponents like a well-rehearsed ballet. Keaton attempted to run the mercenary through with his katana, but the half-Minun leapt up and landed on the flat of his blade. Grabbing the minoTauros by the horns, Reimaruten flipped over him as if on a pommel horse and threw him end-over-end into the charging Grimlock. The Rhydon merely swatted Keaton out of his way and continued along his trajectory. Reimaruten rolled between Grimlock's legs, flipped into the air to avoid another Earthquake attack, and fired off a Shockwave to counter the Medicham that vaulted off Grimlock's back. "Kitsu, listen," Aerie said. "Reimaruten is way too fast to hit with a direct attack! We'll need a Hellstrike Inferno just to make contact! The flames will go everywhere, and they'll be no place he can hide from it!" "No!" Kitsu refused with a pleading look of terror that was flung at Aerie like a surprise mack truck. "It's too risky!" "No, it's not!" Aerie argued. "I can teleport everyone out of range so no one will get hurt!" "But wild Pokemon live here!" Kitsu countered. "All their homes will be destroyed!" "The forest will grow back and the Pokemon may have already fled!" Aerie pointed out. "And what about next time!?" Kitsu demanded. "What if we have to do this in a city!? Can you safely teleport an entire city at once!? We can't just drop a nuclear bomb every time we face an almost invincible enemy!" "We'll think of something else next time!" Aerie offered. "But we need you now!" Kitsu looked to the battlefield. Chan was throwing punch after kick after chop after punch, but Reimaruten evaded each and answered with his own. Chan managed to avoid these strikes, but was insofar unable to find a proper opening. Kitsu realized that few options presented themselves that could properly alleviate this situation. "all right, I'll fight," Kitsu said resolutely as she drove her bisento in the ground. "But not like that. If Reimaruten wants speed, I'll give him speed." Kitsu was already a barely perceivable blur before Aerie could interject. Reimaruten almost didn't see her through the flurry of his own melee when a fist was planted firmly in his cheek. The half-Minun took a tumble but quickly recovered and cartwheeled to his feet. "Hey, you got him!" Keaton cheered as he, Chan, Grimlock and Enigma gathered around her. "You hit me," Reimaruten deadpanned. "Big deal. Everyone gets lucky sometimes, but trust me, it will not happen again!" Another Shockwave attack erupted from Reimaruten on a head-long course for the combatants. Enigma and Grimlock needn't have even moved, but Chan and Keaton barely dodged the current. Kitsu disappeared and was not seen until she came to a full stop with a fist planted squarely in Reimaruten's gut. "Looks as if lightning's struck twice," Kitsu said with a smirk. Reimaruten mirrored the smirk and said, "Sister, you don't know the half of it!" Kitsu felt her fist being pushed back and realized Reimaruten had caught it with both hands just prior to impact. Reimaruten racked her body with a few thousand volts of electricity, sending her to the ground again. "You think you're fast?" Reimaruten questioned tauntingly. "You ain't fast! You ain't nothin'!" Kitsu's eyes narrowed before she was replaced with a wereNinetales-shaped cloud of dust. Reimaruten followed suit, moving faster than human perception. Keaton and the others tried to keep track of their movements, but all they had to go on were the sonic booms caused by their impacts. Keaton heard something land behind him and was surprised to see Kitsu's hand on his shoulder. "Kitsu?" Keaton inquired. "Not quite," Aerie-Kitsu replied and, before disappearing with him, added, "C'mon. We need a plan." The two combatants carried on at high-speed, striking and blocking and countering in rapid succession. At these velocities, it was critical to keep track of absolutely everything. The only thing that could see them, and practically the only thing they could see, were each other, and one misstep could mean that the last thing that goes through your mind is your tail. Regardless, Kitsu had a plan. As long as Reimaruten was between her and Grimlock, his electric attacks where useless. "You think you really have a chance, don't you?" Reimaruten noted as he raced alongside his vulpine opponent. "The thought had crossed my mind," Kitsu replied. "I suppose this is where you say you have been toying with me and that you've seen faster things on four wheels and the word 'Soap' stenciled on the side." "Clever," Reimaruten said. "There's only one man as fast as me, and that's two strikes against you. Now watch closely. This is where I make you look like a chump." With that, Reimaruten zipped out of sight. "No way!" Kitsu exclaimed as she began to skid to a halt. "There's no way he could be that..." Aerie watched as, some distance away, Reimaruten shimmered into visibility with his arms outstretched. Kitsu soon reemerged from hyperspeed and slid right into the half-Minun's waiting arms. "...Fast?" Kitsu finished as she became aware of what just happened. "Don't blink," Reimaruten said. A wave of electricity suddenly washed over Kitsu and Reimaruten let her drop to the ground. "Aw, you missed it! I'd show you again, but with that nasty case of paralysis you have, you couldn't even dream of matching my speed again." "You bas-" Kitsu tried to stand up, but her skeletal muscles had locked in place. "I'll have to admit, that was quite exhilarating," Reimaruten said as he walked across the field and retrieved Kitsu's Hellstrike Bisento. "I'm always up for a good run across the continent." "I suppose this is where, in some twisted sense of irony, you'll finish me off with my own weapon," Kitsu observed, still struggling to move. "Well, you will be easier to transport once you're unconscious, but my boss would prefer you alive," Reimaruten acknowledged as he returned to Kitsu's side. "He might like to have your weapon, too." "Your boss?" Kitsu inquired, almost straining to move her jaw. "Oh, I've probably said too much already," Reimaruten said, resting the bisento over his shoulder. "But I'm sure you'll be meeting 'Deoxsys' soon enough." "I have one more question," Kitsu said, barely managing to roll over. Reimaruten looked down at her in disdain. "What?" he asked. "I don't suppose you saw where everyone else went," Kitsu inquired. Reimaruten glanced around the field. Indeed, there was a suspicious lack of people and Pokemon that should've attacked him the moment he let go of Kitsu. But, at the perimeter, a ball of flame flared to life and began careening towards him. At the ball's center was another Kitsu. "If that pretender thinks she can-URK!" Reimaruten's line was cut short as the real Kitsu leapt up and, in one motion, grabbed her bisento out of his hands, held the pole against his throat with the inside of her elbows, and wrapped her hands behind his head in a full nelson lock. "Just so you know, I was really against this move," Kitsu said as Aerie leapt into the air with her false Hellstrike twirling and fireball flaring. "But if Aerie's going through with it the least I can do is give her a fixed target!" "But you'll be hit, too!" Reimaruten warned. "With an ability like Flash Fire, it's a risk I can take!" Aerie descended back to Earth, but a bolt of lightning streaked across the field and knocked her off course. She slammed into a tree and set it ablaze. "But..." Kitsu started in surprise. "You can't make a Thunder attack move like that! Not unless..." Kitsu found herself clotheslined from the side, forcing her to let go of her opponent. She sat up and saw that Reimaruten had been joined by a second, red Reimaruten. "Be careful next time," the blue Reimaruten complained. "You nearly hit me that time!" "You're the one that got cocky," the blue Reimaruten chided. "Just be glad I was watching your back." "There's two of you!?" Kitsu exclaimed. "Man, I really should've seen that coming." "The best things often come in pairs," the blue Reimaruten said. "We're two of a kind, you see," the red Reimaruten added. "I'm Reimaruten the Plusle." "And I'm Reimaruten the Minun," the blue Reimaruten continued. "Dammit," Kitsu cursed. "One of you was bad enough." "Let's just knock her out now," said Reimaruten the Plusle. "That way she'll be less of a hassle." "Agreed," Reimaruten the Minun confirmed as rose a hand to strike again. Before he could loose a single spark, Aerie-Kitsu teleported in front of her. "And what do you think you're doing? Saving us the trouble of using two attacks?" "I call it, 'Going with Plan C'," Aerie said as a Heracross descended fist-first from the heavens. Aerie and Kitsu teleported away before Heracross could hit the ground and unleash a devastating Earthquake attack. They reappeared near the rest of the gang. "Keaton's Heracross can only keep them busy for so long," Aerie reported as Cass administered a Full Restore to Kitsu. "Them?" Keaton asked. "Long story," Aerie replied. "Grimlock will meet us back at the battlefield. Follow my lead, Kitsu." Aerie Transformed into a copy of Enigma, Kitsu following suit with her Mimic technique. "Right, let's go," Aerie said. Meanwhile, the Reimaruten duo had made short work of Heracross. As they scoffed at the mere notion of sending a bug to do a man's job, Grimlock stomped onto the field. "So they sent a lone Ground-type to take us on," Reimaruten the Minun noted with distaste. "Do they think we're amateurs?" Reimaruten the Plusle grimaced. "They're fools to think a mere *Rhydon* can stand against the sheer power of the ultimate warrior duo Reimaruten!" "We'll double your trouble, buddy!" Reimaruten the Minun casually threatened. "We'll run circles around your sorry tail!" "We'll turn you into gravel before you can land a single hit!" Reimaruten the Plusle added. "Then we'll use what's left of your hide to make your gravestone!" "That's because we're the unstoppable, undeniable, unforgettable, and unforgivable perfect legendary team Reimaruten!" they finished together. "Oh, really?" Grimlock challenged. "Well, me Grimlock, BADASS!" Grimlock punctuated his point by rearing up and stomping the ground in a massive Earthquake attack. Reimaruten leapt high into the air to avoid it, snickering on their way down. "Fool, it will take more than that to take us down!" Reimaruten the Plusle sneered. Upon landing on the ground, a trio of Claydols teleported into existence around them. #Is this enough?# Kitsu-Enigma telepathically inquired. Without waiting for an answer, the three Enigmas let loose with a barrage of Earthquakes, protected by their own Levitation ability. Reimaruten evaded the assault to the best of their ability, but even they eventually succumbed to the cacophony of destruction. Once the duo was downed, Kitsu reverted back to her default form and sauntered over to Reimaruten the Plusle. She picked him up by his collar and glared directly into his eyes. "Who is this 'Deoxsys'?" she demanded. "What does he want with me?" "Can't say," Reimaruten the Plusle croaked in reply. "Can't or won't?" Kitsu challenged. "We didn't ask, and he didn't say," Plusle responded. "We don't care as long as we get our money." "Is he one of Rossiter's men?" Kitsu demanded. When no response came, she shook him and demanded an answer. "Looks like he's out cold," Aerie said, having reverted to her adolescent human form and joined her friend. "Maybe I can..." Aerie reached out towards the half-Plusle's head, but before she could touch him he screamed an unearthly howl. Kitsu dropped him in shock and he convulsed on the ground for nearly a minute. At the end, he just lay there with his eyes rolled back into his head and a trickle of blood coming out of his nose and ears. Tentatively, Aerie knelt down and examined his head. "Nothing," she reported. "His mind's been completely wiped. It looks like somebody doesn't want to let the Meowth out of the bag just yet." To be continued...? -- Chet "Tech" Weaver AIM: PanGatomon MSN: Nichirasu@hotmail.com eMail: zeroohki at netscape dot net Yahoo! Messenger: tech_weaver ICQ: 122744531 Webcomic: http://desperadocoyote.keenspace.com My Adventure Quest character: http://www.battleon.com/aq-chardetail.asp?temp=131213 You can play Adventure Quest at http://www.battleon.com Sometimes, I notice someone has posted a reply to one of my messages and I think, "Oh, great, what did I say this time?"