From: Adrian Tymes <wingcat@pacbell.net> Subject: Re: [PW!] Delayed Too Long... Date: Thursday, December 16, 1999 11:05 PM Maria Rocket wrote: > Mimic was looking up at Jessie with a frown. "Mimic...have bad feeling." > > In the next instant, Jessie fell hard back onto the ground next to James, and > on top of Slasher and Meowth. The two Meowth complained loudly. Up above, a a > bright blue glow appeared. And in the midst of it, a floating Mew. > > "Mew!" #Ahah! Now you're all alone!# Mimic looked around, counting the number of people and pokemon nearby. #Who all alone?# #You.# #Mimic have Maria, James, Jessie, Slasher, and Meowth nearby. Only one alone here is Mew: no have friends of own that Mimic see.# #You call these 'friends'?# #Well...maybe Slasher not know Mimic yet, and Maria...but other three are friends.# #Were they there when you murdered my bretheren?# #What Mew talk about? Mimic no kill.# #At what you call the 'Coke bottle'. I saw you dive into my brothers' attack to rescue your friends. They did not survive. Therefore...# #Oh, that. Mimic no kill. Mews let Aerie free; Aerie kill.# #But you helped. And for that, you must die.# "Yeah? Try killing him where you can't hurt him. Mimic, return!" The mew tracked an angry gaze, equal in emotional volume to Maria's look of utter suprised, back along the red beam that sucked Mimic into a poke ball in James's hand. #You would DARE interfere in my vengeance, human?# A high pitched whistle faded in in the background as James put away the radio transmitter in his other hand. "Yes, I would." The whistle grew louder. "And I'm not the only one." And louder. "Everyone DUCK!" And *WHUMP!!!* #...ij-jte...# Where the mew had been, a solid round from the Bottle's artillery had dug a six foot deep hole, with the mew temporarily pinned at its bottom. Without wasting a second, James grabbed Maria and Jessie and dragged them into the baloon basket. The two Meowths called a truce just long enough to follow. "'Strike anywhere, no questions asked.' Thank goodness their aim's well practiced. Mimic, I choose you!" He did not throw so much as rub the ball, cracking it open in his hand to release the ditto. "Mimic, we need protection *now*. Same place as last time. Think you're up to it?" "Mimic ready." "Then do it!" Maria's world went blue, then white, then red, then an interesting shade of dark red with a sickly yellow stripe across the middle...then she remembered to open her eyes. The balloon was falling from where it had materialized in midair, though Jessie and Meowth were rapidly turning on the balloon's burner to stabilize their altitude. A forested moutain could be seen below, with some kind of outpost on its flat peak. "Where are we?" James gestured to the outpost. "As close to Azure Heights as we're ever likely to get. We're just outside their detection range; be glad. If that mew were to follow us here, he would trigger their alarms, with more raw power than all of us put together. But even that mew would have a tough time surviving *their* defenses." "Azure Heights...I've heard of it. Home of the Pokemon League's elite, right?" James ran a hand through his hair. "It's said that if anyone were to defect from Team Rocket, Azure Heights would be one of the few places on Earth where they'd be safe. And speaking of safe...thank you again, Mimic. That's another life we owe you." Mimic waved a pseudopod. "Is nothing. Mimic no keep count after two each." Maria blinked. "You've saved each others' lives before?" "Jessie, James take Mimic on 'training' mission. Like Maria, unlike other Rockets, no treat Mimic harshly. Most pokemon only can be affected by one poke ball at time, so Mimic entrust active ball for Mimic to James, keep any other Rocket from gain control." James regarded the poke ball. "I was actually glad when I'd heard you escaped. When Maria told me she had you...Maria, you should know, if Mimic said you were treating him like the others did, I might have killed you to keep Mimic safe. No one should have to go through what he did." "He means that much to you?" "He is a friend, Maria. Our lives may keep us apart, but we will help each other when circumstances put us together." Maria looked at James, then at Mimic, then turned her gaze towards Azure. She needed time to think about what she had learned. Meanwhile, with the balloon's altitude stable, Jessie kept a watchful eye on Meowth and Slasher. The last thing they needed was a cat fight in these close quarters. TBC? > (Sorry for the lameness, but I've been suffering from severe writers block all > week. I rewrote this a few times, but it didn't come out the way I wanted... > but decided I'd better post something anyway. -_-;;; ) (Not all of our works can be personal masterpieces. Sometimes just getting the job done is what counts. And your post wasn't lame. Faster. Cheaper. Better. Optimize among the three for whatever situation you find yourself in, and whatever resources you do and don't have. Though it helps that, in writing PW!, the only currency you spend, insofar as you could invest it anywhere else, is time. ^_^)