From: Bandraptor <bandraptor@aol.com> Subject: [PW!] Of Vice and Men Date: Friday, December 03, 1999 2:45 AM Click. Click. Click. A transparent pink and blue Porygon named Nemesis flew through the air, circling over Saffron for what seemed like the umpteenth time. It was dark now, and it was difficult to make out the people bustling about in the town below. Nemesis was about to use Sharpen on its vision, when it remembered that it no longer knew that particular move, because some loser, whose face it couldn't really remember, had taken the liberty of overwriting it with Hyper Beam. The Porygon heaved a little sigh, and looked back at its master, who was riding on its back; hoping she would abandon whatever mission she was currently pursuing, so it could return to the comfort of its Pokéball... Click. Click. Click. Nori sat with her back against Nemesis' head, her arms tucked inside her shirt for warmth. She didn't seem to looking at anything in particular, much less looking *for* something. And in truth, she wasn't. She'd long since given up hope of finding her intended target, but she wasn't about to admit defeat; so when the Porygon looked back at her, she ordered it to continue flying. Click. Click. Click. Rubix was holding what looked like a tiny, wooden turtle. Its shell was painted several different colors, and its head was strung through a hole in the shell, hung loosely from the inside roof by a piece of fishing line. This allowed the neck to swing about. Every so often, Rubix would flick the toy turtle's head with his index finger, causing it to ricochet off the sides of its shell. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. "Hey." The Wartortle began, voicing a question that had been concerning him for the better part of the day, "Did you really kill a Pokémon named Starscream?" Nori's face darkened. "He hurt Giseisha." Rubix laughed nervously. "What, was this in a Pokémon battle?" "No... It was right after Sarah Jane and the others left me. I was traveling with a group of Rockets--I didn't know who they were at the time. My mom and I had a big argument, and she sent her Pidgeot to take me home. He attacked us. Giseisha almost died..." Nori clenched her fists, "After what he did, I couldn't let him live." The girl sighed, unsure why she was confiding in the Wartortle. "And now you know my little secret. So, what's your story? Why do you hate Celadon so much?" Rubix shrugged. "I used to live there." "But you were in Saffron when I--" "I *said*, I used to live there." The Wartortle shot his trainer a glare, that could've stopped a freight train dead in its tracks. Nori backed away slightly. "...Jeez, if looks could kill..." "Too bad they can't." Rubix folded his arms behind his head, and leaned back against the Porygon's tail. It had been a long day, and both the girl and the Wartortle were beginning to doze off. When Nemesis saw this, it bucked violently, annoyed that they were relaxing, while it had to work. "Ya know what?" Rubix grumbled, mentally adding the Porygon to his hit list, "I think she's gone." "No." "She *teleported*, for Christ's sake! How the hell are we supposed to track that?" "Right." Nori glowered at the Wartortle. "She teleported, and that's exactly *why* we're going to find her. Teleportation has its limits, and she could've only gotten so far. All we have to do now, is hope she didn't think to leave town." Rubix rolled his eyes. "And that's exactly what she *would* have done, since she has a brain, unlike some trainers we know." "Fine, so you're siding with Sarah Jane." Nori threw up her arms. "Figures you would. I suppose next you're gonna say you wish you'd gone with her, instead of me!" "Go with her?" Rubix snorted, "I'm gonna fuckin' kill her! She stole *my* Aerodactyl, that I was gonna use to maim you! That utter whore. I'm gonna--" "You," Nori scowled, "are the world's biggest hypocrite. You yell at me, because I steal Pokémon, but all you ever talk about is taking Pokémon and murdering people! You're just as bad as I am!" Rubix was quiet for all of two seconds. Then he closed his eyes, a bitter smile on his face. "Heh. Heh heh..." From there, he began to laugh hysterically. "You really don't get it, do you?" Rubix pointed an accusing finger at his trainer's face. "I don't *care* if you steal Pokémon! I don't care if you kill the damn things! Look, the average Pokémon--be it Geisha, or Fagmar, or that stupid Pidgeot you're so worked up over--is nothin' more than a brainless, submissive work horse, who spends its whole life looking for some human to pander to--and as far as I'm concerned, they deserve whatever treatment they get!" Nori's jaw dropped. "Rubix, how can you say that? You're--" "I'm *not* your average Pokémon, which is exactly my point. Treat those other ones any way you like, but cross me, and it'll be your freakin' death warrant! Oh, wait...you already did. ...Hehehe." Nori shook her head, deciding that Rubix couldn't be serious. "Well, you're right about one thing-- we're probably not going to find Sarah Jane. And you know what? I don't care. Let her go, we'll find her again, eventually. Meanwhile, I have other things on my mind, namely, the Pidgeot that's--" she stopped short, not sure she wanted Rubix to know that Starscream was haunting her. "...We're going to Lavender Town. And afterwards, we're going to Fuchsia, by way of *Celadon*. Whaddaya think about that?" "I think you can bite me." Rubix responded lamely. He tapped one of the Pokéballs on the side of Nori's belt, and allowed himself to be sucked in. Nori smiled, grateful for the silence. In the back of her mind, however, there came a soft cry. <Joooouuuuu....> "Shut up." Nori growled, "I'm glad I killed you." <Jooooouuuuuu.......> Nemesis, unaware of its trainer's conversation partner, gave her a slight jolt; to let her know that, despite her tendency to overwork it, it was still very much alive. TBC... -Beth "Ii kanji!" http://members.aol.com/bandraptor