The NUVEMA Team

((I'm sorry, skip me for now. >.< I'll think of something for them next round.))

Nuvema Team/ Early Evening(46)

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After making my welcome sign, I went to find something to eat. I went towards the ocean. Peering into the murky abyss, I strained my ears and listened to the orchestra of the unrelenting crash of the waves.

I heard a splash that didn't measure with the rest of the waves. Like lightning my hand shot out and pierced a wriggling Magikarp. Peering closely, I looked for signs of infection. It's rip cage had been torn open previously. And even though my claw had pierced it, it still wriggled. I flexed my claws and tore it in half. I repeated this process several times before eventually catching another Magikarp, which was dying even as I held it. It wasn't infected and definitely not undead.

I tore into it, savagely stripping bits and pieces away, until nothing but a skeleton and strands of meat remained. I burped almost satiated, at least stomach wise.

I went a few paces away from the sea, should something decide to extend out and devour me. Now all I had to do was listen for Buck and his new, unknown ally, to enter my town. Then the game would be afoot.

((Sorry, please skip me again. They have no other reason to enter Nuvema unless they're lured there somehow [and Buck's determined not to set foot there again, lol]. Any chance you can get them in somehow? Trenton's likely to want to confront him, and Buck will likely follow him wherever he goes...))

Nuvema Town/ Evening (47)

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I listened but they made no signs of returning to my town. I grew restless and worried. What if they decided not to come back here? I would be playing a game with no opponents.

"Damn it." I stood up and stalked towards the opening. I could hear them breathing just beyond. I edged forward and remained just beyond the curve of the hedge. They couldn't see me but I could hear them.

My voice boomed although I didn't shout,"Why Buck, it seems you have lost both Panthera and the fiery monkey. Although it appears you've found a suitable replacement. The replacement will be fun to break I'm sure. It will be quite interesting to see what noises he will make as I peel away his carapace. As for your former colleagues, I wonder, did they leave you to your own devices, abandoning you after deducing just how pitifully weak you are? Or maybe...somebody took them. Snatched them up and broke their legs so they couldn't move and then hid them around my town..."

I waited, pausing and let the wheels turn in his head. It was a risky gambit, seeing as I didn't know if they had agreed upon just going their separate ways but I needed something to pull them back into my arena. As I bunched my legs and before I sprang backwards into my town I said almost inaudibly but still decipherable.

"Why don't you come visit my town and find out, eh?"

This guy was ... perfect! Tough body made out of steel, huge pincers that could crush bones, a badass look ... who better to be a bodyguard? After promptly being stabbed in the back by Panthera and Flame, Buck had lost whatever feeling of belonging and friendship that he had briefly earned while with his 'friends'. Why bother to try so hard to make friends, to be accepted, when the only thing that they did in return was to abandon you within proximity of a crazed murderer? In fact, Buck was not interested in making friends with this Trenton fellow at all - as long as he could keep him and his Razor Claw safe, he didn't care. Only one thing mattered now: keeping himself self from further harm...

A booming voice echoed over the trees and Trenton raised his head in alarm. "What was that?"
"Oh, probably just Jacques," Buck replied casually, kicking a stone on the ground into the nearby lake. "That's the guy who's been causing most of the chaos. Tried to kill us, y'know."
"Is he an infected?"
"No, just downright crazy. You wouldn't believe the mayhem he's caused just by existing. More than all the undead put together! Suddenly getting an idea, Buck tried to hide a nasty smirk as he pouted out his bottom lip slightly and pointed up to his messy eye. "He did this. And this," he held out his injured knee, "and now I can't see or walk properly. I can't run from him like I used to. That's why I want to get away from here; before he kills me ... just like he killed my friends..." Feigning a sob, he wiped his nose and looked up at Trenton woefully just as the second half of Jacques's speech reached them.

As for your former colleagues, I wonder, did they leave you to your own devices, abandoning you after deducing just how pitifully weak you are? Or maybe...somebody took them. Snatched them up and broke their legs so they couldn't move and then hid them around my town..."

"All right, I've heard enough," Trenton growled as he began to march forward with Buck scrambling along behind. "I think this guy needs to be taught a lesson. To cause so much trouble and then mock you like this is just ... sick. There's no other word for it, it's sick."
"I know, right?" Buck almost felt like skipping in glee but managed to fake a decent expression of pain and heavily started to emphasise the limp on his injured leg. "But ... are you sure you can--"
"I'll damn well try. Nobody should be allowed to bully others like this," Trenton replied, pushing aside a clump of overgrown bushes.
"W-Well, OK ... guess I can't stop you, can I?"

Buck couldn't help but wonder whether there was any truth in what Jacques had said; it would certainly have been a logical explanation for Panthera and Flame's sudden disappearance. This Trenton guy, on the other hand, just looked like he wanted to kick the overgrown lizard's backside, which was fine by him, but Buck couldn't help but wonder ... why was he helping him? They'd only just met...

"Hey, you heard what he said! He has my friends!" Impatient for the fight to begin, Buck gave Trenton a quick shove to get him to move quicker. "Get a move on!"

Nuvema Town/ Evening (48)

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Time to assess the situation. Buck had a scar over his left eye. He definitely wasn't blind but there might be a drop in quality as it was fairly recent. So I went to a house to the left of where Buck and Trenton would be entering. Coupled with the dark purple color of my skin and Buck's injured eye, I might have a chance of remaining hidden. His companion was what I had to worry about. An unknown factor. A variable that could go either way.

Luckily my ears were capable of hearing lengthy distances. I caught snippets of the conversation. The variable was named Trenton...He was either naive, had a good sense of justice or was just plain pugnacious. He could be easy to lure into traps if any were the case. It was almost to easy.

As they approached the cusp of the town entrance I recognized what Trenton was.

"SHIT. Of all the--A damned SCIZOR?!"

I quickly added the variable and did the math. Buck couldn't have gotten a better ally. With his metallic carapace, my most powerful attack, Venoshock, would be less then worthless. My Iron Tail and Take Down would be halved in power too. I had to think fast...I looked around in the darkened area. Dirt, weeds, wall, hose--Hm...And an idea formulated, time to see if Trenton was as pugnacious or gullible as I guessed.

I opened the back window of the house, grabbing the hose and pulling it through. I dragged a chair from the living room into the kitchen, setting it so it was facing away from the front door. I tore my cloak from my shoulders and placed it around. Next I took a bowl from the cabinets and several sharp knives from the drawers. I cracked the door open, placed the knives in side the bowl and placed them on top, sort of like a childish human prank of placing a bucket of water atop a door in hopes of an entering human being doused. Next I grabbed an empty jug from the fridge, tore it in half and poked one end of the hose into the hole. I placed the makeshift speaker beside the chair. Next I moved towards the stove, carefully pulling it back. Taking my index claw, I tore through the pipe that connected the stove to the gas. I listened intently...And the telltale whistle emerged! Gas was leaking from the pipe!

Grinning like a madman, which according to some people, I was, but I preferred the term of misunderstood genius, I made my way out of the house carrying the end of the hose not connected to the jug behind me.

I grinned at the brilliance of my plan. If the Scizor was taking the intitative he would walk into the house first spilling the knives onto him, causng a spark and coupled with the gas, THE HOUSE WOULD EXPLODE! And if Buck entered first, well, he would be impaled seveal times over with a variety of sharp knives. To lure them in I would speak through the hose, and my voice would be amplified thanks to the jug and I used the chairs to create the allusion I was inside the house. Thanks to the darkness, it was a perfect dummy. The fire would be the perfect way to deal with the Scizor.

I jumped out the window, making sure to try to land quietly. I crouched behind the house listening. Then I took a deep breath and,

"BWAAAHAHAHHAHAHHAHA!! WHAT IS TAKING YOU SO LONG BUCK THE SNEASEL AND TRENTON THE SCIZOR?! COME AND GET YOUR FRIENDS!! I'M PRETTY SURE THAT PANTHERA IS ALMOST OUT OF BLOOD AND YOU LITTLE FIERY SIMIAN FRIEND IS UNCONSCIOUS. BETTER HURRY UP!"

Just as he was setting foot back inside Nuvema, Trenton suddenly stopped in his tracks. Bumping into the Scizor's rear, Buck huffed in frustration and tried to push the large Bug-type forward, but he wouldn't move. "What's your problem? Move it!"
"Buck ... I'm sorry but I don't think that this is a good idea."
"What are you talking about?"
"This whole thing with Jacques ... I mean, I barely know you, and that doesn't mean that I don't want to help you or anything, but ... I really need to get back to Johto. I need to find my human, and I don't want to get myself killed before I can do that."
"WHAT?!" Buck screeched, clinging to his ears in terror. "Y-You're gonna just leave me here with that maniac?!"
"No, you didn't let me finish. I was going to say: come with me," said Trenton, stepping towards the panicked Sneasel. "Like you said, we'll go together."
"But my friends--"
"Buck, it's a trick," Trenton said vehemently, fluttering his wings as his frustration began to grow. "Of course it's a trick. It's the oldest one in the book. He's just trying to lure us. I ... I don't think your friends are going to come back."

Buck paused for a moment as these words sunk in, his chest heaving itself in and out with each deep breath. When Trenton reached out one of his pincers towards him, he jumped back and fired an Ice Beam at the Bug-type, which was barely dodged. "FUCK OFF! I don't need you. You say you'll help me and then wimp the fuck out and leave me!"
"But I wasn't--"
"Are you deaf? I said fuck off!" Buck fired another Ice Beam, but it froze the trunk of a nearby tree after it was dodged yet again. "I can handle myself. Always have done. I don't need you. I don't need anyone! FUCK - OFF!"

Trenton heaved a heavy sigh as he turned away; clearly Buck had been hurt far too many times for him to change his mind now. "If that's what you want, then I'll go." Casting one last look at the furious Sneasel, Trenton muttered, "Good luck," before disappearing into the undergrowth.

Buck was surprised at the smirk that crossed his face as he happily tossed his Razor Claw into the air and caught it again. He didn't need 'friends' - he'd managed perfectly fine without them stabbing him in the back and/or attempting to murder him before now. He hadn't told Trenton, but he was going back to Johto as well. He was sure that his family weren't around anymore, but in all honesty he just wanted to go home now. He'd had a huge journey to get here, and now he'd gotten what he wanted there was no reason to stay. No more friends to protect.

It hurt him to know he was leaving Norma Jean behind, but he was sure that she would be able to look after herself, especially with infected blood now flowing through her veins. "You see this, NJ?" Buck looked up towards the sky and held his Razor Claw aloft. "Just two more hours. Then I'll have fulfilled my promise."

With a skip in his step, Buck hopped off into the wilderness, the mountains of Johto clearly etched into his mind as his destination. Now that he had his Claw, he could do anything. After sunset he would be faster, stronger and sturdier than ever before. He would get through this. He would survive this.

Just two more hours to go.

Nuvema Town/ Evening

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Trenton and Buck had left. Panthera and the Infernape had disappeared. Woe was dead.

I was left alone and abandoned in a town that I had stolen and a trap that was now useless. During the course of my stay here I hadn't killed a single person that was really important enough to kill.

"..."

I got to my feet. I looked inside the house. My cloak was still in there...But I'd find a new cloak. Where I was going there would be plenty of people to kill, alive and dead. I meandered off, heading opposite Buck's direction.

I would not follow him or the Scizor. They had abandoned my hatred. For that reason, they weren't worth killing. I would find others to hate. Others to kill.

I walked into the wilderness.