(1800 words)
Chapter 18
Confrontation


Compass and Beacon are eating lunch. It's only been two days since Alice... 'attacked' Pikachu. Only one team has encountered them since, and they came back with the usual injuries and horror stories. Pikachu still refuses to talk about the incident, and their partner was unconscious during it, so rumors spread about what awful thing Alice must have done.

Beacon breaks the silence. "Alice has been spotted in the western sector of Sinister Woods. Team Lighthouse has decided to pursue them, along with Team ACT. We need to end this before anyone else gets hurt."

'End this'. Compass takes a deep breath. "I want to go."

Beacon looks at Compass in shock. "... Compass, no, it's far too dangerous!"

"I won't fight. I just..." They need to see for themself, and it's now or never.

Beacon considers it. Compass has barely spoken since Alice left, and it's the first time they've spoken at all since Pikachu was attacked. They must really want this. "... Alright. Since you'll have the protection of two Gold Rank teams, and... you of all people deserve to be part of this. Just... promise me you'll stay safe."

Compass nods. "I promise." They've gotten better at lying.



With six people surrounding them, Compass thought it would be impossible to find a chance to sneak off. But when everyone assumes someone else will watch them, it was surprisingly frequent to have no one watching. Except for Beacon. But one chance was all they needed to tip-toe away and dash into the woods. They need to find Thorn.

Compass ignores the desperate shouts of their name from behind, and try to look, listen, find any clue that could guide them to Thorn. They hear what might be the sounds of fighting, and change direction to sprint towards it. They run as fast as they can, until they push through a bush and stop in a clearing, staring at a cubone from behind.

"Thorn!" Compass calls, and the cubone turns to face them. Is it really them..? There's a moment of tense silence before the cubone speaks.

"Oh hey Compass!" The cubone greets. "You here to see me? Sorry, I'm a little busy at the moment." They gesture to the collapsed rescue team behind them. "Just give me a moment, then you can be next."

Compass stares at the cubone. Their smile is too wide, their tone too cheerful. Their helmet is gone, leaving their head unprotected, and they've lost their cloak, leaving them exposed and cold. Their bloodstained, sharpened bone is- No, it's not like the sharpened bone Thorn made before. It looks... broken. "Thorn, what... What happened to you?"

"The name's Alice. Now if you could just wait your turn like an obedient little tool, I have some business to take care of-"

"Thorn, wait! Please, no more fighting. No more hurting. I just want to talk."

"Sure, fine, talk away, but it'll be hard to hear you over the screams." Alice turns and walks toward the rescue team.

"Thorn, stop! Hey! Alice!" But Alice keeps walking. "Alice, please, just listen to me! Please! Thorn, wait!!" Alice gets closer to their victims. "Please, I..." But they aren't listening. And why would they? Compass didn't listen to- No, not the time for that, there's pokemon in danger! They need to... Do they really need to... They shoot a bolt of fire into Alice's back!

Alice stops. They turn around, still with that fake smile. "Shoot, that hurt. Don't wanna wait your turn, eh? Fine by me." They dash forward, but Compass shoots a wave of fire that forces them back.

"Why are you doing this?! Why injure opponents that were already defeated?!"

"Oh gee, I dunno, why do they keep trying to kill me?" Alice lunges in with a slash, and Compass jumps back to avoid it.

"Self-defense would be justified, but you're just acting cruel!" Compass pressures Alice with blasts of flame, keeping them away.

"What can I say? I'm the human. Cruelty is kinda my thing!" Alice grits their teeth and pushes through a flame, landing a solid punch on Compass's face!

When Alice steps forward to follow up, Compass jumps back and spews a smokescreen, hiding within. "You're Thorn!" they say from inside. "I know you, you can't even walk past a pokemon in need without stopping to help-"

"You don't know a darn thing about me." Alice pounces toward the voice, but their blade finds nothing. They're suddenly tackled from the side, knocked away before they stand back up, unfazed. "All that 'Thorn' bullcrud before? That was a trick. THIS is who I really am."

Is it true? Is Thorn really gone? Did they ever exist..? In their distraction, Compass is caught by Alice's punch to the face! As they stumble back, Alice pulls them in and drives a knee into their stomach! Alice lifts them up and slams them onto the ground, leaving Compass a groaning mess. They ready their blade and-

A concentrated blast of fire knocks Alice away! "Get away from my child, monster!" Beacon sprints forward with a punch, and Alice barely jumps back in time. Beacon is joined by the rest of Team Lighthouse.

Worn out from two fights already, Alice makes a run for the brush, but Alakazam, Charizard, and Tyranitar block their path! Team ACT? No way they can win that fight! They run for the other side of the clearing-

Alice barely manages to block the sudden shadow ball that knocks them to the ground. "Kekeh! Bet you thought you'd seen the last of us!" Gengar says as Team Meanies blocks the last exit.

Alice stands and looks around, surrounded by nine opponents. They can't run from Fletchinder and Charizard, and they can't hide from Ekans' sense of smell. "Alice the Human," Alakazam says, "you are surrounded and outmatched. You may either face our might, or surrender peacefully."

Peacefully. Peacefully! They laugh and laugh at the idea that they could have peace! "Are you kidding? You've just given me nine more victims! I'll take you ALL down! None of you stand a CHANCE!!"

Alice looks around, panting, but their opponents just look confused. "W-what, you don't think I can take you?! I'll- I'll rip out your spines and beat you with them! I'll tear out your heart and eat it in front of you while the life fades from your eyes!"

Surprisingly, they aren't scared by Alice's threats. It might have something to do with their voice giving out or the tears falling from their eyes. "Come on! What are you waiting for! I'm the human, the monster, the apocalypse incarnate! The one to off me gets to be the hero! Come on, kill me and end this! I'll spread suffering wherever I go! I'll bring the world to ruin because of my selfishness!! I'll kill you all, just like I killed Gardevoir-"

"Shut the hell up!!" Gengar shouts, and it's the last thing Alice hears before a shadow ball from behind knocks them out.



Compass walks into the room holding Alice's cell. There's no guard, partly because there's no way for them to escape, and partly because no one was willing to do it. Alice is lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling. "Thorn..."

"Oh hey tool," they say, not turning to look. "Say, when am I gonna be killed? I've been wondering, and there's no one to ask. Didn't even leave a note."

"... Leader Beacon is deliberating what to do with you..."

"Deliberating? Sheesh, just pull the trigger already, we all knew how this was gonna end. Well, if that's all, you can get out now, I've got evil human plans to scheme about or something."

"Thorn, drop the act. This isn't you."

"No way, really? What gave me away?"

"Well, the word 'bullcrud' for one. But just... none of it makes any sense. All that kindness, all that selflessness, all that frustration over why you couldn't remember... And if Thorn really was fake, if you were never really my partner, you... you wouldn't have..."

"Trusted you with the secret that ruined my life, yeah. It's funny; everyone was so willing to accept that I was some cartoonishly evil sadist that says 'bullcrud'. Even you bought it for a moment, but you were always pretty dense."

"Why did you do it? You hate seeing people suffer, so why?"

"I was bored. I felt like playing around, having fun being the villain. It seemed like that's what I was supposed to be; the rotten human, a being of pure evil. So why not? Besides, it's hard to care about people when the world is gonna end... Heh, you know something pretty funny? Even with all this 'Alice' and 'I killed Gardevoir' stuff, I still don't even remember much. Half the stuff I say is totally made up. I don't even remember my partner..."

"... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for betraying you that night-"

"Shut up. Didn't you hear me? I don't care. Not about hurting people, not even about staying alive, and certainly not about you. It doesn't matter anymore. There's absolutely nothing you can say that will make me think of you as anything besides some noisy rat pestering me while I wait to die."

"... I know. I know it's too late, but I need to say it. I'm sorry for running away. For saying you could trust me, and then making that a lie. For refusing to trust you in return. For ruining your life, and... turning you into this. If I had just listened, if I had waited, and trusted you, then maybe we could have found another way... But it's too late now. This is the only way to save the world."

... Alice snickers. Then giggles, then laughs, laughing harder than they've ever laughed before!

"W-what?! What's so funny?"

Alice tries to speak through their laughter. "Sorry tool, it's just that was such a serious statement about doing what's necessary to save the world, it was just... Hahaha! Because yeah, that's what you're doing! That's what this whole gosh darn mess has been about! A human turned into a pokemon, with a dark, mysterious past, a connection to the world's balance, a connection to GARDEVOIR, a partner they abandoned, and a nasty, selfish personality to top it all off! You'd only need half a brain to put it together!"

Compass looks on in utter confusion as tears fall from Alice's eyes. "Thorn, what are you... I don't understand."

Alice's laughter slows down, and they turn to Compass with a tearful grin. "Do you wanna know something REALLY funny?"




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