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'Dante takes on Arthur in a spar as a substitute for Carin; expecting little from the timid mouse; only to end up in far more danger than he could have imagined.'
A short story, possibly one-shot, written by
tulf12, still in the PCAVerse about Team Road Buster. He asked that I post it on here, because it's slightly more focused on Dante than his own characters. Either way, he's awesome, and I thank him for writing it.
Dante, Carin, and Ruka (Mentioned) @ me
Melanie Altiac and Arthur @
Edit: added story to descrip for ease of reading.
EDIT EDIT: DUE TO THE TEAM ROADBUSTER REBOOT I DID, THIS STORY IS NOW NON-CANON. It's still a good read, though
While not really one for the warmer weather; thus far Arthur had not had a strictly bad day. Then again, given his concept of a bad day generally involved being thrown out of windows by his boss or used as a scratching post so that probably wasn’t saying much to most of the PCA’s students; but for the diminutive Minun that was really the best you could get. A bit of time alone to do some chores was nice too; but more often than not he’d just have to tolerate having to act on Melanie’s wit and whim in between getting jobs done for the rest of the team he was arguably involved in.
With his classes done for the day the rodent has thus made his way back to the team’s female members’ dorm which he had ended up taking residence in at his master’s request; and whilst an awkward place to be as a male anyone of Arthur’s background knew far better than to go questioning ‘Miss’ Melanie’s orders. Besides; occasionally the other members gave him some thanks for his efforts to keep their housework maintained; especially seeing as he’d managed to essentially replace Maria in her duties in taking care of the team. And of course, then there was Ruka…
But for the time-being there was a load of clothing that needed to ironed; and as he always said he got the job done; whether it be menial or otherwise. All part of being a slave, really. A professional slave, in his opinion; but given his supposed profession he figured that probably didn’t count for much. Still, couldn’t fault someone on effort; especially given they had little other choice in life.
Slavery might have been recently forbidden by law; but there were that many loopholes that the Altaics and their eldest daughter could comfortably get away with it in the outskirts of Indonesia; and given his upbringing amongst a populace of similar rodents such as himself with about the same position Arthur was just glad to be away from the violent competition that was encouraged amongst the mice; and particularly glad to be away from the violent competition that was particularly pronounced amongst Arthur’s immediate family; the thought of a certain brother of his being more than enough to rile the Minun’s typically highly repressed temper.
After taking a moment to cool down both literally and metaphorically the Minun swiftly moved on to his task at hand; only to end up distracted by a rather uncommon appearance by the supposed leader of Team Roadbusters; Dante Rothschild; who seemed quite content to hang about the female members’ dorm’s kitchen on this occasion; naturally eliciting a bit of confusion from Arthur; while the Blaziken just seemed a little exasperated from previous matters.
‘Oh, hey Arthur. What’re you up to this time?’ asked the avian idly; a little surprised to see anyone back at the dorm so soon after the day’s classes had finished. The Blaziken hadn’t a lot of ill will towards the Minun; being a little peeved by the boy’s clear affections for his girlfriend even though they seemed fairly precocious (not to mention one-sided); but on the other hand the mouse pretty much singlehandedly kept the female team out of the difficulties of chores and the like and kept Melanie in a reasonably good mood; or at least better than spending her time trying to order around her comrades rather than the mouse.
Arthur did not return such a decent opinion; however; having quite the grudge against the Blaziken for various reasons; which were arguably as fair. The avian’s penchant for yelling and being generally aggressive did not go down well with the timid and submissive Minun to begin with and reminded him quite a lot of his brother’s attitude towards him; and Arthur’s relationship with his brother was along the lines of murderous even from abroad and with many years of separation involved.
Regardless; Arthur certainly didn’t appreciate that the Lucario he’d ended up head-over-heels for was Dante’s girlfriend either; especially given that the Minun didn’t think the idly nice avian was doing her justice; a rather unfair comparison given Arthur had been outright taught to be as utterly selfless and serving towards everyone; let alone just Ruka; but to add to it was that his affections towards Ruka would technically earn him more than his fair share of punishment from Melanie if she strictly followed the rules of their homeland; which thankfully wasn’t the case; possibly to the point of execution; while the most Dante could brag of his dedication from Arthur’s experience was fighting for her. Once. And almost giving up half-way through. That wasn’t much of a comparison from the mouse’s point of view, to say the least. And that wasn’t even adding the fact of how much spending time with the canine inconvenienced Arthur in the first place; seeing as Melanie’s orders demanded essentially all of his time anyway…
Arthur would have added his poor relations with Melanie to that list too; but figured it’d be hypocritical given her quite apparent hatred of Ruka; which he still managed to overlook for the sake of his canine crush’s kindness towards him. ‘Doing work.’ was the reply Dante earned from the rodent; and probably the best reply he was ever going to get given the animosity Arthur held towards him. It wasn’t exactly a lie, anyway; and he doubted anyone wanted to hear him go on a tirade over the hardships of ironing anyway.
‘Ah, right. Still letting the Lion Queen drag you about, I ‘spose?’ asked the Blaziken; figuring he might as well make small talk while he was there. At the moment he was waiting on a return call from Carin on having a sparring practice after school; and he didn’t get many chances to chat to the honorary member of his team anyway. ‘Really, you shouldn’t let her push you about like that. Even you’ve got to admit Mel’s kind of a bitch.’
The comment unsurprisingly earned Dante a flat glare from the rodent; not too keen on the terminology in question. The former pun was fine with the Minun; and actually a pop-culture reference he got given he consistently ended up being caught up in his boss’s reverence of the animated film in question (apparently its suggestion of felines as the top of the world was realistic and highly philosophical for its target audience; or so she had always told him); but unsurprisingly the latter remark went down poorly. ‘Sir, it would be appreciated if you didn’t refer to my boss in such a manner. Besides, she’s a feline.’ Replied the Minun simply; all too happy to stand up for his boss rather than himself. That was the rule, after all. Nobility first and foremost.
Dante just raised an eyebrow at that comment; taking the moment to wonder what in the world Ruka saw in the mouse. He was polite; and… he did all the work? Then again, that just furthered his assumption that Ruka honestly didn’t care for the mouse that much. While about to voice another question in the hopes of forming at least a basic conversation with the quiet mouse the Blaziken was distracted by the long awaited ring of his mobile; a welcome distraction from having to keep staring down the mouse.
‘Ah, Carin! So, you up for the sp-’ begun Dante immediately as soon as he heard the Infernape’s voice from the phone; not even giving the boy a chance to voice his greetings; and ending up being interrupted by the simian quite possibly in a form of petty revenge.
‘Sorry Dante; got an assignment today; and I’d rather get it done sooner than later. I’ve got some duties to deal with at the dojo later in the week.’ Explained Carin hastily on his end; audibly still making his way through the school through the mobile’s speakers; and promptly managing to drive a bulldozer into the Blaziken’s enthusiasm with the usual amount of warning one got when it came to metaphorical bulldozers of pretty much any sort.
‘Ah, dang. Well; I’ll leave you to it; I’ve got things to do myself.’ Replied Dante with similar haste; figuring he ought to at least pretend to sound similarly busy given his duty as leader; even though admittedly he didn’t do a whole lot to keep it. Just seemed to be agreed on, really. Well, if one ignored Melanie’s opinion, at least; and she pretty much objected to everything. With their routine farewells swiftly completed Dante hung up on his comrade; turning to the issue at hand. What to do all day.
That thought didn’t last long, however; as a certain Minun marched back on through the room; apparently having taken his leave to get to work while Dante had been on the phone. His appearance quickly brought an idea to mind. ‘Hey, Arthur… you up for a spar?’ asked the Blaziken carefully; not really well-versed in the rodent’s opinion in fighting; although given his diminutive and cherubic aesthetic he doubted he’d be much of a foe. On the other hand; given the abuse Melanie put him through that Ruka often chatted away about (though admittedly Dante’s rarely paid that much attention to his girlfriend’s occasional banter regarding her feline comrade or her supposedly adorable admirer) the boy would have to have some endurance to work with.
‘Um, if you’d like, sir. You’re the leader, after all.’ Replied the lagomorph-rodent-thingy; a little concerned that he’d be away from his duties for some time and not being too keen on battling in the first place; but at the same time being none-too-keen on inciting the Blaziken into yelling at him again. That was one birthday that Arthur was not very keen on remembering; even though it was his first. At least Ruka had been nice during it…
‘Alright! We won’t be using the arena, of course; it’d be full right now anyway. So I usually have my scuffles down near Viridian Woods; there’s a really nice clearing just past some trees along the road on its edge. Not much of a walk from here, either.’ Explained Dante in a bit of a rush; admittedly a little keen on just having a chance to beat on the boy who seemed to be more than a little distraction for his girlfriend; or at least a distraction from the avian himself. Besides, he needed a workout.
‘Um, okay; sir.’ Said the Minun meekly; not even close to as enthused as the Blaziken; and half-expecting some berating over the fact. Thankfully the mouse’s tiny hopes came true for once; and the leader of Team Roadbusters just marched on out without another word to him; leaving the rodent to allow himself to get dragged into the regrettable situation with as much enthusiasm as one might expect. Battles always ended the same for Arthur, anyway…
Thankfully Dante’s promised clearing wasn’t an exaggeration; although it wasn’t quite as large an area as one would expect from an official arena. Still; anyone would be hard-pressed to find a place that open in Viridian outside of the forest’s depths these days anyway; given the influence of residential and industrial construction.
Arthur appreciated the soft grass; at least glad that his inevitable spell of unconsciousness would at least be spent on a reasonably cushioned surface. Probably better than the dirt of the practice arena, really. Certainly wouldn’t get in his mouth as much. Not that he ought to be complaining, though; he barely stayed unconscious for more than a minute or two. All part of his little strategy.
Being one who wasn’t really keen on, trained for, or even really physically built for standard battling Arthur really didn’t bother much in the usual bouts of combat he ended up in; putting up a little bit of a fight before he was swiftly wiped out; his support abilities far outweighing his direct battling abilities; and his academic prowess making up the majority of his mark anyway; the rest coming from his joint battles with his boss; seeing as they were in the same year. For Melanie, Arthur would honestly fight quite hard; but alone he didn’t much care. Besides; getting knocked out early just meant he could get back to work faster. Why resist too much in the first place? Besides; the other person generally came out all the better for it if they won; so he had no right to take such enjoyment from those above him in the social hierarchy.
Clearly Dante was at least expecting something of a fight from him in this case though; as the Blaziken did a series of stretches on the opposite side of the clearing to him. Arthur didn’t bother with them himself. He didn’t even know how to do them, in all honesty. Melanie did, but she certainly wasn’t going to tell him; and with his small size they’d probably just be awkward anyway. And that wasn’t even counting the suit he was stuck in all day and its inflexibility. Another reason why he couldn’t/didn’t fight too well, that.
‘You about ready, Arthur?’ called out the Blaziken opposite him; seeming fairly impatient about the whole thing. Dante never wanted to wait too long when it came to getting into a fight; seeing as the activity was one of his fortes; and beating p people keen on their girlfriends was kind of the point to boyfriends; wasn’t it? ‘Because I was born ready!’
‘Uh, o-okay.’ Stammered Arthur in response; his self-esteem jumping ship as soon as it could; leaving the Minun without much on his mind apart from the hope that maybe he’d get back to Melanie’s side with some swiftness; preferably without his arm in a sling. The Blaziken didn’t seem keen on holding back; and given what he’d heard about the avian from others that wasn’t something to be glad for.
And the rodent wasn’t too be disappointed; either; as mere seconds after the words of affirmation had left his mouth a flaming leg was being dropped on him via an airborne axe-kick from the notably taller bird; who had managed to close the gap between them in only a moment; announcing his strike with a call of ‘Blaze Eagle!’; an act that took the mouse off-guard quite a bit; just in case the lightning fast attack wasn’t enough.
However, the rodent did have some talent to work with; retaliating against the opening strike heading his way by quickly raising his palm and projecting a hexagonal barrier via Protect; possibly his favourite move; which easily shrugged off the blow before it dissipated; and gave Arthur time to dart backward and out of the Blaziken’s immediate range.
‘Defending? Really?’ mocked Dante; honestly surprised that anyone would bother doing so in a match; let alone use the break in their opponent’s actions to retreat rather than properly retaliate. Still; he didn’t leave much time for the mouse to regain his bearings; moving straight back into close-range with his diminutive foe; only to be forced back somewhat by the appearance of an unexpected factor in the fight; a spear of raw electricity formed in the Minun hands and presently pointed at him. It wasn’t exactly long; but it was still a surprise. Not that the avian was going to let his moment of being off-guard become clear to Arthur, though. ‘And using a weapon rather than your bare hands, too…’
The taunts meant little to the Minun; having been through such banter for years now and thus having learnt to tune it out. In all honesty; given he wasn’t even a native English-speaker to begin with he really didn’t understand all of the insults thrown at him in the first place. Regardless; as more of ranged fighter Arthur first set out upon trying to make some distance between himself and the impetuous bird; tossing out a small Electro Ball to try and use its slight explosion of electricity to discourage any immediate attempts on Dante’s part to move forward; and for once was successful in his gambit as the avian retreated further in order to avoid the sparks that erupted from the deceitfully small ball of electricity Arthur had hurriedly thrown.
While the mouse was managing to keep Dante at arms’ length for the moment, though; the avian wasn’t about to allow his rival for Ruka’s affections make much use of that; charging straight back in again as soon as Arthur made any preparations to properly throw the Thunderbolt-formed spear he had on hand; and rewarding the Minun with a swift punt to the chin (Dante would have preferred to use his fists; but given his current foe’s laughable height they weren’t really practical in this case); sending the light-weight a little off the ground; a fact that the Blaziken quickly exploited with a follow-up of an axe-kick as per a proper Double Kick; the extra inch of height and in turn gravity giving the blow just that little bit of extra momentum and in turn damage.
While left on his behind with an aching head from the pair of blows Arthur wasn’t quite ready to give up; darting backwards and back onto his feet with a swift movement belying agility uncharacteristic to his otherwise poor fighting abilities; forming another spear of lightning and deciding on taking on Dante head-to-head; seeing as the avian wasn’t going to be kept back easily. Forming a quick but brittle barrier before him with Light Screen Arthur prepared for the Blaziken’s attempt to close in on him; hoping the shield would slow him down enough for the Minun to manage to get a quick shot in on the advancing bird; and prepare for a follow-up.
As expected Dante did choose to use a move to bust through Arthur’s defence; a ThunderPunch punctuated with a quick shout doing the job but also overshooting it a bit; the overestimation wasting the strike and leaving the avian open to a quick Thunderbolt toss from the rodent beyond it; not to mention a nigh-on impossible to miss one. The javelin of lightning met its mark as expected; surprising the unwary Blaziken a little with the sharp pain and brief paralysis the electricity brought; and thus leaving him open to a quick Spark from his diminutive foe which only added to the injury; although the pair of strikes were rather superficial for the ever-eager avian.
And thus; with little to stop him; Dante settled the score with a Sky Uppercut even though he had to bend low in order to make contact with the strike; the impressive upper easily sending its victim notably high in the air. ‘Don’t sweat it, Arthur; you won’t miss the ground for long!’ taunted the Blaziken haughtily as the mouse took a moment to properly comprehend his current flight; only to meet the Minun at the peak of his trajectory with a fire-charged spike (with an inevitable shout of ‘Red Buster!’, of course) ; the impact leading Arthur to slam into the grassy ground with quite the audible thud and actually manage to bounce before having his rebellion against gravity ended with his face planted in the dirt; unsurprisingly left unconscious from the blow.
While fairly sure of his foe’s failure Dante did take the care to check Arthur was unconscious; far from surprised to find that was the case. ‘Sheesh, what a pussy…’ grumbled the boy; far from impressed by the pitiful fight the Minun managed to put up. Still; at least there was another point he had in Ruka’s favour over the whiney midget…
It didn’t take long for Arthur to regain consciousness; though; used to getting such treatment on at least a daily basis; if not more often. Within moments the mouse was back on his feet; leaving the meandering Blaziken a little surprised. ‘Sheesh, it’s only been two minutes! Why didn’t you use all that energy in the fight, little man?’ asked Dante; admittedly a little suspicious as to how the boy had managed to spring back up so easily; but not really caring on the whole. ‘Still, doesn’t matter now. I won; surprise, surprise.’
‘Well, congratulations, sir.’ Replied the rodent; unimpressed by both the outcome and Dante’s gloating; although neither had been unexpected. The mouse didn’t wait for a reply; taking the spare moment to extract a compact and unsurprisingly durable pocket watch from his suit trousers and swiftly check it; not keen on wasting any more time away from his work. ‘Can we get moving, please?’
‘Yeah, sure. Would’ve preferred more of a workout; but I guess you’re not exactly ready to give me any sort of proper challenge. Not even close.’ Grumbled the Blaziken; a little annoyed by Arthur’s clear disinterest in the battle’s result; not to mention on having gotten such a weak match in replacement of a proper spar with Carin. Still, he’d won; and that’s what mattered for now; so Dante begun his stride back to the academy and in turn his dorm; with his pseudo-teammate in tow. He sort of hated to admit it, but given that performance he was beginning to appreciate Melanie’s talent in the arena by comparison. Heck, he could sort of see why she beat on the little guy so much now if he was that pathetic...
‘Certainly not good enough for Ruka, let me tell you that. Girl’s gotta have the best of everything, y’know.’ Added Dante; deciding to take the chance to try and rub his relationship in the mouse’s face; having held back on such insults thus far. He figured it was a fair shot; it was true, it was technically complimentary towards the Lucario, and it wasn’t all that much worse than his other comments. It wasn’t like Arthur was seriously interested in her, after all; he’d probably just fallen prey to his hormones.
‘And you think you’re the best?’ snapped the Minun; his temper slipping a tiny bit due to the personal nature of the insult; rounding on the Blaziken; and earning but an amused look for his troubles.
‘Well, given what just happened there; yeah, I think so. I’d ask if you want to fight about it; but that’s got a foregone conclusion.’ Joked Dante; just finding the tiny boy’s irritation laughable given his childish appearance. ‘Sorry, Art’; but I don’t know any girls who are keen on terrible fighters who look like little kids and act like wimps all day; and I know for sure that my girl isn’t the exception.’
‘Basically, you’re not good enough for Ruka.’
Seven years…
It had been seven years since Arthur last lost his temper… he could remember it. It wasn’t really that memorable an occasion; but it had certainly changed him. He’d learnt perhaps the most vital lesson of being in his position in life; to keep one’s emotions properly bottled up inside… happiness was irritating. Depression was inefficient. Anger was punishable. No boss appreciated an emotional servant; since dealing with emotions would be interpersonal; and what kind of slave had a personal relationship with their master?
With that in mind, Arthur had thus lived his life in such stoicism; simply oozing his repressed emotions via a consistent state of melancholy; an act that had served him well through life. Some people still found it depressing or annoying; certainly; but it was far better than the reaction he’d get for the alternative. Besides, Melanie was fine with it; and that was the point; in the end.
It hadn’t always been easy; naturally; but lately it’d been easier.
He’d made a promise; albeit just to himself. He’d never get angry in front of Ruka. While he could excuse himself from depression (it seemed that with the amount of pity she placed upon him it was almost expected) or happiness (generally a short-lived thing given his boss’s preference for getting mad at him for any major show of it) he had decided that he would not allow himself to ever get mad in front of the girl he’d fallen head-over-heels in love with; no matter the cost. There’d been tempting moments; the girl was far from understanding of his culture; and Melanie was all too happy to make a mockery of their relationship and Arthur in general around the Lucario; but he’d kept to his word; even to the point of refusing to lose his temper in any situation where she might hear of it.
But Ruka wasn’t around right now, was she? And if he lost his temper; it would be unlikely Dante would have the chance to pass the news on, either. He would make sure of that. He hadn’t really expected to get any chance to maim the avian that had been so intent on causing him strife throughout his daily life… but sometimes dreams did come true, didn’t they?
While Dante did notice the rodent’s slight hesitation he wasn’t quite expecting the metallic tool that soon whizzed past his head; managing to graze his hair slightly. Unsurprisingly distracted by the near-miss the Blaziken soon traced the object in question; a small throwing knife now embedded into the dirt behind him. With that fatal threat in mind Dante hastily turned back to his Minun comrade; who was presently looking uncharacteristically furious and doing a surprisingly good job of looking threatening given his height; an act aided by the trio of knives neatly slotted between his left hand’s knuckles; while his other hand was already preparing another knife; held by the tip as one would expect.
‘You’ve had your chance, Dante. You didn’t even try to prove yourself as worthy for Ruka; and yet you’re standing here badmouthing me as if you own me. Listen up, scum; Melanie’s my boss; not you; so you can shut your beak already.’ Snarled the mouse; apparently deciding that making his point clear was more important than just finishing the fight in any hurry; his typically melancholy tone replaced with some notable assertiveness and clear anger; even if it wasn’t quite as fiery as Dante had been expecting. ‘You’ve spent your entire time trying to justify your superiority on the fact that you fought on her behalf once; as if that’s all that a relationship should stand on. I spend every day in this school putting my head on Miss Melanie’s chopping block for Ruka with no expectation of appreciation; and yet you think you’re the better man just because you can’t think to try and solve something through anything apart from violence?’
‘Exterminating you will practically be an act of charity if you’re truly that arrogant!’ concluded Arthur; punctuating his point with another practiced throw; although this time Dante was highly appreciative of the fact that he could actually see the knife coming; even though the Minun’s toss was strikingly fast; not to mention accurate; as the Blaziken had to admit as the blade spiralled through the position he’d just darted out of; although he still earned a nick across his elbow from the weapon.
‘Sampah lo!’ taunted the mouse; his temper bringing out his memories of his early life and in turn the infighting amongst the other slaves he naturally got caught up with… and the language that generally involved. Taking advantage of the avian’s fear and surprise Arthur immediately closed the gap between himself and his target; flipping his remaining knives to hold them by their hilts in preparation for conventional usage. While rather clumsy in close-quarters with only his bare hands to work with the rodent was notably proficient with his rather beloved set of knives even if they were made for throwing purposes rather than direct usage.
Admittedly Dante had known about his diminutive foe’s penchant for knives previously; since the mouse generally had them on hand; hidden away in his suit jacket; and dismissed them along the lines of their domestic uses; even though it was quite clear that they were made with more insidious purposes in mind. He was pretty sure Ruka had commented on the boy’s understanding of death to him before; too; but that must’ve been some time ago; he couldn’t remember any of it. Still, that didn’t really change the fact that there was currently an armed psychopathic midget attempting to murder him with little reason to stop; given the Minun’s current fury.
Figuring he might have some chance to disarm the mouse with force given Arthur’s previously poor fighting proficiency; along with the fact that the mouse only seemed to have six knives; Dante allowed the mouse to close the gap; attempting to catch him off-guard with a swift axe kick; only to find the Minun effortlessly avoiding the move; courtesy of both his tiny height and his notable dexterity; previously left untapped by his typical chores. The Blaziken’s gambit was also rewarded with a quick and thus thankfully rather shallow vertical cleave along his still-standing leg (punctuated with a call of ‘Ngentot lu!’); forcing the avian to back off from the berserk mouse; feeling slightly faint as he felt a familiar liquid begin to run down his thigh.
Given Arthur’s clear murderous or at least lethal intentions and his current armaments; Dante hastily decided that fighting probably wasn’t the best plan; a point made more poignant as another knife went past him; albeit this time heading back towards the Minun; assumedly courtesy of the rodent’s magnetic affinities that came with his species; meaning that the Blaziken’s briefly considered strategy of exhausting the boy’s supply of knives by goading him into throwing them would be pointless. And so, the avian had to turn to his only remaining obvious solution; and one that he quite despised having to turn to.
‘Arthur! You don’t know what you’re doing!’ shouted Dante; his chosen argument achieving a whole lot of nothing as a knife sailed by him and sliced through the skin of his bicep; albeit thankfully not ending up impaled into it. The mouse was barely even distracted by the call; his timid nature having always been reserved solely for when it came to dealing with those he actually respected; and at the moment Dante was incredibly far from such a position. ‘What about Melanie?’
‘Miss Melanie hates you about as much as I do; and thus far you’ve only proven yourself to be an obstacle to her via your unconstructive and hypocritical criticisms of her abilities; and your self-serving method of leadership.’ Retorted the rodent handily; taking no time to slow down to talk and thus making his reply whilst still keeping in pace with the currently retreating Blaziken; still unfalteringly in his intent of maiming the bird.
Dante had to admit that the complaint was a little true; but on the other hand he’d only scolded the feline on her temper once… several months ago… and backed down from the point. Still, it probably wasn’t too fair for him to be judging the Minun’s complaints on his own understanding of the world; the kid had been brought up under far different circumstances. However, in retrospect spending such time thinking was a poor move as the rodent caught up to his backpedalling and dealt another slice that made contact; albeit thankfully only managing to graze the Blaziken’s shirt this time.
‘You think you’re better than me, and yet you refuse to treat Ruka right! She deserves better, and you know it!’ snapped the Minun; clearly beginning to get a little fed up with Dante’s dodging; even though it really hadn’t been very long thus far. Quite happy to exploit the boy’s temper to at least give himself a bit of breathing room the avian swiftly made a leg sweep; only to find Arthur able to avoid the attempt at unbalancing easily; diving backwards before just using the momentum to roll back on to his feet; although his choice in method of destabilisation really just put even further away; a fact which the mouse took a moment to realise.
‘Banjingan!’ cursed Arthur; immediately dashing forward with a flurry of strokes from his knives; leaving Dante thanking his respective deities for the boy’s diminutive height and that of his pair of armaments; although he knew all too well that he couldn’t hold out forever; and given Arthur managed to live every day working from five in the morning to twelve at night without missing a step… well, even the Blaziken’s signature determination probably couldn’t keep up with that sort of stamina.
‘Arthur; what about your family and friends? What about how they’d be affected by all this? You’ve got to think of others, too!’ pleaded Dante; hoping for some way out of the situation. He would soon regret his immediate idea.
‘Family?!’ snarled the mouse; his fury only more pronounced with the subject at hand; punctuating his outburst by throwing both of his knifes; although unsurprisingly with rather little accuracy. Then again; at the current range he was to Dante it meant little; leaving one of the blades to cut throw a sleeve of the avian’s shirt; leaving another shallow but certainly not superficial wound in his bicep; the pain being enough to crack the Blaziken’s determination enough to lead him to let out a small cry of pain. ‘They’re awful! I spent my years trying to learn my job getting pushed around by them! And then I spent years doing my job getting pushed around by them! And what about friends? I’ve only ever had two of them; not including Ruka; and one’s my boss and the other’s abandoned me to go chasing around some dragon!’
Beginning to feel slightly light-headed courtesy of the blood loss from his leg and arm Dante took a moment to try and regain his composure; not sure of what choices he had left. Arthur certainly had the upper hand in this fight; and simply trying to tear on forward was going to do nothing. And the Minun certainly wasn’t leaving any gaps to be exploited; no gloating, no truly uncontrolled fury, and no sympathy. Maybe his determination simply wasn’t going to save him another time...
With his dizziness leaving him in a very poor state to keep dodging; let alone fighting at all; Arthur spared no time in catching up with the Blaziken; having rather foolhardily slowed down in order to give his previous little tirade. Being in no state to uphold his stamina it only took a solid front kick to the avian’s back for the Minun to knock Dante onto the ground; packing surprising power behind the act despite his previously pathetic unarmed fighting abilities and his diminutive size.
‘Sorry, Dante; but it’s like Miss Melanie always says. Survival of the fittest; correct?’ remarked the mouse; suddenly returning to being calm and professional as per his usual attitude; flipping the Blaziken onto his back and placing a foot on his chest in preparation for a clean execution and a little bit of self-indulgent dominance. Admittedly, the effect was mostly lost on Dante himself; feeling a little stupid (or maybe it was just the wooziness brought on from his blood loss) seeing the tiny boy attempting to be properly threatening; despite being on the verge of being killed. ‘Beristirahat dengan Tenang, Rothschild.’
‘What about Ruka, Arthur?’ asked the Blaziken half-heartedly whilst Arthur sheathed the rest of his knives; the Minun seeming quite content to finish off his rival of sorts with little fanfare and his usual stoicism in tow. However, Dante’s final comment did manage to get his attention; leaving the boy to look thoughtfully to one side.
‘Hm. That’s true. I’m doubtful she’d deal with your death that well.’ Mused the mouse; still quite content to stand upon the avian as he considered the concept. ‘I guess it wouldn’t be fair on her for me to execute you so idly… though I’m not sure I can say you don’t deserve it with the way you treat her.’
‘…What?’ murmured the Blaziken; utterly bamboozled by the change of events; plus the fact that he was already beginning to black-out from his loss of blood; the darkness at the edge of his eyes slowly eating away at his vision. Still, it was probably a blessing to finally be conking out after the searing pain his wounds had left him feeling; a sensation which was thankfully initially blocked by his stress at the time but were now beginning to set in with a certainly noticeable stinging now… besides; at least it’d make his end go by painlessly…
A ray of light lead Dante to cringe; far from appreciative of the blinding wake-up call; rolling to one side to shield his view of the light. An act he very quickly regretted; as a spasm of pain ran up his side; his shoulder burning with pain… but not blood; much to the avian’s surprise; as he slowly put together the events he just went through. Managing to fight against his aching muscles for the moment Dante looked around himself; still rather dazed by his awakening.
He was in his team’s female members’ dorm; lying across the dorm’s living room’s central couch; somehow totally bandaged and properly disinfected by the looks of things… no doubt the work of Arthur; given that he didn’t quite believe that Ruka or Maria quite had that sort of precision or neatness in their first aid; although that did leave the possibility of Melanie; one that he didn’t really want to consider. It did make a bit of sense, though; no better way for him to cover up his tracks that to clean the Blaziken’s wounds up himself.
‘Feeling better, sleeping beauty?’ asked a certain Luxray; presently leaning over the back of the couch; quite annoyed that her favourite napping spot was currently taken up by a certain member of her team whom she rather hated. ‘When you’re done moping you can get off my couch, you know. Ought to be appreciative; my little ratboy dragged you up here all on his own; and who’s his boss, hm?’
‘Appreciative?! He just tried to kill me!’ snapped Dante; unsurprisingly aggravated by the Luxray’s haughtiness. ‘He’s nuts; and it’s your fault! You and your crazy little slave culture! No doubt you’re churning out little monsters like him every day! And the worst part is that I know that it’s not his fault in the end; because you and your family of cats are practically trying to leave kids like him! He thought he was fighting for Ruka’s sake; and totally believed wiping me out was going to help things! He’s nuts!’
‘Did you expect anything else? Did you really think that he was just going to sit there and get kicked to the curb every day; just blindly serving people who aren’t even close to his bosses every day; and trying his utmost to impress a certain Lucario you know only to end up mocked and ignored for his whole-hearted approaches every day?’ growled Melanie; none too pleased to have the blame pinned straight onto her. ‘Did you think he didn’t have feelings? Did you think he was just going to let you yell at him all day and never strike back?’
‘Pretty good coming from the girl who beats him around all day. You’re the one who’s always mocking him and messing with him; I barely see him at all! And yet I’m the one he went after? Was he on your orders or something?’ snarled back the Blaziken; temper riled by the thought of his comrade attempting to stab him in the back already; although he wouldn’t be honestly that surprised. ‘I can’t just hang around and do nothing while your little murderer’s prancing about, you know! I ought to get my dad on the case right now; and I don’t even know why Arthur’s let me off in the first place! I almost got killed, Melanie!’
‘Yeah, I know; I’ve heard it all; pup. Blame your insults towards his attitude towards your girthy girlfriend; because we all know it’s totally safe to insult his relationship with the girl he’s in love with; yeah; especially if you’re the one already picking a fight with him about the fact.’ Scolded the feline; as stubborn as ever. ‘If you’ve got a problem with him then sure, take it up with him; but I’m sure Ruka will appreciate you harassing a guy half your size and with such a timid attitude too; and with a clear interest in keeping her in utmost comfort…’
‘Melanie, shut it.’ Snapped the Blaziken; finally regaining his proper leader attitude; his stubborn determination showing up in full force. ‘So it’s not his fault. Fine. So it’s not just your fault. Fine. But we’re going to do something about it because otherwise he’s going to kill someone. I don’t even know if I’ll be walking again as it is; these wounds aren’t something to scoff a-’
‘Actually, none of them are deep enough for any sustained damage. Maybe some dizziness and weakness for a while; but no muscle lacerations or the like. So you haven’t got any right to whi-’
‘Great, but could you at least let me finish my sentence?!’ snapped the avian once again; far from appreciative of Melanie’s characteristic rudeness; although admittedly dealing with her snarkiness was a bit of a breath of fresh air after Arthur’s stoicism. ‘Listen up; I’m going to give a chance to get this sorted out without my father getting involved, alright? I want you to see to it that Arthur gets some psychiatric help; because I think we both know that he needs it; although he’s certainly never going to realise that himself given the way your folk have messed with his head.’
‘You’ve got to be kidding me!’ growled Melanie; becoming even more frustrated with the Blaziken with the additional demand; albeit with rather fair reasoning. ‘Sure, Arthur’s got problems by your standards; but it’s definitely a bit late to try and treat them! He’s sixteen; and he’s spent every year of his life standing by what he’s been taught! Even with professional help he’s definitely not going to go turning tail on all of that. Besides, the fact that you’re trying to shove him into your society’s expectations is really just horrifically racist on its own…’
‘I think that it’s fair for me to overlook my close-mindedness on this occasion given that he, y’know; tried to kill me. I mean, it’s not like he tried to kill me or something.’ Deadpanned the avian; far from pleased by his comrade’s sour attitude. ‘Regardless; I’m not expecting or asking for him to be totally cured of… whatever it is you did to him; I mean, I doubt he’d be as well-liked by most if he was thinking on the same terms as you or me; but I would like to think that some proper therapy will at least make him somewhat less likely to murder me in my sleep.’
‘And let me guess: since I’m his boss it’s up to me to pay up for the session as always, right? You know; just because I’m on your team doesn’t mean you can boss me about, chicken boy.’ Complained the feline; folding her arms haughtily. ‘Grow up, pup. That stuff’s expensive.’
‘Melanie; I can hook you up with one of the best psychiatrists in town; I go to him myself; don’t make any snarky comments on that.’ Begun Dante; becoming a little inwardly amused as he watched Melanie begin to open her mouth before ending up disappointed upon being shot down and promptly shutting up. ‘All I ask is that you get Arthur some therapy sessions; maybe for a month or two; and then if he’s doing better you can continue or cease them. Think you could do at least that? Then I’ll let Arthur’s attempt on my life slide; seeing as I don’t think he’s really in the mental condition to be judged fairly on my own terms.’
The Luxray sulked for a moment; still quite aggravated by the avian’s haggling for obvious reasons. However, with a heavy sigh Melanie decided it would be better to just give in; although she knew that attempting to get Arthur to understand the concept of therapy would probably take a lot more effort than she liked to think about. Then again, she could probably dump that job on Ruka later. The Lucario’s willingness to look out for the Minun was certainly an exploitable factor; although Melanie definitely didn’t much like having to exchange that advantage for seeing the two snuggling up every blasted day. Add in to that the canine’s usual raunchiness and brain bleach was generally a thing to keep on hand; unless the Luxray suddenly found an interest in shotacon.
‘…Fine. But if this doesn’t work out; I hope you realise you’re the one who’s head is on the chopping block; both metaphorically and literally. And maybe rat-boy won’t be the only one on your tail; hm?’ grumbled the feline; still sulking haughtily. ‘Just give me the details of your so-called specialist and I’ll get things organised; but my bet’s on Arthur ending up as even more of a nervous wreck.’
‘Thank you, Melanie. I’m glad to know you’re sometimes agreeable. And that Arthur has extensive first aid skills when he’s not trying to kill me.’ Replied Dante bitterly, albeit grateful for the feline’s agreement. ‘I guess you can have your cat-nap now, then.’
The Blaziken thus carefully stood up; only to have his place promptly taken by the feline behind him while he carefully made his way across the room; doing his best not to strain any of his wounds as he stretched out; relieved to find that he wasn’t seriously disabled in any way; and thus made his way out the door; doubtful that Arthur, Maria or Ruka would appreciate finding him hanging about their dorm at night. Well, maybe Ruka would, admittedly; but still…
Regardless; the avian was really just pleased to be alive and relatively uninjured after the evening’s events; swiftly taking his leave before he earned any more animosity from his feline comrade. While his wounds would certainly heal; especially given the regenerative factor that he had as a pokemorph in the first place; he was quite concerned about ending up in a similar confrontation with Arthur again; especially if their affections for Ruka continued to clash. Still, Dante did think that the therapy would at least do something to calm Arthur’s repressed emotions; seeing as it had certainly helped the Blaziken himself soften the blow of his post-traumatic stress disorder’s symptoms. At least that would mean that the Minun would be somewhat less likely to attempt to murder him again. Maybe.
But then there was the problem of Melanie’s sour attitude… and Ruka’s temper… and whatever was no doubt wrong with Maria and Carin or Rio. The Blaziken could only sigh at the thought of his comrades’ issues. Did every team have to deal with this sort of thing? He’d certainly like to think so… and even if that wasn’t the case; he was thankful for the fact. Couldn’t argue with having your very own dysfunctional family to go back to every day… definitely kept you busy.
Still, maybe he would come out of the PCA without being stabbed again.
Probably not.
But at least he’d gotten a proper spar tonight after all.
A short story, possibly one-shot, written by
tulf12, still in the PCAVerse about Team Road Buster. He asked that I post it on here, because it's slightly more focused on Dante than his own characters. Either way, he's awesome, and I thank him for writing it.Dante, Carin, and Ruka (Mentioned) @ me
Melanie Altiac and Arthur @
Edit: added story to descrip for ease of reading.
EDIT EDIT: DUE TO THE TEAM ROADBUSTER REBOOT I DID, THIS STORY IS NOW NON-CANON. It's still a good read, though
While not really one for the warmer weather; thus far Arthur had not had a strictly bad day. Then again, given his concept of a bad day generally involved being thrown out of windows by his boss or used as a scratching post so that probably wasn’t saying much to most of the PCA’s students; but for the diminutive Minun that was really the best you could get. A bit of time alone to do some chores was nice too; but more often than not he’d just have to tolerate having to act on Melanie’s wit and whim in between getting jobs done for the rest of the team he was arguably involved in.
With his classes done for the day the rodent has thus made his way back to the team’s female members’ dorm which he had ended up taking residence in at his master’s request; and whilst an awkward place to be as a male anyone of Arthur’s background knew far better than to go questioning ‘Miss’ Melanie’s orders. Besides; occasionally the other members gave him some thanks for his efforts to keep their housework maintained; especially seeing as he’d managed to essentially replace Maria in her duties in taking care of the team. And of course, then there was Ruka…
But for the time-being there was a load of clothing that needed to ironed; and as he always said he got the job done; whether it be menial or otherwise. All part of being a slave, really. A professional slave, in his opinion; but given his supposed profession he figured that probably didn’t count for much. Still, couldn’t fault someone on effort; especially given they had little other choice in life.
Slavery might have been recently forbidden by law; but there were that many loopholes that the Altaics and their eldest daughter could comfortably get away with it in the outskirts of Indonesia; and given his upbringing amongst a populace of similar rodents such as himself with about the same position Arthur was just glad to be away from the violent competition that was encouraged amongst the mice; and particularly glad to be away from the violent competition that was particularly pronounced amongst Arthur’s immediate family; the thought of a certain brother of his being more than enough to rile the Minun’s typically highly repressed temper.
After taking a moment to cool down both literally and metaphorically the Minun swiftly moved on to his task at hand; only to end up distracted by a rather uncommon appearance by the supposed leader of Team Roadbusters; Dante Rothschild; who seemed quite content to hang about the female members’ dorm’s kitchen on this occasion; naturally eliciting a bit of confusion from Arthur; while the Blaziken just seemed a little exasperated from previous matters.
‘Oh, hey Arthur. What’re you up to this time?’ asked the avian idly; a little surprised to see anyone back at the dorm so soon after the day’s classes had finished. The Blaziken hadn’t a lot of ill will towards the Minun; being a little peeved by the boy’s clear affections for his girlfriend even though they seemed fairly precocious (not to mention one-sided); but on the other hand the mouse pretty much singlehandedly kept the female team out of the difficulties of chores and the like and kept Melanie in a reasonably good mood; or at least better than spending her time trying to order around her comrades rather than the mouse.
Arthur did not return such a decent opinion; however; having quite the grudge against the Blaziken for various reasons; which were arguably as fair. The avian’s penchant for yelling and being generally aggressive did not go down well with the timid and submissive Minun to begin with and reminded him quite a lot of his brother’s attitude towards him; and Arthur’s relationship with his brother was along the lines of murderous even from abroad and with many years of separation involved.
Regardless; Arthur certainly didn’t appreciate that the Lucario he’d ended up head-over-heels for was Dante’s girlfriend either; especially given that the Minun didn’t think the idly nice avian was doing her justice; a rather unfair comparison given Arthur had been outright taught to be as utterly selfless and serving towards everyone; let alone just Ruka; but to add to it was that his affections towards Ruka would technically earn him more than his fair share of punishment from Melanie if she strictly followed the rules of their homeland; which thankfully wasn’t the case; possibly to the point of execution; while the most Dante could brag of his dedication from Arthur’s experience was fighting for her. Once. And almost giving up half-way through. That wasn’t much of a comparison from the mouse’s point of view, to say the least. And that wasn’t even adding the fact of how much spending time with the canine inconvenienced Arthur in the first place; seeing as Melanie’s orders demanded essentially all of his time anyway…
Arthur would have added his poor relations with Melanie to that list too; but figured it’d be hypocritical given her quite apparent hatred of Ruka; which he still managed to overlook for the sake of his canine crush’s kindness towards him. ‘Doing work.’ was the reply Dante earned from the rodent; and probably the best reply he was ever going to get given the animosity Arthur held towards him. It wasn’t exactly a lie, anyway; and he doubted anyone wanted to hear him go on a tirade over the hardships of ironing anyway.
‘Ah, right. Still letting the Lion Queen drag you about, I ‘spose?’ asked the Blaziken; figuring he might as well make small talk while he was there. At the moment he was waiting on a return call from Carin on having a sparring practice after school; and he didn’t get many chances to chat to the honorary member of his team anyway. ‘Really, you shouldn’t let her push you about like that. Even you’ve got to admit Mel’s kind of a bitch.’
The comment unsurprisingly earned Dante a flat glare from the rodent; not too keen on the terminology in question. The former pun was fine with the Minun; and actually a pop-culture reference he got given he consistently ended up being caught up in his boss’s reverence of the animated film in question (apparently its suggestion of felines as the top of the world was realistic and highly philosophical for its target audience; or so she had always told him); but unsurprisingly the latter remark went down poorly. ‘Sir, it would be appreciated if you didn’t refer to my boss in such a manner. Besides, she’s a feline.’ Replied the Minun simply; all too happy to stand up for his boss rather than himself. That was the rule, after all. Nobility first and foremost.
Dante just raised an eyebrow at that comment; taking the moment to wonder what in the world Ruka saw in the mouse. He was polite; and… he did all the work? Then again, that just furthered his assumption that Ruka honestly didn’t care for the mouse that much. While about to voice another question in the hopes of forming at least a basic conversation with the quiet mouse the Blaziken was distracted by the long awaited ring of his mobile; a welcome distraction from having to keep staring down the mouse.
‘Ah, Carin! So, you up for the sp-’ begun Dante immediately as soon as he heard the Infernape’s voice from the phone; not even giving the boy a chance to voice his greetings; and ending up being interrupted by the simian quite possibly in a form of petty revenge.
‘Sorry Dante; got an assignment today; and I’d rather get it done sooner than later. I’ve got some duties to deal with at the dojo later in the week.’ Explained Carin hastily on his end; audibly still making his way through the school through the mobile’s speakers; and promptly managing to drive a bulldozer into the Blaziken’s enthusiasm with the usual amount of warning one got when it came to metaphorical bulldozers of pretty much any sort.
‘Ah, dang. Well; I’ll leave you to it; I’ve got things to do myself.’ Replied Dante with similar haste; figuring he ought to at least pretend to sound similarly busy given his duty as leader; even though admittedly he didn’t do a whole lot to keep it. Just seemed to be agreed on, really. Well, if one ignored Melanie’s opinion, at least; and she pretty much objected to everything. With their routine farewells swiftly completed Dante hung up on his comrade; turning to the issue at hand. What to do all day.
That thought didn’t last long, however; as a certain Minun marched back on through the room; apparently having taken his leave to get to work while Dante had been on the phone. His appearance quickly brought an idea to mind. ‘Hey, Arthur… you up for a spar?’ asked the Blaziken carefully; not really well-versed in the rodent’s opinion in fighting; although given his diminutive and cherubic aesthetic he doubted he’d be much of a foe. On the other hand; given the abuse Melanie put him through that Ruka often chatted away about (though admittedly Dante’s rarely paid that much attention to his girlfriend’s occasional banter regarding her feline comrade or her supposedly adorable admirer) the boy would have to have some endurance to work with.
‘Um, if you’d like, sir. You’re the leader, after all.’ Replied the lagomorph-rodent-thingy; a little concerned that he’d be away from his duties for some time and not being too keen on battling in the first place; but at the same time being none-too-keen on inciting the Blaziken into yelling at him again. That was one birthday that Arthur was not very keen on remembering; even though it was his first. At least Ruka had been nice during it…
‘Alright! We won’t be using the arena, of course; it’d be full right now anyway. So I usually have my scuffles down near Viridian Woods; there’s a really nice clearing just past some trees along the road on its edge. Not much of a walk from here, either.’ Explained Dante in a bit of a rush; admittedly a little keen on just having a chance to beat on the boy who seemed to be more than a little distraction for his girlfriend; or at least a distraction from the avian himself. Besides, he needed a workout.
‘Um, okay; sir.’ Said the Minun meekly; not even close to as enthused as the Blaziken; and half-expecting some berating over the fact. Thankfully the mouse’s tiny hopes came true for once; and the leader of Team Roadbusters just marched on out without another word to him; leaving the rodent to allow himself to get dragged into the regrettable situation with as much enthusiasm as one might expect. Battles always ended the same for Arthur, anyway…
Thankfully Dante’s promised clearing wasn’t an exaggeration; although it wasn’t quite as large an area as one would expect from an official arena. Still; anyone would be hard-pressed to find a place that open in Viridian outside of the forest’s depths these days anyway; given the influence of residential and industrial construction.
Arthur appreciated the soft grass; at least glad that his inevitable spell of unconsciousness would at least be spent on a reasonably cushioned surface. Probably better than the dirt of the practice arena, really. Certainly wouldn’t get in his mouth as much. Not that he ought to be complaining, though; he barely stayed unconscious for more than a minute or two. All part of his little strategy.
Being one who wasn’t really keen on, trained for, or even really physically built for standard battling Arthur really didn’t bother much in the usual bouts of combat he ended up in; putting up a little bit of a fight before he was swiftly wiped out; his support abilities far outweighing his direct battling abilities; and his academic prowess making up the majority of his mark anyway; the rest coming from his joint battles with his boss; seeing as they were in the same year. For Melanie, Arthur would honestly fight quite hard; but alone he didn’t much care. Besides; getting knocked out early just meant he could get back to work faster. Why resist too much in the first place? Besides; the other person generally came out all the better for it if they won; so he had no right to take such enjoyment from those above him in the social hierarchy.
Clearly Dante was at least expecting something of a fight from him in this case though; as the Blaziken did a series of stretches on the opposite side of the clearing to him. Arthur didn’t bother with them himself. He didn’t even know how to do them, in all honesty. Melanie did, but she certainly wasn’t going to tell him; and with his small size they’d probably just be awkward anyway. And that wasn’t even counting the suit he was stuck in all day and its inflexibility. Another reason why he couldn’t/didn’t fight too well, that.
‘You about ready, Arthur?’ called out the Blaziken opposite him; seeming fairly impatient about the whole thing. Dante never wanted to wait too long when it came to getting into a fight; seeing as the activity was one of his fortes; and beating p people keen on their girlfriends was kind of the point to boyfriends; wasn’t it? ‘Because I was born ready!’
‘Uh, o-okay.’ Stammered Arthur in response; his self-esteem jumping ship as soon as it could; leaving the Minun without much on his mind apart from the hope that maybe he’d get back to Melanie’s side with some swiftness; preferably without his arm in a sling. The Blaziken didn’t seem keen on holding back; and given what he’d heard about the avian from others that wasn’t something to be glad for.
And the rodent wasn’t too be disappointed; either; as mere seconds after the words of affirmation had left his mouth a flaming leg was being dropped on him via an airborne axe-kick from the notably taller bird; who had managed to close the gap between them in only a moment; announcing his strike with a call of ‘Blaze Eagle!’; an act that took the mouse off-guard quite a bit; just in case the lightning fast attack wasn’t enough.
However, the rodent did have some talent to work with; retaliating against the opening strike heading his way by quickly raising his palm and projecting a hexagonal barrier via Protect; possibly his favourite move; which easily shrugged off the blow before it dissipated; and gave Arthur time to dart backward and out of the Blaziken’s immediate range.
‘Defending? Really?’ mocked Dante; honestly surprised that anyone would bother doing so in a match; let alone use the break in their opponent’s actions to retreat rather than properly retaliate. Still; he didn’t leave much time for the mouse to regain his bearings; moving straight back into close-range with his diminutive foe; only to be forced back somewhat by the appearance of an unexpected factor in the fight; a spear of raw electricity formed in the Minun hands and presently pointed at him. It wasn’t exactly long; but it was still a surprise. Not that the avian was going to let his moment of being off-guard become clear to Arthur, though. ‘And using a weapon rather than your bare hands, too…’
The taunts meant little to the Minun; having been through such banter for years now and thus having learnt to tune it out. In all honesty; given he wasn’t even a native English-speaker to begin with he really didn’t understand all of the insults thrown at him in the first place. Regardless; as more of ranged fighter Arthur first set out upon trying to make some distance between himself and the impetuous bird; tossing out a small Electro Ball to try and use its slight explosion of electricity to discourage any immediate attempts on Dante’s part to move forward; and for once was successful in his gambit as the avian retreated further in order to avoid the sparks that erupted from the deceitfully small ball of electricity Arthur had hurriedly thrown.
While the mouse was managing to keep Dante at arms’ length for the moment, though; the avian wasn’t about to allow his rival for Ruka’s affections make much use of that; charging straight back in again as soon as Arthur made any preparations to properly throw the Thunderbolt-formed spear he had on hand; and rewarding the Minun with a swift punt to the chin (Dante would have preferred to use his fists; but given his current foe’s laughable height they weren’t really practical in this case); sending the light-weight a little off the ground; a fact that the Blaziken quickly exploited with a follow-up of an axe-kick as per a proper Double Kick; the extra inch of height and in turn gravity giving the blow just that little bit of extra momentum and in turn damage.
While left on his behind with an aching head from the pair of blows Arthur wasn’t quite ready to give up; darting backwards and back onto his feet with a swift movement belying agility uncharacteristic to his otherwise poor fighting abilities; forming another spear of lightning and deciding on taking on Dante head-to-head; seeing as the avian wasn’t going to be kept back easily. Forming a quick but brittle barrier before him with Light Screen Arthur prepared for the Blaziken’s attempt to close in on him; hoping the shield would slow him down enough for the Minun to manage to get a quick shot in on the advancing bird; and prepare for a follow-up.
As expected Dante did choose to use a move to bust through Arthur’s defence; a ThunderPunch punctuated with a quick shout doing the job but also overshooting it a bit; the overestimation wasting the strike and leaving the avian open to a quick Thunderbolt toss from the rodent beyond it; not to mention a nigh-on impossible to miss one. The javelin of lightning met its mark as expected; surprising the unwary Blaziken a little with the sharp pain and brief paralysis the electricity brought; and thus leaving him open to a quick Spark from his diminutive foe which only added to the injury; although the pair of strikes were rather superficial for the ever-eager avian.
And thus; with little to stop him; Dante settled the score with a Sky Uppercut even though he had to bend low in order to make contact with the strike; the impressive upper easily sending its victim notably high in the air. ‘Don’t sweat it, Arthur; you won’t miss the ground for long!’ taunted the Blaziken haughtily as the mouse took a moment to properly comprehend his current flight; only to meet the Minun at the peak of his trajectory with a fire-charged spike (with an inevitable shout of ‘Red Buster!’, of course) ; the impact leading Arthur to slam into the grassy ground with quite the audible thud and actually manage to bounce before having his rebellion against gravity ended with his face planted in the dirt; unsurprisingly left unconscious from the blow.
While fairly sure of his foe’s failure Dante did take the care to check Arthur was unconscious; far from surprised to find that was the case. ‘Sheesh, what a pussy…’ grumbled the boy; far from impressed by the pitiful fight the Minun managed to put up. Still; at least there was another point he had in Ruka’s favour over the whiney midget…
It didn’t take long for Arthur to regain consciousness; though; used to getting such treatment on at least a daily basis; if not more often. Within moments the mouse was back on his feet; leaving the meandering Blaziken a little surprised. ‘Sheesh, it’s only been two minutes! Why didn’t you use all that energy in the fight, little man?’ asked Dante; admittedly a little suspicious as to how the boy had managed to spring back up so easily; but not really caring on the whole. ‘Still, doesn’t matter now. I won; surprise, surprise.’
‘Well, congratulations, sir.’ Replied the rodent; unimpressed by both the outcome and Dante’s gloating; although neither had been unexpected. The mouse didn’t wait for a reply; taking the spare moment to extract a compact and unsurprisingly durable pocket watch from his suit trousers and swiftly check it; not keen on wasting any more time away from his work. ‘Can we get moving, please?’
‘Yeah, sure. Would’ve preferred more of a workout; but I guess you’re not exactly ready to give me any sort of proper challenge. Not even close.’ Grumbled the Blaziken; a little annoyed by Arthur’s clear disinterest in the battle’s result; not to mention on having gotten such a weak match in replacement of a proper spar with Carin. Still, he’d won; and that’s what mattered for now; so Dante begun his stride back to the academy and in turn his dorm; with his pseudo-teammate in tow. He sort of hated to admit it, but given that performance he was beginning to appreciate Melanie’s talent in the arena by comparison. Heck, he could sort of see why she beat on the little guy so much now if he was that pathetic...
‘Certainly not good enough for Ruka, let me tell you that. Girl’s gotta have the best of everything, y’know.’ Added Dante; deciding to take the chance to try and rub his relationship in the mouse’s face; having held back on such insults thus far. He figured it was a fair shot; it was true, it was technically complimentary towards the Lucario, and it wasn’t all that much worse than his other comments. It wasn’t like Arthur was seriously interested in her, after all; he’d probably just fallen prey to his hormones.
‘And you think you’re the best?’ snapped the Minun; his temper slipping a tiny bit due to the personal nature of the insult; rounding on the Blaziken; and earning but an amused look for his troubles.
‘Well, given what just happened there; yeah, I think so. I’d ask if you want to fight about it; but that’s got a foregone conclusion.’ Joked Dante; just finding the tiny boy’s irritation laughable given his childish appearance. ‘Sorry, Art’; but I don’t know any girls who are keen on terrible fighters who look like little kids and act like wimps all day; and I know for sure that my girl isn’t the exception.’
‘Basically, you’re not good enough for Ruka.’
Seven years…
It had been seven years since Arthur last lost his temper… he could remember it. It wasn’t really that memorable an occasion; but it had certainly changed him. He’d learnt perhaps the most vital lesson of being in his position in life; to keep one’s emotions properly bottled up inside… happiness was irritating. Depression was inefficient. Anger was punishable. No boss appreciated an emotional servant; since dealing with emotions would be interpersonal; and what kind of slave had a personal relationship with their master?
With that in mind, Arthur had thus lived his life in such stoicism; simply oozing his repressed emotions via a consistent state of melancholy; an act that had served him well through life. Some people still found it depressing or annoying; certainly; but it was far better than the reaction he’d get for the alternative. Besides, Melanie was fine with it; and that was the point; in the end.
It hadn’t always been easy; naturally; but lately it’d been easier.
He’d made a promise; albeit just to himself. He’d never get angry in front of Ruka. While he could excuse himself from depression (it seemed that with the amount of pity she placed upon him it was almost expected) or happiness (generally a short-lived thing given his boss’s preference for getting mad at him for any major show of it) he had decided that he would not allow himself to ever get mad in front of the girl he’d fallen head-over-heels in love with; no matter the cost. There’d been tempting moments; the girl was far from understanding of his culture; and Melanie was all too happy to make a mockery of their relationship and Arthur in general around the Lucario; but he’d kept to his word; even to the point of refusing to lose his temper in any situation where she might hear of it.
But Ruka wasn’t around right now, was she? And if he lost his temper; it would be unlikely Dante would have the chance to pass the news on, either. He would make sure of that. He hadn’t really expected to get any chance to maim the avian that had been so intent on causing him strife throughout his daily life… but sometimes dreams did come true, didn’t they?
While Dante did notice the rodent’s slight hesitation he wasn’t quite expecting the metallic tool that soon whizzed past his head; managing to graze his hair slightly. Unsurprisingly distracted by the near-miss the Blaziken soon traced the object in question; a small throwing knife now embedded into the dirt behind him. With that fatal threat in mind Dante hastily turned back to his Minun comrade; who was presently looking uncharacteristically furious and doing a surprisingly good job of looking threatening given his height; an act aided by the trio of knives neatly slotted between his left hand’s knuckles; while his other hand was already preparing another knife; held by the tip as one would expect.
‘You’ve had your chance, Dante. You didn’t even try to prove yourself as worthy for Ruka; and yet you’re standing here badmouthing me as if you own me. Listen up, scum; Melanie’s my boss; not you; so you can shut your beak already.’ Snarled the mouse; apparently deciding that making his point clear was more important than just finishing the fight in any hurry; his typically melancholy tone replaced with some notable assertiveness and clear anger; even if it wasn’t quite as fiery as Dante had been expecting. ‘You’ve spent your entire time trying to justify your superiority on the fact that you fought on her behalf once; as if that’s all that a relationship should stand on. I spend every day in this school putting my head on Miss Melanie’s chopping block for Ruka with no expectation of appreciation; and yet you think you’re the better man just because you can’t think to try and solve something through anything apart from violence?’
‘Exterminating you will practically be an act of charity if you’re truly that arrogant!’ concluded Arthur; punctuating his point with another practiced throw; although this time Dante was highly appreciative of the fact that he could actually see the knife coming; even though the Minun’s toss was strikingly fast; not to mention accurate; as the Blaziken had to admit as the blade spiralled through the position he’d just darted out of; although he still earned a nick across his elbow from the weapon.
‘Sampah lo!’ taunted the mouse; his temper bringing out his memories of his early life and in turn the infighting amongst the other slaves he naturally got caught up with… and the language that generally involved. Taking advantage of the avian’s fear and surprise Arthur immediately closed the gap between himself and his target; flipping his remaining knives to hold them by their hilts in preparation for conventional usage. While rather clumsy in close-quarters with only his bare hands to work with the rodent was notably proficient with his rather beloved set of knives even if they were made for throwing purposes rather than direct usage.
Admittedly Dante had known about his diminutive foe’s penchant for knives previously; since the mouse generally had them on hand; hidden away in his suit jacket; and dismissed them along the lines of their domestic uses; even though it was quite clear that they were made with more insidious purposes in mind. He was pretty sure Ruka had commented on the boy’s understanding of death to him before; too; but that must’ve been some time ago; he couldn’t remember any of it. Still, that didn’t really change the fact that there was currently an armed psychopathic midget attempting to murder him with little reason to stop; given the Minun’s current fury.
Figuring he might have some chance to disarm the mouse with force given Arthur’s previously poor fighting proficiency; along with the fact that the mouse only seemed to have six knives; Dante allowed the mouse to close the gap; attempting to catch him off-guard with a swift axe kick; only to find the Minun effortlessly avoiding the move; courtesy of both his tiny height and his notable dexterity; previously left untapped by his typical chores. The Blaziken’s gambit was also rewarded with a quick and thus thankfully rather shallow vertical cleave along his still-standing leg (punctuated with a call of ‘Ngentot lu!’); forcing the avian to back off from the berserk mouse; feeling slightly faint as he felt a familiar liquid begin to run down his thigh.
Given Arthur’s clear murderous or at least lethal intentions and his current armaments; Dante hastily decided that fighting probably wasn’t the best plan; a point made more poignant as another knife went past him; albeit this time heading back towards the Minun; assumedly courtesy of the rodent’s magnetic affinities that came with his species; meaning that the Blaziken’s briefly considered strategy of exhausting the boy’s supply of knives by goading him into throwing them would be pointless. And so, the avian had to turn to his only remaining obvious solution; and one that he quite despised having to turn to.
‘Arthur! You don’t know what you’re doing!’ shouted Dante; his chosen argument achieving a whole lot of nothing as a knife sailed by him and sliced through the skin of his bicep; albeit thankfully not ending up impaled into it. The mouse was barely even distracted by the call; his timid nature having always been reserved solely for when it came to dealing with those he actually respected; and at the moment Dante was incredibly far from such a position. ‘What about Melanie?’
‘Miss Melanie hates you about as much as I do; and thus far you’ve only proven yourself to be an obstacle to her via your unconstructive and hypocritical criticisms of her abilities; and your self-serving method of leadership.’ Retorted the rodent handily; taking no time to slow down to talk and thus making his reply whilst still keeping in pace with the currently retreating Blaziken; still unfalteringly in his intent of maiming the bird.
Dante had to admit that the complaint was a little true; but on the other hand he’d only scolded the feline on her temper once… several months ago… and backed down from the point. Still, it probably wasn’t too fair for him to be judging the Minun’s complaints on his own understanding of the world; the kid had been brought up under far different circumstances. However, in retrospect spending such time thinking was a poor move as the rodent caught up to his backpedalling and dealt another slice that made contact; albeit thankfully only managing to graze the Blaziken’s shirt this time.
‘You think you’re better than me, and yet you refuse to treat Ruka right! She deserves better, and you know it!’ snapped the Minun; clearly beginning to get a little fed up with Dante’s dodging; even though it really hadn’t been very long thus far. Quite happy to exploit the boy’s temper to at least give himself a bit of breathing room the avian swiftly made a leg sweep; only to find Arthur able to avoid the attempt at unbalancing easily; diving backwards before just using the momentum to roll back on to his feet; although his choice in method of destabilisation really just put even further away; a fact which the mouse took a moment to realise.
‘Banjingan!’ cursed Arthur; immediately dashing forward with a flurry of strokes from his knives; leaving Dante thanking his respective deities for the boy’s diminutive height and that of his pair of armaments; although he knew all too well that he couldn’t hold out forever; and given Arthur managed to live every day working from five in the morning to twelve at night without missing a step… well, even the Blaziken’s signature determination probably couldn’t keep up with that sort of stamina.
‘Arthur; what about your family and friends? What about how they’d be affected by all this? You’ve got to think of others, too!’ pleaded Dante; hoping for some way out of the situation. He would soon regret his immediate idea.
‘Family?!’ snarled the mouse; his fury only more pronounced with the subject at hand; punctuating his outburst by throwing both of his knifes; although unsurprisingly with rather little accuracy. Then again; at the current range he was to Dante it meant little; leaving one of the blades to cut throw a sleeve of the avian’s shirt; leaving another shallow but certainly not superficial wound in his bicep; the pain being enough to crack the Blaziken’s determination enough to lead him to let out a small cry of pain. ‘They’re awful! I spent my years trying to learn my job getting pushed around by them! And then I spent years doing my job getting pushed around by them! And what about friends? I’ve only ever had two of them; not including Ruka; and one’s my boss and the other’s abandoned me to go chasing around some dragon!’
Beginning to feel slightly light-headed courtesy of the blood loss from his leg and arm Dante took a moment to try and regain his composure; not sure of what choices he had left. Arthur certainly had the upper hand in this fight; and simply trying to tear on forward was going to do nothing. And the Minun certainly wasn’t leaving any gaps to be exploited; no gloating, no truly uncontrolled fury, and no sympathy. Maybe his determination simply wasn’t going to save him another time...
With his dizziness leaving him in a very poor state to keep dodging; let alone fighting at all; Arthur spared no time in catching up with the Blaziken; having rather foolhardily slowed down in order to give his previous little tirade. Being in no state to uphold his stamina it only took a solid front kick to the avian’s back for the Minun to knock Dante onto the ground; packing surprising power behind the act despite his previously pathetic unarmed fighting abilities and his diminutive size.
‘Sorry, Dante; but it’s like Miss Melanie always says. Survival of the fittest; correct?’ remarked the mouse; suddenly returning to being calm and professional as per his usual attitude; flipping the Blaziken onto his back and placing a foot on his chest in preparation for a clean execution and a little bit of self-indulgent dominance. Admittedly, the effect was mostly lost on Dante himself; feeling a little stupid (or maybe it was just the wooziness brought on from his blood loss) seeing the tiny boy attempting to be properly threatening; despite being on the verge of being killed. ‘Beristirahat dengan Tenang, Rothschild.’
‘What about Ruka, Arthur?’ asked the Blaziken half-heartedly whilst Arthur sheathed the rest of his knives; the Minun seeming quite content to finish off his rival of sorts with little fanfare and his usual stoicism in tow. However, Dante’s final comment did manage to get his attention; leaving the boy to look thoughtfully to one side.
‘Hm. That’s true. I’m doubtful she’d deal with your death that well.’ Mused the mouse; still quite content to stand upon the avian as he considered the concept. ‘I guess it wouldn’t be fair on her for me to execute you so idly… though I’m not sure I can say you don’t deserve it with the way you treat her.’
‘…What?’ murmured the Blaziken; utterly bamboozled by the change of events; plus the fact that he was already beginning to black-out from his loss of blood; the darkness at the edge of his eyes slowly eating away at his vision. Still, it was probably a blessing to finally be conking out after the searing pain his wounds had left him feeling; a sensation which was thankfully initially blocked by his stress at the time but were now beginning to set in with a certainly noticeable stinging now… besides; at least it’d make his end go by painlessly…
A ray of light lead Dante to cringe; far from appreciative of the blinding wake-up call; rolling to one side to shield his view of the light. An act he very quickly regretted; as a spasm of pain ran up his side; his shoulder burning with pain… but not blood; much to the avian’s surprise; as he slowly put together the events he just went through. Managing to fight against his aching muscles for the moment Dante looked around himself; still rather dazed by his awakening.
He was in his team’s female members’ dorm; lying across the dorm’s living room’s central couch; somehow totally bandaged and properly disinfected by the looks of things… no doubt the work of Arthur; given that he didn’t quite believe that Ruka or Maria quite had that sort of precision or neatness in their first aid; although that did leave the possibility of Melanie; one that he didn’t really want to consider. It did make a bit of sense, though; no better way for him to cover up his tracks that to clean the Blaziken’s wounds up himself.
‘Feeling better, sleeping beauty?’ asked a certain Luxray; presently leaning over the back of the couch; quite annoyed that her favourite napping spot was currently taken up by a certain member of her team whom she rather hated. ‘When you’re done moping you can get off my couch, you know. Ought to be appreciative; my little ratboy dragged you up here all on his own; and who’s his boss, hm?’
‘Appreciative?! He just tried to kill me!’ snapped Dante; unsurprisingly aggravated by the Luxray’s haughtiness. ‘He’s nuts; and it’s your fault! You and your crazy little slave culture! No doubt you’re churning out little monsters like him every day! And the worst part is that I know that it’s not his fault in the end; because you and your family of cats are practically trying to leave kids like him! He thought he was fighting for Ruka’s sake; and totally believed wiping me out was going to help things! He’s nuts!’
‘Did you expect anything else? Did you really think that he was just going to sit there and get kicked to the curb every day; just blindly serving people who aren’t even close to his bosses every day; and trying his utmost to impress a certain Lucario you know only to end up mocked and ignored for his whole-hearted approaches every day?’ growled Melanie; none too pleased to have the blame pinned straight onto her. ‘Did you think he didn’t have feelings? Did you think he was just going to let you yell at him all day and never strike back?’
‘Pretty good coming from the girl who beats him around all day. You’re the one who’s always mocking him and messing with him; I barely see him at all! And yet I’m the one he went after? Was he on your orders or something?’ snarled back the Blaziken; temper riled by the thought of his comrade attempting to stab him in the back already; although he wouldn’t be honestly that surprised. ‘I can’t just hang around and do nothing while your little murderer’s prancing about, you know! I ought to get my dad on the case right now; and I don’t even know why Arthur’s let me off in the first place! I almost got killed, Melanie!’
‘Yeah, I know; I’ve heard it all; pup. Blame your insults towards his attitude towards your girthy girlfriend; because we all know it’s totally safe to insult his relationship with the girl he’s in love with; yeah; especially if you’re the one already picking a fight with him about the fact.’ Scolded the feline; as stubborn as ever. ‘If you’ve got a problem with him then sure, take it up with him; but I’m sure Ruka will appreciate you harassing a guy half your size and with such a timid attitude too; and with a clear interest in keeping her in utmost comfort…’
‘Melanie, shut it.’ Snapped the Blaziken; finally regaining his proper leader attitude; his stubborn determination showing up in full force. ‘So it’s not his fault. Fine. So it’s not just your fault. Fine. But we’re going to do something about it because otherwise he’s going to kill someone. I don’t even know if I’ll be walking again as it is; these wounds aren’t something to scoff a-’
‘Actually, none of them are deep enough for any sustained damage. Maybe some dizziness and weakness for a while; but no muscle lacerations or the like. So you haven’t got any right to whi-’
‘Great, but could you at least let me finish my sentence?!’ snapped the avian once again; far from appreciative of Melanie’s characteristic rudeness; although admittedly dealing with her snarkiness was a bit of a breath of fresh air after Arthur’s stoicism. ‘Listen up; I’m going to give a chance to get this sorted out without my father getting involved, alright? I want you to see to it that Arthur gets some psychiatric help; because I think we both know that he needs it; although he’s certainly never going to realise that himself given the way your folk have messed with his head.’
‘You’ve got to be kidding me!’ growled Melanie; becoming even more frustrated with the Blaziken with the additional demand; albeit with rather fair reasoning. ‘Sure, Arthur’s got problems by your standards; but it’s definitely a bit late to try and treat them! He’s sixteen; and he’s spent every year of his life standing by what he’s been taught! Even with professional help he’s definitely not going to go turning tail on all of that. Besides, the fact that you’re trying to shove him into your society’s expectations is really just horrifically racist on its own…’
‘I think that it’s fair for me to overlook my close-mindedness on this occasion given that he, y’know; tried to kill me. I mean, it’s not like he tried to kill me or something.’ Deadpanned the avian; far from pleased by his comrade’s sour attitude. ‘Regardless; I’m not expecting or asking for him to be totally cured of… whatever it is you did to him; I mean, I doubt he’d be as well-liked by most if he was thinking on the same terms as you or me; but I would like to think that some proper therapy will at least make him somewhat less likely to murder me in my sleep.’
‘And let me guess: since I’m his boss it’s up to me to pay up for the session as always, right? You know; just because I’m on your team doesn’t mean you can boss me about, chicken boy.’ Complained the feline; folding her arms haughtily. ‘Grow up, pup. That stuff’s expensive.’
‘Melanie; I can hook you up with one of the best psychiatrists in town; I go to him myself; don’t make any snarky comments on that.’ Begun Dante; becoming a little inwardly amused as he watched Melanie begin to open her mouth before ending up disappointed upon being shot down and promptly shutting up. ‘All I ask is that you get Arthur some therapy sessions; maybe for a month or two; and then if he’s doing better you can continue or cease them. Think you could do at least that? Then I’ll let Arthur’s attempt on my life slide; seeing as I don’t think he’s really in the mental condition to be judged fairly on my own terms.’
The Luxray sulked for a moment; still quite aggravated by the avian’s haggling for obvious reasons. However, with a heavy sigh Melanie decided it would be better to just give in; although she knew that attempting to get Arthur to understand the concept of therapy would probably take a lot more effort than she liked to think about. Then again, she could probably dump that job on Ruka later. The Lucario’s willingness to look out for the Minun was certainly an exploitable factor; although Melanie definitely didn’t much like having to exchange that advantage for seeing the two snuggling up every blasted day. Add in to that the canine’s usual raunchiness and brain bleach was generally a thing to keep on hand; unless the Luxray suddenly found an interest in shotacon.
‘…Fine. But if this doesn’t work out; I hope you realise you’re the one who’s head is on the chopping block; both metaphorically and literally. And maybe rat-boy won’t be the only one on your tail; hm?’ grumbled the feline; still sulking haughtily. ‘Just give me the details of your so-called specialist and I’ll get things organised; but my bet’s on Arthur ending up as even more of a nervous wreck.’
‘Thank you, Melanie. I’m glad to know you’re sometimes agreeable. And that Arthur has extensive first aid skills when he’s not trying to kill me.’ Replied Dante bitterly, albeit grateful for the feline’s agreement. ‘I guess you can have your cat-nap now, then.’
The Blaziken thus carefully stood up; only to have his place promptly taken by the feline behind him while he carefully made his way across the room; doing his best not to strain any of his wounds as he stretched out; relieved to find that he wasn’t seriously disabled in any way; and thus made his way out the door; doubtful that Arthur, Maria or Ruka would appreciate finding him hanging about their dorm at night. Well, maybe Ruka would, admittedly; but still…
Regardless; the avian was really just pleased to be alive and relatively uninjured after the evening’s events; swiftly taking his leave before he earned any more animosity from his feline comrade. While his wounds would certainly heal; especially given the regenerative factor that he had as a pokemorph in the first place; he was quite concerned about ending up in a similar confrontation with Arthur again; especially if their affections for Ruka continued to clash. Still, Dante did think that the therapy would at least do something to calm Arthur’s repressed emotions; seeing as it had certainly helped the Blaziken himself soften the blow of his post-traumatic stress disorder’s symptoms. At least that would mean that the Minun would be somewhat less likely to attempt to murder him again. Maybe.
But then there was the problem of Melanie’s sour attitude… and Ruka’s temper… and whatever was no doubt wrong with Maria and Carin or Rio. The Blaziken could only sigh at the thought of his comrades’ issues. Did every team have to deal with this sort of thing? He’d certainly like to think so… and even if that wasn’t the case; he was thankful for the fact. Couldn’t argue with having your very own dysfunctional family to go back to every day… definitely kept you busy.
Still, maybe he would come out of the PCA without being stabbed again.
Probably not.
But at least he’d gotten a proper spar tonight after all.
Category Story / Pokemon
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 50 x 50px
File Size 38.8 kB
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