victory_road | 2nd Match // [video

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2nd Match // [video | action] Ecruteak

[VIDEO]
[There's a Combusken on your video feed, today, face pressed close to the device, head tilted curiously to one side, one red eye peering deep into ~~your soul~~ the camera. It looks like someone's just evolved and is making use of his new hand...claw...things! That eye stares unblinking for several moments before the pokemon tilts its head the other way to stare some more with its other eye.

Just as the whole thing might be getting totally unnerving, a growling voice speaks up from off-camera:]

Who's ready for a barbeque!?

[Murder Chicken finally blinks and looks away from the camera - presumably up at the voice - with a delighted exclamation of "Combusken!"

And then immediately proceeds to demonstrate its new Flame Charge move, cloaking itself in a sudden and dramatic ring of fire and singeing the 'Gear - which then shuts off seconds later when it's unceremoniously dropped.]

[ACTION]
[When he's not rambling around the town, Krieg can be found hanging out with Murder Chicken most days on Route 37 or Route 42 near the edges of Ecruteak. The trainer/pokemon sparring matches are way more intense now that MC can scratch and kick. Feel free to interrupt - or to be interrupted. Combusken may be Torchic's awkward weird teenage stage, but despite its new look Murder Chicken is just as friendly as ever, and Krieg doesn't really mind when people say hello.]

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[ Rhys saw that network post. And after his encounter with Krieg the last time, he is going to do everything in his power to avoid this guy. If he has to go and hang out with Handsome Jack for a day, he'll do it. Eat eyeballs from something? Sign him up. Psychos are bad bad news. Rhys should know. He got chased by a bunch of them after he tried to get his old dead boss' face from a group of them (who had been wearing it over their faces, just to add.)

He's around Route 42 on the search for berries, when he hears the Combusken's cries from not too far away. Rhys turns the corner on the pathway, squinting a little to see what's going on, when. Oh god. Nope!

The little chicken thing looks nice and all but the psycho does not.

Rhys is just going to hide behind whatever tree is thick enough to hide his scrawny-ass little body, because he doesn't want to get caught anywhere near this guy. ]

[Well, Rhys is in luck! For the moment, anyway. Krieg's currently distracted with his feathery buddy's training. He's been sparring with Murder Chicken since it was just a teeny Torchic. It only evolved recently, and he's still getting used to the little guy's increased speed and strength.

Not that that stops him shouting encouraging instructions as MC scratches and kicks away.]

Nahahahah! HARDER! HARDER!

[He's used to taking a merely defensive stance during these sessions, because he doesn't want to hurt Murder Chicken, but given the pounding he's taking, he may need to change up his training regime soon. Each blow the Combusken lands knocks him backward a bit, conveniently in the direction of Rhys' hiding spot.]

Too soft! FINISH IT OFF!!

[Only a psycho would complain that the beating he's taking isn't good enough.

Murder Chicken does as it's told, though, and breaks through Krieg's guard and delivers a highly impressive Double Kick right to the center of his chest, which sends him stumbling backwards - right past Rhys' tree - and right onto his back.

That's all six feet and six inches of 200+ pound Psycho stretched out more or less at your feet there, Rhys. His bare chest and shoulders are covered in scratches - some of which are still bleeding, and there are a few truly impressive bruises developing in places over his exposed skin.

...And he's laughing. It starts out as a quiet little giggle and quickly develops into a deep, full-body guffaw. He only dials it back a little as he sits up, but stops abruptly when he notices Rhys.

He blinks and aborts his motion to climb back to his feet, remaining seated for the moment and leaning forward to peer at the little beanpole twig-man pressed up against the trunk of a tree not much wider than he is.]

What's the matter? You lost?

[ My god. Like, this isn't normal? Fighting your pokemon by yourself is one thing, but to get your ass kicked and be covered in cuts and bruises and burns and then laugh your ass off is another thing. Rhys is absolutely horrified when Krieg ends up being pushed back so far, he's more or less at his feet. This worked...against him, honestly. This whole 'hiding' thing. Not good.

When Rhys is addressed he more or less...almost pees himself, to be honest. ] Hahaa, what? Me? Lost? Pssh. Naw. I know where I'm going, thanks.

[ Away from here! Rhys just points in the closest direction with a nervous kind of smile. ] I'm actually just going to be going, so.

[ Rhys turns and starts to walk away. If Krieg takes one step closer, he is prepared to run his ass back as fast as he can. ]

[Oh, were you trying to leave? Sorry, Rhys, there's a Combusken in your way. He's fluffy and energetic and bouncy and very pleased to meet you! Don't go before you say hi to him, please!!

Meanwhile, Krieg has figured out why the little beanpole twig-man looks familiar, and speaks up from behind him (he's still sitting down, by the way, so don't piss yourself yet, Rhys ♥)]

Coming to visit Shield Lady?

[ Well, this sucks. Pinned in by a cute chicken pokemon! He smiles and reaches out to pet it quick before he leaves, but the sound of a booming voice right behind him spooks Rhys so bad, he jumps in place. Almost out of his shoes, actually. He spins around, arms up and everything, and oh yeah there's the psycho and he knows who Rhys is. Cool! ]

U-Uhh, not really? I was, I was just, uh. [ He points behind himself. ] going to get berries. You know. For the team.

[ Have a smile. A very, very strained smile. ]

I should get going! There's some nearby I think, so I should go get them before someone else does. [ He's just going to try and sneeeeak his way around Krieg, and hope he doesn't follow... ]

[Woooooow, this guy is even more jumpy in person! But he hasn't pissed himself or fainted, both of which Krieg kind of vaguely expected, so he does get points for that.

He watches as Rhys tries to...what is he doing, sneaking? Wow, he's bad at that, too. Krieg can see you, Beanpole. That means ur doin' it wrong.

Also:]

Grabbed those already.

[Murder Chicken, meanwhile, is quite upset. He was so close to pets! So close! He gives an indignant little squawk when Rhys turns abruptly and nudges him - gently! - in the knee. Hey! You forgot something, sir!]

There's more over here.

[He gestures with one arm in the direction opposite of the one Rhys is trying to go to indicate where, exactly, he means.

Aaaaaand this is the part where the psycho stands up. He's in no huge hurry to get to his feet, though, so if Rhys wants to run, he can, and he'll have a few seconds' head-start.]

[ Alright. Scary guy or not, Rhys has to met MC. Rhys leans down, juuust a little to get halfway even and pat him a few times on the head! Then he's actually going to stay for a little longer, because you're cute! It's like a chicken with a bit of fluff on it.

Krieg bends over, and Rhys sees that as the perfect opportunity! He's just going to star for a second...

then he takes a deep breath.

And he's off! Rhys doesn't know where he's going, but he's going somewhere. ]

[Murder Chicken is intensely pleased when he finally gets the attention he so rightly deserves! He fluffs up cutely at the head pats, closing his eyes blissfully.

Only to blink them open in confusion when Rhys takes off running.

Krieg blinks too, once he's standing up straight and realizes Beanpole has dashed away. At first he's about to leave him to it, but then he squints a bit in the direction the skinny guy took, and...

Oh. There's a ledge in that direction. With a Skorupi nest at the bottom.

Someone who's walking and paying attention shouldn't have any problem avoiding the ledge, and the subsequent drop, and then the little bug critters that look like a Varkid and a Stalker somehow managed to reproduce.

Someone who's running in a blind panic, on the other hand...]

With a quick glance at Murder Chicken, Krieg starts after Rhys, MC running along right beside him. Somehow he gets the feeling the skinny man is going to need help very, very soon.]

RUNNING AWAY IS A BAD IDEA!

[Because that warning doesn't sound like a threat at all, nope. Not even a little bit. :')]

[ Like, maybe three seconds after Rhys starts running, he can almost hear huge steps just thudding his way over. He screams, pushing himself to run faster because he is not going to be a plaything for a psycho, not any time soon! Being chased by those guys is not fun, not at all.

This feels kind of familiar, except he wasn't holding Vasquez's face? And Krieg didn't seem to have bombs planted all over himself.

At least that he knows of.

Rhys is too busy focusing on speed, so he doesn't even notice that there's a drop-off right in front of his face. He hardly even notices it after he runs off the ledge. But all of a sudden he's dropping into a nest full of...scorpions. Giant, purple scorpions.

Sooo he yells! Really loudly.

Some things you might be able to hear is a long list of curse words, 'It's got my pants!' or 'it stung me!' What a good day he's having so far. ]

Edited 2016-10-04 04:08 (UTC)

[Witnessing Rhys' fall is like watching one of those old cartoons where the cartoon character runs off the edge of a cliff, experiences a comical moment where they realize what they've done, look down, and then succumbs to gravity. Like a gangly noodle version of his cartoon predecessors, Rhys seems to hang in the air for a split second before falling.

He can pinpoint the exact moment the Skorupis are discovered by the pitch and volume of Rhys' screaming. It'd almost be funny, if he weren't actually worried about the guy.

Krieg pounds up almost to the edge of the little cliff and skids to a controlled stop just before he can fall in too. Once there he immediately drops to his knees and reaches his right hand down toward Rhys while gripping the lip of the ledge securely in his left.]

GIMME YOUR MEAT HOOK!

[...Again, probably not the greatest word choice.]

[ This is like, an arachnophobe's worst nightmare. Rhys is literally being overtaken by these giant purple scorpions, who either don't know that Rhys is freaking out, or just don't care. And he can feel himself just getting bitten by these little things and they're just crawling overhimew and over top of all of this, he can hear the crazy psycho calling to him. Something about a meat hook.

Choices.

Get stuck down here and turn to sludge because these were freakin' poisonous, or risk falling at the hands of a psycho? Both seemed very unpleasant, and Rhys didn't want to stick around for any of it. But in the end at least dying a death where it could be quick and painless sounded better, so he'll go with the psycho option!

Rhys thrusts his metal arm upwards (try ripping that out! oh no wait, that's really poor choice of words) standing up on a select few Skorupis to get some leverage. ] Here! Here here here!

[He's not interested in ripping your arms out, Rhys, although to be fair that is an easy mistake to make. It's probably a good thing Rhys has offered his metal arm up, though, because while Krieg is perfectly capable of being gentle, that's only something he's learned how to do recently, has yet to develop anything remotely resembling finesse, and is not something he would think to apply to this particular situation anyway.

So he wraps his fingers tight around Rhys' metal wrist once it's offered up and heaves, pulling him upward with a grunt of effort. Once he's got him about halfway up the cliff face Krieg shifts his legs around, bending his knees and getting his feet under himself to stand up straight and pull Rhys the rest of the way up in the process.

For one golden, shining moment he's standing tall and dangling Rhys over the edge of the cliff like a skinny noodle effigy. It's only for a moment, though, and he steps back, away from the cliff, and lowers Rhys - ostensibly - to his feet. One of the Skorupis has come along for the ride, clinging to Rhys' pant leg. Casually, Krieg nudges it away with one foot and slides it back over the ledge, where it tumbles downward to rejoin its fellows.]

You should watch where you're running.

[ Rhys more or less screams when all of a sudden he's being whisked upwards, and it's to the point where he can feel his feet dangling from the floor. For a terrifying moment or two, he's sure that Krieg is going to dump him right back down. Because he's a psycho, and that's what he's bound to do. There's no right or wrong, it just is.

But his feet meet the floor, and instead the psycho is up on his feet, looking down with him, but not with the same murderous intent he's seen in the others. Rhys is alive! Somehow? Should he be surprised over this?

He blinks, his head cocked to the side. ] I, I...

[ So this guy just saved him. And yeah, he's got a point. Rhys should really watch that. There's a squeal from one of the Skoupi's that falling below, and that's enough to make him snap back to reality.

Maybe he's kind of screwed up here. Like, a lot. ] S-Sorry. I, uh...

[There's a part of him that's still waiting for the guy to piss himself, faint, or possibly both. So it's definitely a surprise when instead of doing either of those things, he stammers out an apology.

Krieg blinks and tilts his head curiously to one side as he regards Rhys. When it looks like the guy's run out of steam or inspiration for whatever it is he's trying to say, he shrugs, and growls:]

Don't get all mushy on me.

[Then he squints, his gaze moving from Rhys' face to his knees and ankles.]

Did you get stung?

[Because boy howdy, if the answer to that question is an affirmative, Rhys is in for some more fun times, very soon. 8')]

W-who? What, me? Being mushy? Psh. I don't even know why mushy means. [ No mush! No mush period. Rhys puts on a brave face and nods, but it kind of doesn't work. So he'll just shrug and look back down to the ground, because he's not sure where else to look anymore, to be honest. This whole encounter went from really scary to really awkward. Alarmingly quick.

Rhys sighs, observing his poor, beat up pants and the equally beat up boots. ] I mean, a few times yeah. I did just fall into their nest and everything. [ He shrugs. Do the little bites ache? Well, yeah. Duh. If you got bit by a little tiny ant or something around here or back home it hurt like a bitch. Bug bites were always bad, and of course, the Pokemon ones couldn't be any better.

There's something about the way Krieg asks, though. Rhys opens his mouth, because now he's nervous. ]

...Why?

[ rip ]

Got stung once! Whole leg swelled up like a varkid pod.

[He laughs, a quiet unhinged little giggle, at the memory.]

Thought it was gonna burst like one, too! Hurt worse than a chemical burn!

[If he sounds way too happy about that memory, well. He, uh, kind of thought it was pretty great.

So, yeah. Rip in pieces, Rhys.]

[ Rhys looks over to his arm. Uhhh, yeah. It looks swollen. So he's been poisoned or whatever, and his arm is probably going to be in severe pain in a matter of minutes! Rhys just wants to go lie down and go back in time so this never, ever happened. Oh god. Is he looking pale? Because Rhys feels like he's going pale right now. ]

What do I do?! There's gotta, there's gotta be a way to stop it, right?

[ His arm tingles. ]

What do I do?

[Woah, there, buddy, suddenly you don't look so good?]

They fixed my leg at the monster hospital.

[Pokemon Center. It's called a Pokemon Center.]

It only had a little gangrene!

[And that was a joke. A Krieg joke. His leg didn't have gangrene.

What a guy, huh, Rhys? 8')]

My, my arm is tingling. I can't breathe right. [ rhys ] I'm way too far away from a center and my arm's gonna fall off, and I can't, I can't feel anything! My arm's numb it's entirely numb!

[ He's being way too overdramatic now, and that only gets worse when Krieg says he had gangrene. He makes a very exaggerated, very dramatic choking sound before clinging into the psycho like his life depended on it. ]

Can't, can't breathe...

Edited 2016-10-12 20:01 (UTC)

[Okay, first this guy was practically pissing himself, then running away in a blind panic, and now he's clinging to Krieg for dear life?

Athena's friends sure are weird.

He blinks rapidly a few times as he tries to process the sudden melodrama, and grumbles faintly before responding.]

Nghh...You'd better keep breathing, 'cos I'm not gonna give you mouth-to-mouth.

[Athena will probably be mad if her friend dies on Krieg's watch, though, so he should...probably do something. If the guy's skinny noodle legs won't get him all the way to the Pokemon Center, then Krieg will carry him.]

Monster hospital's not that far.

[Give him the option to walk first, though.]

Nooo nonononono please, please don't...[ Oh my god, he's getting dizzy. And his arm is going numb!? It kinda like tingles when something falls asleep, and you got the pins and needles thing going on. That's exactly what Rhys is feeling, and oh god he's not liking it. He's literally freaking out right now.

Please someone stop him. ]

Oh, oh, ohkay. Let me, let me try to walk. [ And so far, so good! Rhys just starts forward, holding his fleshy arm a little close because it's still kind of tingling? Maybe somehow, he's immune to this stuff. If all he has to deal with is tingling, then he can make it okay! ]

So...when does it start, you know. Hurting?

[Well, so far, so good! At least the guy is walking under his own power, even if...]

That's the wrong way.

[Krieg takes a few steps in the correct direction, and raises an arm to point for emphasis, before walking on and leaving it up to Rhys whether or not to follow. He doesn't walk too fast though.

Murder Chicken, at least, has slightly more pity for Rhys and takes point by his side, occasionally squawking encouragingly. Rhys will probably need the emotional support when Krieg answers his question:]

Mnngh...Dunno. In a few minutes?

[ Rhys almost chokes when he hears that. ] Just...just minutes?

[ Okay, so even though he's survived on Pandora for like, a week or so, doesn't mean he can tolerate pain all that well. A stubbed toe he can take fine, but anything else is seriously asking for some tears. At least Murder Chicken is supportive!

In the meantime he's totally lost feeling of his human arm. Which, uh. Really sucks! ] And, uh, how much closer until we get back to the town...?

[ Rhys doesn't want to know the answer, because he has a feeling it'll be a bad one. ]

[Jeez, Rhys, what's with the third degree over here? You're asking the wrong guy if you want solid time estimates.]

City's not far! Just a short walk!

[Short for Krieg, anyway.

Murder Chicken makes a sound of disagreement at his trainer's assessment, however, and Krieg turns around briefly to squint at his companion before returning his gaze forward in the direction he's walking.]

Ghng...More than thirty, less than sixty. Probably.

[Numbers are not his strong suit.]

[ Rhys is pretty sure he's going to start crying here soon. Murder Chicken makes some kind of bagawk sound, and Krieg changed the whole 'short walk' thing to over thirty minutes. To make a long story short, Rhys is totally screwed. ] Ooooh, god. Ooooh my god. Can, can we just-?

[ Rhys cuts himself off short, because there's a tiny, tiny pinprick of pain in his arm. Is this it? It's got to be it. Rhys is already near tears because this is going to be awful and agonizing in every sense of the word, and why can't he just have gotten stung to death in that pit? Why?

Rhys had his arm willingly removed. Along with an eye. And he had a bit of computer stuck in his temple, along with the wiring and extra stuff that led into his brain. And he's worried about a little sting from a poison pokemon. ]

It hurts. What, what do I do?

Edited (typo begone) 2016-10-20 04:41 (UTC)

POUNDS FISTS ON DESK ACTION

SLAMS HANDS ON TABLE YES GOOD ACTION

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