The other side of Training By Marlix Part 1 Author's Note- I would like to thank Topaz and Aaliyah for all their help in this fic. In fact they made me write it so... yeh. Marlix Pokemon? What's the use? I mean really. Sure if you're a good enough trainer you can become a master but what about the other ninety-eight percent of human beings and what happens when you become a master? You spend that large paycheck they give you on your Pokemon. So would someone please tell me the point? People I know who are trainers live on the road. That's not what I would call a settle job. That's why I've never picked up training. Well I guess I should describe myself if it's really necessary. I'm 17 pretty tall 6'0 feet (that's 2 meters). I have brown eyes and spiked hair with frosted tips. My name is Marc but I prefer Marlix. Now that the boring crap is over I can continue. I had a Pikachu once, when I was little, besides the occasional thunder shocks he was decent. We even got free cable if I moved his ears right. Then I traded him for $500 bucks and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. What can I say I was hungry and the reception was getting fuzzy. Ever since I've been Pokemon-less. I got my c.d. player out of the oak-wood drawer from my damp room. Then I ran down the stairs waved good-bye to my mother. I walked out of the door and pass the un-mowed lawn. I walked down the block and stopped at the bus stop. I looked up and saw the grey clouds billow in. I wished the bus would hurry seeing as how I needed to get to my job preferably dry. Ten minutes passed according to my watch. I decided to check the times of the stops in bold letters it stated: Attention: MTA transit will be repairing certain buses and trains. The following buses and trains will run on holiday schedule: 1, 28, 16, and 41(buses) 4, D, C, 5, and 7. The following buses and trains will be cancelled: B12, and 26 ... "Aw, crap!" I thought aloud seeing as how the 26 was my bus. I started walking when the first drop pelted off my leather jacket. I groaned and quickened my pace hoping to walk the 5 blocks before it really began to pour. *** Singe Humans... are probably the stupidest creatures that Mother Nature put on Earth. They think they can come around and take a stupid red and white ball and trap us Pokemon in them. The nerve. Some say it's cosy I say it's suffocating. If you stupid humans haven't figured it out yet I'm what you call a Pokemon. More specifically I'm what you call a Charmander but my name's Singe. Many of you trainers have tried to capture me but them and they're puppets were sent to a burn center or worse. It was a chilly day. I really don't belong in this area but I couldn't live with a family who thought it was ok to be stuffed in a ball and be ordered what to do. So I left and didn't follow the normal migration route. It's autumn here and I could see the smoke appear when I exhaled. I looked through the dense forest trees to see the cloudy sky covering the warm yellow sun. A rattata ran by so I scorched him for fun. He ran away snarling at me. Have you heard the saying what goes around comes around? Well it's a basic truth I learned when the rain began to fall on my head. I heard my tail sizzle when a drop hit it. I ran for cover. The drops fell faster and harder. The trees thinned as I ran from soft soil to a hard floor I think you call cement. I was getting woozy and I knew if I didn't get dry I would faint and if that happened and my flame went out... I ran along not really knowing where I was going. Wham. Everything went black. *** Marlix Something ran into my leg causing me to trip. I stumbled a little forward before my foot slipped off the curb onto the street. My body fell and my face smashed into the wet curb. I saw a light flame flicker before I blacked out. "Hi sleepyhead," Through blinking eyes I saw a slim young woman in a green pull- over sweater that still managed to show her curves and light blue denim jeans. She had black hair with red streaks and green eyes... "You should really be more careful. I managed to haul you in my car and get you here but that bruise is going to stay there for another week. Your charmander faired far worse but he'll be all right. You should be more caring for your Pokemon. Leaving him out in the rain only an idiot would do that." I groaned then said " Whoa, whoa, whoa. What Charmander? I don't own any Pokemon and..." I looked around the room to see a few white beds some computers and a red little creature with a red flame on his tail. " That thing! Almost killed me. Where am I? And who are you?" "Oh I'm Jewel and you're in my basement but I prefer to call it my lab... Uh, yeah anyway. Are you sure that this Charmander isn't yours?" "What do you mean am I sure? What kind of stupid question is that? I would know if I owned a freaking charmander or not!" "Well maybe I should revise that question. Are you sure that that Charmander doesn't think you own him?" "Well... I don't know I don't speak pokenese or whatever the hell it's called." "Oh that can be solved." She said heading toward a closet I had missed when I looked around. She brought back what looked like a necklace. That had what looked like a solar flare drawn in it with a small blinking red dot. "What's that?" I asked as she put it on the Charmander's neck. "Oh just a translator. When he wakes up he'll be able to tell us his side of the story." I looked at him as he stirred then looked at Jewel. "Hey can I get your number?" She shook her head and sighed exasperatedly. *** Singe "Uh... what happened? I feel like a Snorlax fell on me." Wait a second was that me. Was that smooth almost liquidly voice mine. Did I just speak in human tongue? "Oh my goodness. It's my worse fear! I've become human!" "Well I'll say that would be an improvement." I looked to the voice that had spoken and pointed my red finger accusingly, "You! You ran me over and performed some freaky ass surgery and made me human..." "Excuse me little guy. There was no surgery we just put a translator on you so we could understand you. What's your name?" The lovely voice almost made me swoon when I realized she was human too! "It's Singe cuz if you mess with me you're gonna get burned." "That's big talk for a lil guy like you." The human that almost killed me had insulted me. He had the nerve to insult me? I let a small ember attack out that scorched his hand and rolled around laughing as he jumped back and fell over the bed behind him. I went up to the decent human and asked if it was still raining she told me that it was a predicted thunderstorm. "So that means I'm stuck with you stinky smelly humans." "I wouldn't call me stinky if I was you." "So then what should I call you? Stupid?" "Don't make me slap you." "Want to get burned again." "How about you just..." "Guys!" the sudden yell startled me and I fell from the bed and toppled to the ground but before I cracked my head I righted myself. Ok! That's a lie I was saved by you humans but just because one of them helped me once. Don't make him good. I tried to take the translator off and found that my hands couldn't reach the latch behind my neck. After several attempts I stopped the humiliation. If I wasn't already orange I would have been flushed. I took cue from the girl and sat then quietly. I found out that her name was Jewel and she was eighteen or whatever that means and that the other human's name was Marlix. I thought that was a stupider name the any Pokemon one out there but I let it go. So maybe not all humans were bad... *** Marlix "Is it ok if I use your phone and computer? I need to call my mom and then phone the office to tell them I'm not coming." I asked Jewel. She nodded and told me that there was a phone and a computer upstairs. I walked from her basement up the rickety staircase into a small living room. The carpet was red and there was a loveseat in the corner and a fairly large television across from the couch. In the other corner I found the computer. It was an apple so it had one of those transparent backs that had five or 6 colors. Jewel had this one in red. I started to see a trend: Red carpet, red couch and a red computer. She must of liked red. On the white wall behind me next to the basement door there was a, can you guess the color, phone. I picked up the phone and called my parents I told them I was at my friend's house. After I called work I went to the computer and signed on. Jewel had AOL so I simply connected on my screen name. The familiar guy came on and said his piece. I checked my mail and saw the e-mail: Marlix Hey! How've you been? Guess what? I just won the Orange Islands. Do you know what that means? I'm a master! I know you don't care much about that stuff but I still think it's the coolest job in the world. Anyway now that I'm done with the Orange Islands I'll be heading toward Johto. So maybe we could meet up? At Professor Elm's lab? I need to go get my Johto license from him anyway. If you get a Pokemon I'll teach you a thing or two. Alright my plane leaves in 3 hours. So I gotta go. I'll be there tomorrow at ten a.m. I'll meet you at Elm's office at eleven. K bye. Kalika I didn't write her a reply seeing as how she had sent the letter four hours ago. Oh well I guess I'll see her at Elms. I went downstairs and talked with Jewel and Singe awhile. He had a lot of ideas and Pokemon weren't as bad as I thought. It soon got late and seeing as how I had to get from Goldenrod to New Bark Town I needed my rest. I soon fell asleep. *** Jewel "So...do you have anything to eat?" "Well, uh, yeah upstairs in the kitchen." I answered hesitantly, "You hungry?" "Yup." And without further comment, Singe, the little orange charmander leaped off his bed, waddled across my laboratory floor and up the rickety stairs. Okay fine, maybe it wasn't much of a lab at all, maybe it was just a dark, dank little basement cluttered with a few examination beds here, and a computer there - but I considered it a lab and that was all that mattered. "Hey! Wait a minute! You can't just waltz into my house and pig out on everything I own! I'm an overworked, low paid university student - not a bloody food court! Hey Singe ... Oh boy." I bounded across the ill lighted room to the foot of the narrow staircase. "You mess anything up, you clean it!" An annoyed grumble sounded from the other side of my lab. "Why can't a guy have some ... peace around here? I'm trying...to catch my Zs." Marlix rolled around uncomfortably on one of the crumpled examination beds he was lying on; half of the white sheets were twisted tightly about his legs. He issued a low grunt before he promptly fell asleep again. "Well excu-use me, O Great One. Do I even hear a thank-you for picking up your sorry ass and letting you crash at my house?." I muttered, moving to turn off the light switch before I left the room and locked the bugger down there till morning. Yet before I did, I took a quick glance at his sleeping features. He had a smooth unblemished olivine face, illuminated beneath the dirty light bulb, which hung precariously from a multitude of wires falling from the mold-infected ceiling. His facial structure was interestingly angular, but not unattractive, far from it. His now ruffled chestnut brown hair had been spiked in the latest craze around Goldenrod, and randomly bleached strands highlighted his sense of style. The nasty bruise he'd received when his head hit the sidewalk was the only thing that marred his features, it was as big as my clenched fist in diameter, swelling across his forehead and already I could see other colours merging with it. Yellow, purple, pink, blue... It was almost like a rainbow. He had a highbrow line, which led down to a well-defined nose and cheekbones. His jaw seemed strong and firm, hinting to none of the usual stubble I'd seen in other guys of seventeen. What were the colors of his eyes again? I couldn't remember. Brown I think. A strikingly bright brown shining with mirth and cheekiness, it had seemed that I hadn't even seen him for one moment without a brash little grin planted on his face. His chest rose gently up and down from beneath his white cotton work shirt and brown leather jacket. The baggy dark blue denim jeans he wore were another example of his fashion sense keeping up with the times. "Damn it!" I cursed, as I realized he hadn't even bothered to take off his sneakers, and was even now marking the sheets with ugly dirt stains. "I should have just left him on the curb." I told myself. Ha, who are you kidding Jewel? You wouldn't have the heart to do something like that. Damn conscious. I'd found Marlix and Singe sprawled unconscious in a bodily heap on the sidewalk while I'd been taking the long tedious drive back to my house from a hard day at school. It'd been late, in the afternoon, about seven o'clock, the stars madly glimmering like diamonds in a sea of ebony high overhead. No one else had been around to help, so I'd pulled over and heaved them both into the back seat of my crimson mazda. Well, what did you expect me to do? I couldn't just leave them there by themselves in the dark. Oh, sorry, I forgot my introduction didn't I? Like I said, my name's Jewel. Jewel Ganesh. Why the ridiculous name? Well, my parents are a bunch of new-age tree huggin' hippie folks. They were strange at times; in fact they were very strange. Often blabbering on about the spirits of the land and the reincarnation of Bob Marly, but they were cool. Despite their peace loving (more like dope smoking) ways, bright attire and the hundreds of pendants wrapped around their necks, they were interesting people. My Dad had had hundreds of occupations in his life, from a bricklayer to a Captain in the defence force. My Mother's history was just as prestigious, she'd started out as a contortionist in a travelling circus, and her last job, what was it? A marine biologist down at the Orange Islands, studying the different types of sea mammals who depended on the seaweed for nutrition. After the two had married, they'd decided to become farmers to 'balance their spiritual karmas and learn the ways of the land'. Not that they did much, hell no, if it hadn't been for the action taken by my older brother Sunny (Ha! His name's worse than mine). The farm would be in ruins. The two of us had toiled endlessly on the land, coaxing plants and entire fields to grow rich in wheat and corn. We even managed to grow a vineyard of grapes that we sold at the markets. We'd made a fortune. Sunny had become a successful businessman by the time I'd turned eleven, owning his own franchise and fruit store. But my parents weren't all that bad, who else would have sneaked me out of school in the middle of the day because my grade six teacher had 'negative energy'. Phff, yeah right. They just didn't like her because... They just didn't like her. So they'd smuggled me back to the farmhouse and proceeded to home school me. They turned out to be very intelligent and capable teachers and I'd won a scholarship at Goldenrod University. A campus, which was considered to be the best on Pokemon Island. I'd taken a liking to Pokemon anthropology and theology, taking the courses at the Uni and beginning my project on the Alphi-Iad, the ancient civilizations of the rift valley countries who worshipped rare and powerful Pokemon, but who disappeared mysteriously thousands of years ago, hence the lab, it was a quiet place where I could do my research. So here I was, a little farm girl living in a run down house with only swollen textbooks for comfort. Crash!!!! I swore, "Singe, what the hell did you do this time?" I flicked off the light switch, plunging the room into choking darkness and raced up the stairs, shutting the door behind me with a resounding slam. My red sneakers thudded lightly on the red carpet as I hurtled across the dimly lit living room. I seriously needed to change the light bulbs in this house. Rushing passed the red sofa and the red phone and computer I appeared breathless in the kitchen, leaning against the crimson spotted counter for support. Yes, for your information, even my kitchen tiles were red. Got a problem with that? It just so happens I have an infatuation with the color red. It's a vibrant shade full of volume and life. The most beautiful red I'd ever seen was the crimson at eventide, or the scarlet hue at dawn. There was nothing quite like it, and it was one of those things that I missed about the country. Other than the endlessly sweeping plains of green sloping hills, the open blue sky and the awesome freedom felt when you're walking alone through a field of growing corn, it was the sunsets and sunrises my heart yearned for the most. The smog filled city of bustling cars and putrid filth of littered streets did little to comfort me. I gaped in horror around the kitchen. "What on earth did you do?" My plastic cooking utensils were scattered all over the floor. The bowls, plates and cups were strewn in disarray. The refrigerator door hung wide open, breathing a cold wind into the air. What little food I'd kept in there was now splattered and dispersed around the floor, counter tops and walls of my kitchen. The charmander himself stood amidst the mess, the cheesecake I'd intended to have that afternoon for dessert smeared around his mouth. "Wif if preffy gwoodf." He said, the cream in his mouth hindering his speech. He licked his paws with a long pink tongue; his flamed orange tail wagged happily to and fro, "Yum." "What did you do to my kitchen?" I murmured, still in shock. I picked my way through the mess; it was as if King Kong had dropped in to say hi. I turned back to Singe, glaring at the orange-scaled Pokemon with rage, well, he wasn't quite King Kong, but it was damned close. Mentally, I counted to ten, to calm my anger, but it was all I could do to keep from strangling the charmander there and then. I took a breath and said slowly, "You are going to clean -" "This place is disgusting, why are you just standing there? Clean it up! It's your house after all." I gaped in surprise, "But you -" "Hey, you wouldn't happen to have some burgers would you? I'm starved." "Oh, they're in the fridge - No! Wait! You can't eat my food!" "Oh here they are," He stuffed the entire Big Mac into his incisor filled mouth. Chewing it between his carnivorous teeth. "So what were you saying?" "Is there anything else you'd like with that, Sir?" I snarled sarcastically. If he didn't watch it, I'd do something nasty. "Seeing as you're already eating me out of house and home, why don't you help yourself to something else in my limited kitchen!" "I feel like some toast. Do you have toast?" I groaned, leaning back against the food-splattered oven. I buried my face into my hands, grumbling, and "They're in the cupboard on the right." "This cupboard?" I looked up, "Yeah that's the one. No! Don't step on the cutlery!" Smash!!! "Hey!! That's my mother's China -" Crack!!! "Holy shit!" "Found it!" In pure hot infuriation, I launched myself at the stupid Pokemon, growling in hatred. "You dumb charmander! Where's your goddamned pokeball?! I'm gonna make you go into a pokeball if that's the last thing I do!" My fingers curled around his neck, and with a maddening scream, I lifted him off the ground and shook him like a milkshake. "What are you doing?" Singe grinned, "Boy, that tickles!" "Uuuagghh!!" "Um, I hate to break up such a lovely gathering but... what are you doing?" I stopped, turning towards the source of the voice. I gazed over the counter and across the living room. Marlix stood in the doorway of the basem - laboratory, scratching his dishevelled hair and squinting at us with a look of confusion. "I'm starved, anything to eat?" "Hiya, Stupid!" Singe waved. "NO!!!" I screeched. "NO ONE IS EATING ANYTHING!!!!!!" He raised an eyebrow, "What happened to you? One minute you're all cutesy cutesy and nice, and now you're, well, now you're.... bitchy." My shoulders sagged dejectedly; there was no way I was going to win. I sighed, "Find yourself something in the fridge." I dropped the charmander and sauntered into the living room, throwing myself onto the couch and burying my head tiredly into a cushion. "Why me?" I mumbled. Marlix walked casually into the room, chewing absently on a chocolate bar, "You know, it's ten o'clock at night. I should be sleeping by now. But somebody not mentioning any names cough, Jewel, cough, made so much noise she kept me awake." "Tough." I muttered. "Would there be any chance you'd be able to drive me to the airport tomorrow so I can fly down to New Bark Town? I'm supposed to meet a friend down there." The nerve of some people! I pitched the pillow at his stupid face. He had quick reflexes, ducking just in time, and it sailed harmlessly over his head, thumped into the wall behind him and fell to the ground. "I can't believe it! Y-you make yourself comfortable at my house, pig out in my kitchen, now demand to be driven to airport in the morning! I'm not your bloody nursemaid!!" "I wasn't demanding, I was just asking. Anyway, what's a nursemaid?" He replied lightly. "Don't frown so much, you'll get wrinkles and your streaks'll go grey from stress. Now that'd be a tragedy." "Will you stick to the subject!" "Do you humans always scream so much?" Singe whined, waddling towards us, apparently finished with the kitchen. "Stay out of this Matchstick or I'll sell your fire-spurting ass to someone who'll whip and teach you a lesson." Marlix threatened. "The name's Singe, and you wouldn't even be able to lay a dirty finger on me. I'll cook you before you know it." "Bring it on -" Smash!!!!! "What the hell was that?" Marlix swore. I wasn't quite sure, but it'd came from upstairs. Where my bedroom and bathroom were. "Stay here while I check it out," I murmured, sliding off the couch and heading towards the wooden staircase in the next room. "I'd let you go up alone but... come on Marlix." "What?! I'm not going up there - oof!" Singe wrenched him by the bottom of his t-shirt and tip toed after me. Dragging a protesting Marlix across the floor, "You can't let her go by herself!" "Yes I can!" I signalled both of them to be quiet with a frown. Then treaded cautiously up the stairs. I'd had a burglar in the house once before, it had been a galling experience to come home and find almost everything worth having in the place stolen or damaged beyond repair. I halted at the head of the stairs, looking for the stand that had all my sports equipment in it. Namely my baseball bat. "Looking for this?" Marlix held up my new steel Louisville slugger, he held it in both hands, swinging it with such ease I realized he must of played baseball often. "Keep it." I mouthed, and continued to where I thought the noise had come from. Eeeeeerrww!! There! In the library! The noise had come from the library! I quickened my pace; heading to the third door and swinging it open so hard the door handle banged against the wall. My nose filled with the smell of old books. The hundreds of novels I'd collected over the years, I'd also brought with me when I'd left home. I had everything from fantasy to non-fiction, and I was proud to say that the shelves of books reached up to the ceiling. Marlix leaped into the darkened room first, steadying the baseball bat in front of him, listening intently for another noise. "Stealth mode on" "Cut it out!" I whispered at him. Nothing sounded. It was a complete eerie silence. Singe followed suit, lighting up the darkened room with his tail, staring intently into the shadows for an intruder. I took a step into the room, my hand raised to flick on the light switch - Whoosh!! A slim black figure ran soundlessly across the room, creeping up behind Marlix unaware. I opened my mouth to shout, but a huge hand clamped across my face, blocking my vision and only a muffled garble broke the stillness. I heard a shout, and a scuffle broke out. Someone screamed something I didn't understand. I felt the heat of a flame against my body, a wail of agony and a loud thud against the ground. Cold fear rose in my throat and I fought to release a scream, but something hard and metal whacked into my stomach. The wind exploded from my lungs and my body went limp with pain. My assailant struggled to keep me standing under the weight. Dots appeared before my eyes and my head spun into a dizzy whirl. It seemed the place was getting warmer, I groaned in agony, my stomach throbbed, I don't think I'd ever felt so much pain in my life. Tears welled in my eyes and a wet towel with a sweet smelling scent was placed roughly across my mouth. Mmmmmm. I heard the sound of a flickering flame, and through half closed eyelids I noticed a fire. Who could possibly be having a barbecue at this hour? I lapsed into unconsciousness. * * * Something painful and tight was digging into my body. Absently, I moved to try and get into a more comfortable position. I found with increasing alarm, that I couldn't move at all. What was going on? I groggily pulled open my eyes and immediately froze in terror. Memories of what had happened earlier flooded my brain. I breathed deeply to keep me from crying out; my heart beat rapidly at an uncanny pace and the hairs of the back of my neck jolted up with fear. Perspiration trickled down my face. I found myself in an unknown environment, a rope wrapped tightly around my body, preventing any possible movement. I was propped up, leaning against the wall. It was a small room with no windows and dirty beige coloured walls. A single lamp in the far corner appeared to be the only source of light; the floor was carpeted with a thick oriental rug. There was a oak door on the other side of the room. This room had been made to be completely soundproof. I could've screamed my lungs out and no one would have heard me. "Oh good, you're finally awake." I blinked, "Marlix?" "Yours truly." "What's going on? Where are we? Where's Singe?" "How the hell should I know?" "Then where are you?" "Behind you." I twisted my head, he was right, it wasn't a wall I was leaning on, it was his back. The rope tied around me was also twisted around him. "You OK?" "I don't know." He murmured, "This rope is screwing up my leather jacket." I rolled my eyes, "We could be about ready to die and you're worried about looking good. You're unbelievable." "Just keeping up appearances." "For who? The Grim Reaper?" "Heh! Who says The Grim Reaper ain't a chick?" The door suddenly swung open with a sonorous boom. Two men dressed in entirely black suits stepped into the room. They stared at us with cold swarthy eyes, then whispered something into each other's ear. I heard snippets of their conversation, which made me pale considerably. Goosebumps rose up on my already existing goose bumps. "Look," Marlix whispered, "do whatever they want okay? If they want to, uh, you know, do it. Don't hesitate. Our very lives may depend on it." "Oh that's funny," I hissed, "Considering one of them just said you have a nice tight butt!" "What?!" "Silence!" One of the men bellowed, he had dark tanned skin, and his black bushy eyebrows gave him a wild insane look despite his Armani suit. I shivered; there was no doubt in my mind that they'd kill us in an instant. But why hadn't they? And where the hell was Singe? I hoped he was all right. "Are you Jewel Ganesh?" The man barked. I nodded reluctantly. "And who is your friend?" I paused, I wasn't quite sure if I should tell them his real name, what if he was the cause of the trouble? But then again... "Well?" "It's uh, M-" "Mel Gibson!" Marlix blurted quickly. I suppressed a choke, and after recovering, "Uh, yeah... Yeah, that's his name." The man raised a bushy eyebrow and turned to his partner. Miming something, the man soon left the room. Leaving the three of us alone. I breathed heavily; something bad was going to happen. It wasn't intuition, just plain, common sense. The dark skinned man walked casually towards us, "Do you know who I am?" he asked in a thick accent. "Don't know, don't care, but I suppose you're going to tell us anyway. Right?" Marlix sneered. "Mr Gibson, my name is Vincent Virtuoso." "Doesn't ring a bell -" "I am the head of the ring of Teutons, the most feared warriors of the Alphi-Iad civilization." "The people who disappeared a millennia ago." I whispered in shock, "But that can't be! You guys are supposed to have died!" Marlix snickered, "Hear that? You're dead, nada, zilch, nothing, corpses." The man ignored him, continuing to circle around us, "Mr Gibson, we are offering you a job. You are the most well versed people in Alphi-Iad theology and anthropology. We need you to track down the almighty Wing of the Triad Conclave. It is a bird Pokemon of unmistakable aura and feature. We want you to find it, and bring it to us. This creature is the symbol of our heritage." "What? I'm no -" I elbowed Marlix in the ribs as best I could, to shut him up before he said anything else. "Why us?" I asked. "You needn't know that information." "We damn well need to know that information!" My friend shouted, "You beat and tie us up, then take our Pokemon. Now you want us to do something for you without knowing who we're gonna work for? Mr Vucko -" "Virtuoso." "Whatever. How stupid do you really think we are?" Vincent slowly shook his head, and in one fluid motion grabbed a concealed gun from beneath his black jacket and aimed it at our heads. It's ugly black barrel seemingly glinted with an evil light. "But on the other hand," I said quickly, "Anything you want, sure no problem. No problemo." He smiled, though there was no humour in his eyes, "I knew you'd see it my way." He put the gun away, and I found myself relaxing, breathing a sigh of relief. "Now I'll leave the two of you alone. Goodbye Mr Gibson, goodbye Miss Ganesh." He turned, opened the door, and left. Closing it behind him quietly. "What was that all about?" Marlix wondered. "I have no idea." Just as my head lolled to the side, and my eyes became heavy with weariness, a thundering BANG boomed across the room. "Shit!" The door screeched off it's hinges and the smell of smoke filled the my nostrils. Suddenly it burst into roaring flames and, to my utter surprise and astonishment, Singe leapt through the blaze. "Wahoo! You guys owe me big time! Those idiots left me unguarded, now I'm free. When we get home, you're going to have to go to the kitchen and make me some dinner in return for saving your human butts!" His molten scales glowed in the flickering light, he opened his mouth and a thin spurt of flame streamed towards us, and landed hungrily on the ropes. Setting them alight instantly. "Jesus! You trying to save us or kill us!?" Marlix leapt up, madly batting out the flames and tossing the rope to the other side of the room. He winced, looking down at his melted jacket, "Damn it, now it's totally screwed." He glared at the grinning Chamander, "You did this on purpose!" "No time for that! Come on, let's get outta here!" I shouted. Already I could here alarmed shouts echoing in the hallway, and the sound of pounding footsteps heading towards us made me anxious to get out. "This way!" Singe hurled himself through the burning and beckoned us to follow. The flames had swiftly made their way from the door and onto the walls, licking hungrily at everything they touched. The room would become hotter than a furnace in a matter of moments. I glanced worriedly at Marlix. "Ladies first." He grinned. "Thanks." I muttered, and threw myself into the fire. I landed on the other side with my hair and clothes smoldering, after rolling on the ground to put it out, I dashed after the charmander and Marlix, who, to my irritation, hadn't been touched by the fire at all. Lucky bastard. We found ourselves running for our lives through the vomit coloured hallways of a run down house. We passed a window, and the feeling of surprise and relief overwhelmed me. Surprise, because it was daybreak, the sun just peeking over the rooftops of the buildings, and relief because I'd recognised familiar buildings and apartment blocks, we were still in good old Goldenrod, not in the middle of no where. We spun a right corner and appeared in a cluttered, dust covered living room. The front door only meters away. Freedom seconds within our grasp. Before we could take another step, a woman with short pink hair rushed at Marlix, using the initial surprise to knock him to the ground. He fell with grunt, his body smacking hard onto the floor. The woman lashed out, her nails scratching frenziedly at his face, all the while screaming insanely. "I can't do anything, they're moving about to quickly I might burn Marlix as well!" Singe cried, and then paused in thought, "Actually, that wouldn't be much of a big loss." "Don't!" I warned, bolting for the door. Grabbing the doorknob I struggled to open it. But as predicted, it was locked. Damn. "Burn it down!" I ordered. "My pleasure." The little charmander opened his mouth and roared out a ball of flame that engulfed the entire door. I turned back to Marlix, who was trying his best to fend off the girl without actually hurting her. The two rolled around the floor, neither getting the upper hand. Suddenly another two people appeared from the same hallway we'd come from. And some others advanced on us from another doorway. "Look, I hate to ruin a pretty face but -" Marlix's fist smashed against the woman's jaw and he shook her limp body from his and got to his feet. "Hurry it up Singe!" I screamed, "We've got company!" Marlix gazed solemnly around the room, "And she was hot too." "Oh shit." I groaned, another group of six or seven guys in black suits appeared from the furthermost door. Smoke filled the room as Singe burned away. A man with a small black beard leapt at me from the side, I elbowed him, spun, and connected my fist with a right hook into his face. Another man leapt at me from behind, my knees buckled from the weight and I grunted in exertion, elbowing and basically scratching anything within my reach. Fists pounded across my head, sending me into an agonized spin. I struggled to shake the guy off, but another man, with bloodshot eyes rushed at me. He sent a powerful kick into my chest. I felt my heart stop, pain burst through my tired body and my breathing ceased altogether. I gasped, desperately trying to get oxygen to my lungs. I crashed to the ground. My face smacking into the carpet. More and more smoke filled the room and almost everything and everyone disappeared in the billowing atmosphere. The man who'd kicked me reached into his jacket. There was a flash of steel and I realized it was switchblade. Its knife's edge sharp and deadly. He grinned, and with a swift motion whipped the knife down. I screamed, struggling against the person who held me down. A blur of brown! Marlix's fist rammed into the knife wielder's head. He grabbed the stunned man by the collar and gave him a vicious right hook. Sending the man into oblivion. I marvelled at his rather perfect timing. I was interrupted when I felt my head being wrenched from behind sharply, ripping my hair from their roots. I screamed again. With a blast of flame Singe let go a howl of fire and the man leapt off me, clutching his face and screaming madly in pain. I pushed myself to my feet, Marlix helping me keep my balance. "You okay?" I merely nodded. "Hurry, this smoke can only hide us for a limited time. If those others manage to find us. We're dead." He turned to the charmander, "Jesus, how long does it take to burn down a freaking door." "Not long." Singe whacked his tail against the burning mass and broke through to the other side. I leaned on Marlix for support as we clambered outside, not trusting myself to hold my own weight. Pain throbbed through every inch of my body. We were on a deserted paved street. No cars drove by, and the quietness of a usually noisy city was eerie. I breathed in the cool fresh air. It was very early in the morning and I wondered briefly how long we'd been imprisoned. Around us tall apartment buildings and houses were silent, their inhabitants still fast asleep. "They're outside!" Came the cry, echoing up the street. My brown haired friend swore and practically heaved me up onto his shoulders and pounded across the footpath. He stopped at the nearest car, a green sedan, and roughly set me down. He picked up a rock that lay in the gutter, and with a sudden cry, smashed the car window. He cleared away the broken glass and swung open the door. After he'd unlocked the car, I managed to clamber into the backseat without assistance and the charmander hopped in after me. Marlix took the driver's seat. "I don't know how to drive, but I do know how to hot wire." He grinned into the rear-view mirror. I shook my head in amazement, "You're unbelievable." "Hurry up! They're coming!" Singe screamed. "Shh! Don't rush a professional." Marlix ripped away the underside beneath the steering wheel and hurriedly fidgeted with some wires before the car suddenly roared to life. "Yes!" He exulted, "See, I told you so." He was right, he couldn't drive. He put down the clutch and simply slammed his foot down on the accelerator. We raced down the street, the cityside a blur outside our window. "Aaaaaaah!!!!" "Aaaaaaah!!!!" "This is my first time driving! God I'm awesome!" I wasn't quite sure if I was better off being with him, or with the guys back there. But one thing was for sure; there was no way in hell I was ever letting him drive again. BLAM!! BLAM!! Gunshots ripped through the air. "Put your heads down, they're shooting at us!" Marlix shouted. I crouched, Singe did like wise, grumbling; "Humans are stupid. Did I mention humans were stupid?" BLAM!! BLAM!! CRACK!! The back window burst as a bullet tore into it. Glass showered over us and I shut my eyes tightly, tears threatening to seep through the closed lids. "Hang on!" Marlix cautioned, and he furiously spun the wheel right as we headed around a corner. There was a screech of tires and the smell of burning rubber filled the air. At one stage, I was certain the car was going to fall onto its side. We zoomed on. "Woohoo!" Marlix whooped, "God I'm good!" I sighed a breathe of relief and clutched Singe's hand in mine, just to make sure I wasn't having a bad dream. I let a small smile creep onto my face. Thank god it was over. We were safe. "Hey, check it out. I'm over the 100 mph (km/hr) mark! How neat is that?" On the other hand... * * * A crowd of people had gathered around the smoldering ruins of my house. Shit, I still can't believe it had been burnt down in our first struggle against the mysterious people in black suits. I stared numbly at what had once been my living room. Gone. "I'm sorry." Marlix put his hand on my shoulder, concern showing in his brown eyes. His face was stained in soot and the white work shirt he wore was completely filthy, his leather jacket, much to his agony, had been abandoned earlier. I guessed I looked no better myself, perhaps worse. The night had taken its full toll on me. Singe appeared beside Marlix, his big blue eyes showed concern and sympathy as well. "Sorry." I smiled faintly, "No worries, i-it's okay. It really wasn't your fault." The sun rose across the heavens, ready for another autumn day. A chilly breeze had developed, and snaked around us. It seemed to be laughing. The time I'd guessed was about six thirty to seven o'clock in the morning. The three of us had arrived at the place where we'd expected my house to have been to find only a commotion of fire-fighters and people all trying to put out a massive blaze which had engulfed the house at night, and was even still roaring as fiercely as it had when it had first started. The fire had begun when we'd been kidnapped, apparently caused when Singe had tried to fend off the assailants with a flamethrower in the library. I only partially remembered the fire from the previous night and it took all my strength to stop from bursting into to tears. Everything, my research, my books, my computers, everything was gone. The fire had been successfully put out ten minutes ago and I wondered brokenly through the ashes. "Jewel? Jewel is that you?" I turned, Marlix beside me wondered, "Who's that?" A young woman wearing a violet coloured nightgown raced frantically towards me. Her long orange hair streaming behind her. She had a beautiful heart shaped face and smooth full lips. Her green eyes were astonishingly bright and full of worry. "Lita?" I cried. "Oh Jewel! Thank God you're okay! As soon as I heard that it was your house that had been burning I rushed down here right away! I thought you were dead! No one could find you and we all thought the worst! Thank goodness you're all right." She threw her arms around me and gave me a vicious bear hug, which would have almost cracked my ribs if she hadn't let go when she did. "Man, you look awful! What have you been doing? Where have you been?! Oh I'm so glad your safe!" I smiled, though I think it came out as more of a grimace than anything else. "Thanks Lita." "And who might this young fellow be?" My mate from school asked, turning to Marlix with a seductive look on her face. "I'm -" "Stupid." Singe cut in. He grinned impishly as Marlix kicked him in the ribs." "My name's Marlix. Nice to meet you." He said oblivious to my friend's flirtatious behavior. Lita batted her eyelids shyly. "It's a pleasure." I gave them a look of repulsion. Singe stared at the two in curiosity, "What are they doing?" I snorted, "Something human." "Oh, I guess that explains it." "Oh crap! I totally forgot!" Marlix turned to me, "Look, I was supposed to meet a friend of mine at - " "New Bark Town, yeah I remember." I finished for him. "Yep, I'd better get going. Kalika'll bite my head off if I'm late, seriously. I'd rather take a thousand bullets and get trapped in a dozen burning houses than face up to her temper." He turned and raced towards the smashed up car we'd borrowed not stolen, simply borrowed. Singe waddled after him, "Where are you going?" Lita turned to me; her green eyes seemed to glow. "Where did you find him?" "Unconscious, on a curb, in the dark, and quite frankly, I should've just left him there." My friend's eyes stared longingly after him, "He's so...impetuous." I followed her gaze, "Yes. Yes he is an idiot." ***