As the day went on, bodies had been cleared out of the Big Stadium. The FLF members that were still alive were escorted to prison.
A particularly livid rebel was struggling to break out of the grasp of two cops stuffing him into the back of their cruiser. If he wasn’t cuffed, he probably would have.
“It’s all true! It’s TRUE! You take people’s rights away! You kill people too! Murderers, MURDERERS! LIAR-“
They managed to close the door on him. He banged at the window and then just stared at them, bitter and devoid of compassion.
The cops got into the car, avoiding the eye contact of the prisoner behind them. As they drove off, one whispered to the other.
“
I think he might be nuts.”
“
Shh! He’s not deaf.”
“
…not just angry, I mean nuts.”
“
I’m getting that vibe too.”
“
Think they’re all nuts?”
“
Maybe he saw too many comrades die. Maybe there plan turned to s**t. Who knows.”
“
Well you gotta be nuts when you take on the World Gov-”
The rebel screamed and slammed his shoulder into the door, busting it open. He rolled out the car and onto the street, frantically sprinting away as soon as he could. The cruiser screeched to a halt and the cops looked over their shoulder, watching the rebel turn a street corner and disappear.
“Nuts.”
The cruiser pulled a u-turn, sped up, and turned on the siren.
~~~~~~~
Salieri hadn’t done much of anything since leaving the Battle Institute. She got water from a vending machine on the sidewalk and wandered Nimbasa without aim. Occasionally she’d stop to sit down, but she couldn’t bring herself to do much of anything else. Her efforts to walk away from the cloud of dark feelings in her mind were futile. Sal wanted to be alone. She felt sick.
Some people were giving her stares. Sal knew it was because they weren’t sure if they were recognizing one of the kids who fought the FLF on international TV. The one who got her Pawniard crushed. Before they could confirm their suspicions, Sal would hang her head low and head to less populated areas.
Hours passed by, and now the sun was starting to set. The sky was slowly getting darker, and less people were to be seen. Sal’s walk had taken her all over, and had no end in sight.
BZZT BZZT BZZT
Sal stopped and checked the C-Room. She stared at the screen for a short while, then walked on. Eventually, she would simply show up to Henrietta’s house. Texting was just another form of conversation, and Sal didn’t want that at all.
She saw the park down the street. She had been there that morning with all of her pokemon. Now she saw Wayne sitting in the distance with his dad. And his pokemon. All of them.
The water bottle swished into the garbage over Sal’s shoulder as she took a sharp left
into an alleyway. Now she was heading in the direction of Henrietta’s house. There was still a talk they needed to have. Besides, there was nowhere else to go anymore. No pokemon center, of course. If there was, she would have-
A crazy eyed, ragged man stood at the opposite end of the alleyway, holding a pipe in one hand and the jagged end of a broken bottle in another. He sneered at the Battle Girl. “I saw you…inside…you’re the enemy.”
Sal stopped. She tilted her head slightly, scanning the man in front of her to gauge how he’d attack her. Clearly unstable. He’d be easy to strike because of it. She had a few bruises, but her Aura was fine. It had barely been used in the stadium.
There was no one else around.
The rebel took a step forward. “Just as bad…as the rest…you think what you do…is right? You failed…”
Her eye twitched. She took a deep breath through her nose. The rebel ran at her. “All you do…is FOR NOTHING!”
He roared and swung the pipe at her head. Salieri ducked it and lashed out kicks straight at his legs.
Crack. That was one broken leg.
Crack. That was two.
He fell screaming, but still tried to stab at her midsection with the bottle. Salieri knocked away his hands, disarming him, and held him up by his face.
His growled at her but didn’t move to strike. Even he knew it was useless now. Salieri narrowed her eyes at the rebel. Her breathing was slow. Hair covered her eyes in shadow as she quietly spoke. “How could you honestly believe…that you weren’t so weak…”
Her grip tightened, her breath sped up. “Arrogant…a perfect fool…” The rebel grit his teeth and tried to free her hand from his face to no avail. “No one to blame…but yourself…”
She took a step back and let go off his face-
“IDIOT!”
-only to pummel it a moment later. He was flung into a wall, and Salieri rushed up on him with another punch. And another. And another. Each one was punctuated by a guttural, loathing “IDIOT!”, until it devolved into furious screaming.
The rebel didn’t take long to pass out. His blood splattered from his face with every blow, swollen and beaten. Yet the punches didn't stop. They weren't as hard as she could throw them: if they were, he'd be dead by now.
Somewhere inside her, Salieri knew he was unconscious. And although the back of her mind told her it was enough, her body kept pushing forward. The haze that had been hanging over her before grew thicker and thicker, and her instinct grew more and more fierce.
By now, his face didn't resemble anybody anymore. Which was okay with her. Salieri hadn't been paying much attention to how he looked before. He was a punching bag to her, and now he looked a lot more like one.
BZZT BZZT BZZT
Salieri’s fist stopped, inches away from her victim’s unfortunate face. Her x-transceiver continued to ring. There was a little blood on the screen, but she could still see that the caller ID said Moze.
The rebel’s breathing was wheezy and irregular. Salieri lowered her fist and sat back on the ground, panting without looking away from the man.
BZZT BZZT BZZT
She rubbed the sides of her head, lightly slapped herself on the face, and then answered. Voice only.
“…
Sal? Salieri? Can you hear me?”
“Hey Moze,” she answered, her voice ringing with strained happiness.
“
There’s like no reception here. I’m at the west gate of Nimbasa, they won’t let me in. The guards said-”
“We’re in lockdown.”
“
Yeah. Is Liuye okay?”
A quivering gasp escaped from her lips. Sal covered her mouth to contain it. “Yeah, yeah he’ll be fine. I-I sent him home, so he’ll be okay there.”
She looked to her left down one end of the alley. Still nobody there. “
Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Of course. I’m fine.” She looked to the right and saw a little girl standing on the sidewalk, staring at her and the broken man slumped against the wall. Their eyes met, and neither of them moved.
It was one of the little kids she mad met just that afternoon, which seemed like days ago now. She had taught them how to do handstands at the Gear Station while waiting for Wayne.
“
…really?”
“Y-yeah. Moze, I’ll call you later, okay? I have to go.”
How long has she been there?The little girl hadn’t moved a muscle. “
I know when you’re lying to me, See-Sal.”
Without taking her eyes off of the girl, she ended the call.
You’ve lied to me before, too. Slowly, she stood up. Gulped. She reached out for the girl. “It’s okay,” she told her gently.
The girl bolted away, practically tripped over herself to flee. Salieri was frozen in place, dejected by someone running away in terror. From her.
A police siren sounded off down the street. It was getting closer. “s**t. s**t.” She took some trash out of the dumpster and coated the rebel, partially obstructing his body. “s**t.”
The Battle Girl sprinted away towards Henrietta’s house.
