pinnedbangs | 7th Struggle [Action/Video] New Bark Town ... Again

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7th Struggle [Action/Video] New Bark Town ... Again

[SUN. BRIGHT, SUNSHINEY SUN. It's so bright, it's almost as bad as getting blinded by snow. But that lasts for only a minute before the gear swings into focus on a face.

A very familiar looking face. Or maybe he wasn't familiar at all and those bright blue eyes, wild black hair, and somewhat sharp teeth were a new and unusual sight.

That person with the familiar looking face had an equally familiar looking Poochyena that had, lovingly, sunk her jaws into his skull. He's dealt with worse before, but he obviously wasn't too happy about his situation.

The Poochyena on the other hand, looked absolutely thrilled to be gnawing on her trainer once more.]

She's been doing this for fifteen minutes... [Fifteen minutes before he was just getting kicked out into New Bark and realizing that he had not dreamt up his time in Johto.]

... How do I make her stop? I can't feel much of my head anymore.

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...Um.

[Holy shit what is it with her and running into people that are being chewed on by their Pokemon lately.]

Put her back in the Pokeball?

[It seems logical enough.]

[Huh. She looked like a less fabulous version of the un-gothic lolita he used to know. Emphasis on the less fabulous part.

Not that there was anything wrong with less fabulous-ness. Just look at Izumo.]

She hates it when I do that. It's like ... Telling someone to be quiet mid-conversation. Except it hurts.

[Yeah less fabulous is about the sum up of Maka.]

But you hate it when she chews on you. Have you actually told her that it hurts when she does that or have you just...been letting her do it?

[...This guy is an idiot, isn't he.]

[Hey, what was with that face?! Poochy's growling a little more. But she is content.]

I never said I hated it... And it's not like I'm letting her use me like a chew toy!

[...It was the "Idiot" look, wasn't it.] Poochy's got really good agility too!!

...Um, what does her agility have to do with it?

[Yep, it's the "idiot" look, though not necessarily out of condescension so much as...confusion.]

So are you saying after a while she's just going to stop? Because you could have said that instead of asking all of us how to make her stop. Or get her an actual chew toy.

[At least boys being stupid is universal. Comforting??]

It means that she's hard to dodge! When she comes at your face like she did to me, it'll be hard to get out of her way!

She's supposed to... I'm saying that she hasn't stopped. And I've tried all the other things and I have no idea what to do this time. I tried getting her to fight other pokemon, I tried food, the nearest PokeMart's in Cherrygrove... I get that she's sad or happy to see me, but I might need the Jaws of Life to get her off!

[Why can't he just understand Pokémon talk? Why couldn't she just aim for his arm like always...

HE WAS GOING TO GO BALD IF THIS CONTINUED... Maka, no, how is that comforting???]

[Because if boys are stupid universally, she doesn't have to reexamine that particular line of thought, obviously.]

Sorry...are you sure you haven't tried everything? Like I said, you could just ask her to stop, or even return her to the Pokeball until you get to the next town. Yes, it might bother her, but what's a little bruised ego compared to having your head intact?

Well, I haven't tried reading to her. [Seriously. He hasn't tried that.

But it doesn't make him feel any more . . . patient . . . ?]

And I told you, I'm not doin' that! It's not gonna make her any happier for me to stuff her back in there! She's just gonna go for my head the next time I let 'er out.

[Wow it's like a lightbulb went off in her head.]

Reading! Gosh, why didn't I think of that? You could read her a story or sing her a song to settle her down, like a little kid, and when you get to the next town you can get her a doll to chew on.

I mean, Pokemon aren't exactly like human children, but then they're not exactly like pets either, maybe she'd appreciate it?

[It is patient, isn't it? Or was it patience? Either way, Rin doesn't have much of that. ... Not like it matters since this girl was suddenly all smiles and talking about the evils of books -- ...

...y'know, that wasn't that bad of an idea. And that enthusiasm gets him to smile (finally -- she was freakin' him out with her ...selfness.).]

Y'know, that's actually a pretty cool idea! Poochy would love to hear a story, right girl? [She growls in response. They never read books together before, why was he considering it now. But Poochy wouldn't deny that she would like to hear a story. Preferably the one about the stupid pokemon trainer whom she still followed because he was always good to her. ...But still stupid.

Rin (attempts) to think for a moment, keeping one hand on Poochy to hold her steady.]

Too bad I don't have any books with me. ...And I don't sing. [That was in the far, far past. Hmm... what do...?] I couldn't see Poochy as a pet, and when she and I went for the badges, we didn't feel like kids either. I think we're more like partners, y'know?

Ah, I don't either, my musical abilities are complete crap.

[That doesn't seem to deter this line of thought, however.]

I tell my Pokemon stories from back at home! Or stories that my dad used to read me...[she sounds a little wistful there. Wow did she really have a moment where she kind of missed her stupid dad? Gross.] She'd probably like whatever you told her about!

[It's reassuring, at least, that most of the people she's run into aren't treating Pokemon like tools or mindless animals.]

You know, I don't think I would know how to treat a pet even if I had one. My little monster cat wasn't exactly like a pet so much as a roommate, and these guys I have with me right now--I've actually raised a few of them from eggs, so...the bond with them feels a lot different than what you'd call a pet.

[Rin listens as attentively as he could for a guy with a dog munching on his skull. Pigtails sounded as if she was pretty cool with her dad.

Which leads him into other thoughts about dads and stuff, which will be promptly locked away to examine at a much later time.

For now, there is pokemon.]

I guess I could go with something like that. ...I wasn't too honest with Poochy last time I was here. [Not that he was honest with anyone, but... having to do that was pretty lonesome.] Tellin' her stories of my home should make her less angry with me! Y'know, I never really thought about it before, but she might really like it!

[Shark girl had loads of ideas! It must come from reading books! But then, why didn't she wear glasses?

Hmm... One of those things is not like the others... It was nice to hear that she felt such a great and maternal(???) bond with her pokemon but...] Whaddya mean, "monster" cat?

[She doesn't wear glasses because her vision was miraculously not wrecked by reading books all the time, Rin.

Also if she's shark girl does that make him lava boy.

.............No let's not.]

I mean monster cat. [Maka he was asking you to explain.] That's what she called herself, or rather a "bakeneko." I wasn't sure if I could believe that, although she is able to change into a human, she just called herself a cat that has a lot of magic when we first met her.

[She should give Yukio tips on how to avoid looking like a complete nerd. Not that she didn't have an air of Bookworminess around her, but she didn't have that same bleary-eyed nerd gaze.

He's lava boy. Blue lava boy.

...At least not for another hundred threads or so. Or sooner.

Rin still has no clue what she even means. Magic cats? Human forms? Bakeneko?! What was this junk, a storyline for a manga?!]

The hell? You sure she's not a demon? [Probably should have worded that better...] I have a nekomata but he jut makes himself bigger, not turn into some guy.

Well, reading about it, a bakeneko is a demon, so it's interesting that she'd readily admit to something like that. I say monster cat because that's what bakeneko essentially translates out to.

[Yeah Rin, she did research, how come you haven't?? ~~Also it's from Ghost Chomper in YanYan magazine, haven't you read?~~]

But demons aren't exactly a common thing in our world, some people don't even know if they exist or not, so either she's an endangered species of some kind or she really likes messing with people. I wouldn't put it past her.

Oh, right. It is a demon. Cat thing.

[Girl, he doesn't read anything unless it had pictures. Lots and lot of pictures. And he barely paid attention to all that translation stuff! ~~GHOST CHOMPER DOESN'T HAVE ENOUGH DRAMA FOR HIS TASTES. Yukio likes it better since it has all those gags in it.~~

But wow, the way she talks about demons is strange. Not strange bad, just... like she didn't really see demons as a threat.]

So ... besides the bakeneko, you've never really met a demon. [. . .] In your world.

[Because if she did, she wouldn't have sounded so... flippant.]

[troo, though p sure yukio would have objected to all the boob jokes at the end. just too much gag for his tastes]

[To be fair, Maka doesn't really see anything as a threat, or if it is, it's a challenge to overcome.]

No. There was a god that became so corrupted we started calling him "demon god" and sometimes when humans start eating other humans' souls, their forms change to something monstrous, but I've never met what's traditionally considered a demon.

[A beat, she sort of cocks her head at him.]

I'm not saying they don't exist in other worlds, I already talked to a boy that seems to know demons personally. He told me not to judge them all as bad. Pretty insistently, actually. [In that he said it in tandem with reading is bad, which is a fallacy, but whatever, boys are dumb.]

[~~BUT YOU KNOW YUKIO LIKES HIS BOOBS BIG AND BOUNCY~~

"Demon god" just stirs up an unwanted memory. Rin's frown returns with a vengeance. She was from a different world. There was no way they were one in the same. And besides, Kuro was a god at ne point too. But humans eating human souls? That's trippy and it sounded pretty damn demonic to him.

Shit, he didn't expect to talk about demons now - especially not so early on. ...But, if there were people who knew about demons, maybe it was stupid to bother not talking about it.

FORGET IT. THAT WAS TOO MUCH THINKING FOR ONE DAY.]

Never met the guy, but he's right about demons. A shit-ton of them are bad but there's about as much who are good. Even "demon gods" can vary. [Will it help that Rin is also against books and almost all forms of studious manners?]

[And very suddenly, a dark expression crosses Maka's face.]

The kishin is not a variance.

[She says that so stonily, with such conviction that she hardly seems like the same girl that was happily chatting about books before. This is a girl that's seen things, fought monsters and faced down fear itself, somehow coming out alive.]

He ate the soul of everyone that was ever close to him, had a chance to be close to him. He ate gods in a bid to make himself feel stronger, more in power, to infect the world with fear. Gods have variances, I can accept that demons have variances too, the sole god that was given the title of "demon god" does not. Asura is the incarnation of fear, born from Death, and that's all he intends to be.

[Clearly we're having a confusion of terminology here.]

[But then the moment passes, and she looks...tired.]

Gods are real in my world, they're not a construct of "faith." Nobody would apply the term "demon god" lightly.

[DID SHE JUST --

IS SHE GETTING MAD?? AT HIM?? THE HELL DID HE DO? SHE WAS THE ONE WHO MENTIONED DEMON GODS FIRST. WHAT THE HELL WAS UP WITH THAT FACE -- but he knew there had to have been something up. She had seen something.

Maybe. Just maybe. She was like him, in that regard. Nah, no maybes. She had seen something. Didn't matter what, but it was something bad.]

The ones from my world vary - there's a god who became a demon because he lost everything important to him! He's a nekomata, a respectable one! He only wants to help out and to have people to care about! He has nothing to do with -- with a demon god.

[And with hardly any hesitation -- ] But that's Kuro. There are demons who just spread horrible things wherever they go. They're like demi-gods. ...Then, there's the demon god who takes everything away. He's only considered a "god" among demons because of the kind of monster he is. [A beast, much like himself -- ] He's a god among monsters.

[He really doesn't want to talk about this right now. Or ever. And yet, here he was. It almost seems like a physical discomfort for him to even speak about it, almost as if he were trying so very very hard to hold himself back. Because it wasn't like he could -- yeah, fuck it. He's not about to hold back the snarl that entered his voice, not about to consider mincing his words. That option left a long time ago.]

Demons are real in my world, damn it, and a demon god isn't just about Death or being an incarnation or fear! He's not satisfied with just that! He doesn't bother getting close to people since he just wants everyone to suffer. He wants the whole fuckin' world and to make the shitty parts shittier and it doesn't matter who you are, even if he did know you or not - if he does, it's only so that he can have "fun". I don't know about your Asura, but he sounds like an asshole either way! But don't assume that I'd take demon gods lightly either!

[There wouldn't be a chance for him to suddenly ignite but he could already feel as if the fire was burning behind his eyes, that he was getting out of hand. Flames or not, he still had emotions to deal with. Emotions were easier (sometimes) to deal with than flames. Neither could easily be extinguished.

Ah, terminology. Such a tricky, tricky thing.]

...[Honestly, boys and their egos. She's not angry with him, the memory of Asura and how Crona is still trapped within him--]

Your world, my world. They're not the same.

[Big "duh" there.]

If there were demons in my world, I don't know that, they're gone now. Blair's the only one I've seen that matches up to traditional demon qualities, but it's possible she's been around for so long, hiding in her little house in the woods, that she forgot about being remotely demonic.

It's also possible that the gods wiped out the demons, out of fear that something like what Asura is would happen. But then...Lord Death created Asura from his fear, he thought banishing his fear would make him a more orderly god, but that...

[Didn't happen.]

It's not that I thought you'd take it lightly, you can't take something like Asura lightly when just being around him makes you see halluciations of your own death. But demons aren't a thing where I'm from, I wouldn't know about any demons that are on par with gods, they don't exist. Just the same, you wouldn't know about the fear and horror that comes from when a god starts using his power over you to manipulate your emotions and devour your soul.

...He's way more than an "asshole" he ate one of my best friends, and he's going to eat the rest of us if we fail to kill him.

Yeah, I know. It hurts to lose someone and you can't do anything to save them.

[She was doing it again, underestimating him. As if he didn't understand or didn't know. Well, maybe she wasn't doing it on purpose. Still. He wasn't going to talk about this anymore.]

What's your name?

[She doesn't say anything more about it, since he changed the subject.

But at "you can't do anything to save them" she raises her eyebrows.

It's a "who said I can't?" look.]

Maka. You?

[After getting literally beaten beyond recognition, Rin was ready to keep training before he went around boasting about what he was going to do to a certain demon god's unholy ass.

He gives her the "maybe in your world" look.

Though it looks silly on him, especially when combined with the "Maka must be an American name" look.]

Rin Okumura.

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