Snippet #2778817

Crimson's grin grew slightly wider and he looked away from the Diancie as if he was sheepish. Her passive-aggressive comment filled through the air like an announcement, but he took it in stride. He had heard many similar comments before.

"Well, I do tend to be the odd one out," he explained, "Kinda like you. It's not too hard to find someone who leaves such a massive...uh, footprint...everywhere she goes. And you were on the TV anyway. So I think everyone knows who you are and what you're about."

As he pointed towards the cameras, he took note of the actions her henchmen were taking, grabbing hold of every spectator in the area and wiping their mind of the events to follow. He had to ponder the queen's choices here. She had made herself public on every news facet in Ruula, grabbing the eye of anyone who wanted to know what was going on and captivating her crowd with her fearsome power. She wanted her name to spread like wildfire throughout the world. She wanted fear. So why was she wiping the minds of these onlookers? And why was she doing it now? Did she perhaps see him as a threat to her position of power?

He dismissed the idea in his mind. It was fine. It was as much an advantage for him as it was for her.

At the same time, he noticed the fallen human...the Lucario's companion. He had gotten up on his own accord, no longer writhing nor screaming. His face was deadpan and stoic. His eyes were enshrouded in malice and cruelty. And he bowed to her presence, pledging his allegiance with her. What did intrigue him was the Lucario's actions immediately following, taking up his side and standing by him, even though the morality within her was screaming not to. As much as his heart sank by this action, he did understand why she had done it. He could sense the anguish in her eyes, the tears of frustration she was fighting to hold back. The bond between a human and a Pokemon was extremely strong, after all.

Just please don't allow yourself to be corrupted by this shadow energy...he thought in his head as the Diancie asked him what he was doing here capped off with a carefully worded threat to punctuate her sentence.

"So then, let's not step off on the wrong foot," he calmly said, "I am here to talk about a few things, mainly. I'd prefer not to fight, seeing what you've done and what you could do. However, I am also aware that this whole shindig is an invitation to combat, and if you'd wish nothing more than to showcase your power against me...I guess I can hold my own for a little bit. Maybe give you a better fight than you've had previously. But then again, it seems like you're already packing things up, ready to move on to the next step in building your Ruulan Empire. So I leave it up to you, Melaine."

He stood there and stared right into the eyes of pure malice, an energetic vibrancy dancing around in his eyes. The orange-yellow glow from the flame behind him contrasted against the purple flashing lights falling around them, giving him his own air...his own courage.

"Do you wish to talk, or do you wish to fight?"