A Bond in Dark Times (A Fic by Me and RJ)
Make Me Lose My *Pant Pant* 
Reply With QuoteOkay guys, after quite some time, I'm making my return to TPM. Just for this fic though... I may repost LoaM, but since nobody read it, why bother...
Well anyway, here's the same Chapter 1 from Josh's perspective. Read and enjoy.
Chapter 1 - For Richer or Poorer
Josh Seraph glared at the river beside which he was walking. A swarm of Magikarp and Goldeen swam in it. Looking at the fish swim peacefully took his mind off the things he usually thought about.
“That’s what I’m doing this for,” Josh said to himself. “To get away from things. To make a new life for myself.” His life, he thought, had traveled through a seemingly endless tunnel ever darkness ever since the incident six years ago. There was only one thought that had gone through his mind during the last six years, the one thought that seemed to drive him, to take control of him. It was because of this thought that he had lived the way he did. He could have easily sought out help. Find a family to take him in. After all, his mother couldn’t possibly take care of him. And his father… his father, as great of a man as he one, was the reason he had lived like he did. Living on the street, stealing for food, training, and awaiting the day he would one day face the menace that had taken his soul, it seemed, away from him. Only one thought kept him living like this.
Revenge.
It was a just a word, just a series of sounds to symbolize something. Yet it was the though of revenge that kept him on the street, away from other people, even his own mother… though with her state, it wouldn’t matter anyway.
But Josh had finally realized that he wasn’t going to get vengeance by standing there and thinking about it. He had to leave the place he had lived in filth for the last six years, go out, and look for him. But that wasn’t the only reason he had wanted to leave.
Josh felt as though his entire purpose in life was revenge. Ever since the incident six years ago, his only thought was revenge. He didn’t go and find a foster family to live with, he didn’t look for help. He just moved out onto the street, stealing his food so he could eat. He rarely slept, most of the time he trained, trying to improve him skill and muscle, for the day when he would face him.
It seemed as though the thought had completely took over Josh, turning him into something dark, something that he himself, six years ago, would not recognize. Every day his lust for revenge got bigger, and turned him into something more unrecognizable. By the time six years had past, he had realized that he needed to get away from it all, before his hatred did something he could not take back. He needed to clear his mind out.
Luckily, not long after this new thought, he saw an advertisement in a newspaper (there was only one person in his hometown of Pace City that still ordered a newspaper… he never read it, though, so Josh always took it, looking for a story that might help him find the one he was looking for), that read:
"Professor Evergreen's Lab. Beginning Pokemon Trainers of Neo Wind City may come downtown to retrieve their beginner Pokemon." Josh then saw the date, and knew that it wasn’t far.
This was the opportunity Josh had been waiting for. A Pokemon journey. He remembered when he was younger, his father had several Pokemon, and Josh loved to see his father battle with them. He knew that going out and training Pokemon would pull him away from the darkness he seemed to be living in. Plus, he would be able to go out and look for him. The Black Phantom. The person that had killed the man Josh had admired most: his father.
Josh remembered the day all too well. Six years ago, when Josh was ten, he was walking with his father, at night. His father, Angel, was a cop, and one of the best. He was respected greatly by his fellow cops, and feared by any criminals in Pace City. It was because of him that Pace City was one of the few crime-free cities in Stagione, especially considering the high crime rate going throughout the region. But Josh was walking with his father one night, when he told Josh to run and hide. He did as he was told, hiding behind a wall, when a man wearing all black, including a black mask, appeared as though from nowhere. He had talked with his father for a little while, but eventually shot him, and then disappeared just as mysteriously as he appeared. Josh only had a few minutes to talk with his father before he died.
Since then, Josh’s only goal, only point in life, was to find the mysterious masked man, and to bring him to justice. The problem was, the Black Phantom was thought to be only a myth, an urban legend about a masked criminal wearing all black that would appear in the middle of the night, kill you, then disappear without leaving a trace. So when Josh tried to tell police of how his father was killed, they didn’t believe him. But that seemed to be the last time the police tried to do anything. Following Angel’s death, crime began to sprout up throughout the city, and there was so much of it that the police just didn’t bother with it anymore. The popular thing was drugs. Most of the people living in Pace City now were all druggies. His mother, because she was so saddened by Angel’s death, had taken to drugs… it was because of this that Josh was forced to live on the streets. There were druggies on the street, too, but most of them left Josh alone (though Josh, during the past six years, had started to smell liked rugs and alcohol), because most of the time, Josh would do nothing but train, whether it be practicing martial arts, doing pull-ups, or anything to make him stronger, all the while he was thinking of revenge… though they were stoned most of the time, the people of Pace City knew enough to not get in his way.
But that was going to change. Now he would get away from it all, the druggies, the training, the lust for revenge… he was going on this journey to get rid of it all. He needed to clear his mind. Revenge, especially if you have it for a very long time, can transform you, and it seemed to do that with Josh.
But Josh knew that he would still want revenge, as much as he tried to push it aside. He had been thinking about it for too long to just wash it away. Still, he had to try.
When he had finally reached Neo Wind City, he looked at it, and decided where to go. He needed to visit this Professor Evergreen. He entered the city, with the hovercars all whizzing around him. He tried to cross the road as soon as the light turned green, and didn’t get a very good response.
"Get out of the road you dumb kid!" A large cab driver yelled out of the driver seat window. Josh just gave a quick smirk and crossed the street.
He saw a jogger, and decided to ask for directions. “Excuse me, can you tell me where to find the Neo Wind Pokemon Lab?” The jogger looked at him, with his long, brown, dirty hair, and his strong smell he got from not showering in six years, and walked on.
“Looks like I’ll have to find it myself.” Josh continued walking, until he passed a very large school. “Must be a private one,” Josh noted. He saw there was some kind of game on. Lacrosse, it looked like. Ever since Pace City was filled with crime, most parents moved their children out of the city, kind of surprising, considering most of Stagione wasn’t exactly the happiest place, but he supposed anywhere must have been better than there… he wouldn’t know, he had never left the city until now. But since there were no more kids, the schools in Pace City shut down, and likewise, there were no more sports games. Josh took a closer look at the game.
There were two teams, as in most lacrosse games: one team was wearing red and gold with “Hillside” written on their jerseys, and the other wearing blue and black, with “Ghaven” written on it.
"We can't win this!" a red boy on the Hillside team yelled to his fellow players. He was panting hard and his freckled face dripped with sweat.
"Some captain you are. You don't even believe in us!" A jet black haired boy replied. He was rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand and clasping his lacrosse stick in the other.
"There's thirty seconds left on that clock Marco. You expect us to pull of a miraculous play in that amount of time?" the red-head shouted approaching the teen and getting in his face.
"Watch it Jacob. You don't want my family buying out your family's company now do you?" the other boy grinned back. He turned his head and spat before glaring back into the teen's blue eyes.
"What's your plan?" The red-head, apparently named Jacob asked. The other boy, apparently named Marco, pushed his lacrosse stick forward.
"Give the ball to me." He smiled. "These fancy pants assholes won't dare touch the child of the richest family in Stagione."
Jacob rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say…" He sighed and broke the meeting by walking off. The Hillside school returned to the field and the ref blew a whistle, signaling the ball to return to play. Marco seemed to be looking in the crowd.
Jacob gained control of the ball within the first few seconds of the face off and immediately passed it over to the Marco, who tossed the ball over a Ghaven player's head and back to Jacob. The two neared the net and Marco received the ball. He was about to shoot when Josh saw him glance over at a chubby Hillside player. He seemed to be thinking for a few seconds as Ghaven’s defensive men rushed in on him. Jacob was yelling the whole time.
Marco flung the ball just at a defenseman stick checked his stick. The ball flew into the air and the chubby boy noticed this. Jacob's eyes went wide. Josh took a closer look at the chubby boy, and he looked as though he had never caught a ball in his life. However, the ball landed square into the confused boy's Crosse who stared at it dumbfounded.
"I caug…I caught it!" the chubby boy giggled.
"Shoot it!" Marco yelled over the defensemen who were turning to race at the boy who now controlled the ball. The chubby boy pulled his lacrosse stick back and clumsily flung it forward. The crowd watched in amazement as the goalie dove but missed and the ball sailed straight into the net. The timer rung and Hillcliff was declared the winner.
"He actually did it! The fat slob actually did it!" Jacob shouted with disbelief. The students rushed to the chubby and began to congratulate him. Marco slowly walked towards him as well. A Ghaven defenseman approached him.
"You could have scored that…" He said wiping away some sweat from his forehead. Marco bit his lip and shrugged.
"It was someone else's turn to shine…"
Josh was instantly reminded of his father. Doing something like that, letting somebody else have a chance to shine, was something his father would have done. Josh decided he wouldn’t hang out long after that. He left, and kept on walking the way he was going.
After doing about half an hour of walking, with people looking at him in his disgusting state, he finally saw a laboratory at the top of a hill, surrounded by trees and ponds. There were Pokemon running all around. “Must be it,” Josh said to himself. He approached the lab, and saw that there was a gate, which was locked and protected by a number code.
“****,” Josh said. Just then, a man appeared right next to him, causing him to jump a little. “Hello? And who might you be?” The man was very weird looking, with crazy purple hair, and glasses that resembled goggles. He had a plastic bag in his hand that was filled with Pokemon food.
“My name’s Josh Seraph. Are you Professor Evergreen?”
“Why yes I am.”
“Well, I have a question I need to ask.”
“Well, just come on in!” Professor Evergreen punched in a four digit number, and then led Josh up a series of steps, until they got to the laboratory. He led Josh inside, then dumped the Pokemon food on the table, and threw the bag aside. “Well, what was it you wanted to ask me?” He didn’t seem to mind the fact that Josh was fifty, and smelled horrible.
“I saw an ad in the newspaper not too long ago that tomorrow, you would be giving out Pokemon to new trainers in Neo Wind City. I’m not from Neo Wind, but I was wondering if I could get one too… I need to get out, become a trainer, take my mind off of things.”
“Why of course! There are only two trainers coming tomorrow, and three Pokemon, so there will be enough for everyone. I’ll just have to type up your license tonight, which isn’t a problem, since everybody chooses tomorrow anyway, and you’ll be set. Just tell me your name and age.
“Josh Seraph, sixteen.”
“Very well then, I’ll have it for you tomorrow.”
“Thanks,” Josh said, then began to leave.
“Wait, can you help me with something?” the professor asked.
Josh had other things to do, and didn’t feel like helping him out at the time, but he did just help him out, something nobody had done in six years, and even though he was strange, he was also nice, a human characteristic he had only seen once in the last six years, when the boy at the lacrosse game let the chubby kid take the winning goal. “Alright.”
Professor Evergreen took Josh over to another table, where there was nothing but a single, green leaf. “Do you see what this is?”
“It’s a leaf,” Josh replied, with some hint of anger in his voice. This was what he needed help with?
“Yes, but what kind of leaf?” Professor Evergreen asked him. “If my suspicions are correct, this could be a leaf from one of the two trees!”
“The what?”
“The two Legendary Trees, Inteverg and Merirch. It is said that those two trees can control the temperatures, making it hot or cold. Inteverg controls the cold, while Merirch controls the hot. It is even said that these two trees formed the basis for Stagione.”
While he found this interesting, Josh still thought Professor Evergreen was a lunatic. “It’s just a regular leaf, it didn’t come from a Pokemon,” he told him once again.
Professor Evergreen examined the leaf closely. “Ah, so it is! Well, thank you for your time. But before you go, take this.” He took a pen out of his pocket and then scribbled a four digit number on a piece of paper, before handing it to Josh. “This is the code to get you into here tomorrow. Be here at eight AM, sharp.”
Josh pocketed the paper, and then began to leave. Along the way, he picked up the plastic bag that Evergreen was holding the Pokemon food in, and then turned back to Evergreen. “Hey, do you know where I can find something like a convenience store?”
“Hmm… the closest one is a while away. It’ll take you about two hours if you walk. Would you like me to drive you there?”
“No, but could you tell me how to get there?”
Evergreen gave him the directions, which were complicated, but Josh got it all down in his mind.
“Well, see you tomorrow, Josh.”
Josh left the laboratory, and began to follow the directions that Evergreen gave him. On the way, he tried to clear his mind of everything. It was dark, but that didn’t bother Josh. Where had had come from, night was a lot scarier than this place, and he wasn’t bothered by that, so nothing from here could bother him.
After a good time had past, he could see the convenience store in the distance. He picked up a rock from the ground. He hated doing this, but he was hungry, and he obviously had no money.
He walked into the store where he saw a boy trying to call someone on the phone. He then recognized him as Marco, the boy from the lacrosse game. He sighed, remembering the boy’s good deed earlier, then began. He quickly took different kinds of food and put it into the bag. Once it was filled, he went up to the counter, and saw the bulky man behind the counter bent down to tie his shoe. Marco was still dialing. Josh then saw a bunch of cans stacked up behind the counter. He took the rock out, and then threw it hard at the stack of cans.
CRASH!
Josh’s aim was perfect. It hit one of the cans, and caused the rest of them to topple over. The bulky man then got up from tying his shoe. “Oh no.” he then turned around and started to fix the cans. When he was sure the bulky man’s back was turned, and he couldn’t see him, Josh walked out of the store.
He hated doing it, stealing. But ever since he was forced to live out on the streets, it was the only way he could get food. It didn’t seem to matter, most of Stagione was so full of crime that robberies were occurring all over, and his one case didn’t seem to matter. Still, he felt guilty about it.
“Hey, you need to pay for those!” shouted a voice behind him. Josh stopped short. It was Marco, the lacrosse boy.
“And why is that?”
“Because! You can’t just steal things! It’s a crime!”
Josh turned around. “It’s not a crime to get something to eat.”
“It is if you don’t pay for it!”
Josh starred at Marco for a second. He remembered how Marco said, in the lacrosse game, that the other team wouldn’t dare touch the child of the richest family in Stagione. “You don’t know what it’s like. You’re a rich kid, I can tell that. You have parents that take care of you, feed you, and put a roof over your head. Parents that get a lot of money for doing a lot of nothing. And with a small portion of that money, they can buy all the food they want and put it on a plate in front of you. Some of us aren’t so lucky. This is how I get food. It’s the only way, for me. Now go back to your house, and stop worrying about other people’s business. Just be lucky that you have what you have.” Josh started to walk away
“Look, I don’t know what you’re talking about, but it’s still a crime to steal. And I’m not going to stand around and let you get away with it.”
Josh turned and faced Marco again, then moved towards him. He looked at Marco straight in the eyes. "Just a tip for you. Don't go making enemies with street people." Then he turned around, and walked away. He didn’t think it was necessary to say that and try to scare him, after all, Marco, from what he had seen of him at the lacrosse game, was a good kid. But Marco could also get all the food he wants. “He had no right to say that stealing is bad. I know it is, but it’s the only way I get food… he makes it look like I like stealing.”
Josh started to walk back to the Evergreen laboratory, reversing the directions Evergreen had given him. He was quickly devouring the contents of the bag… he knew that he should save some more for later, but he was starving; he hadn’t had anything to eat since he left Pace City.
Finally, after about an hour, all of the food in the bag except for an apple was gone. Josh was at a wall that was probably right in between the store and the laboratory. He decided to call it a day. He slumped against the wall, and began to fall asleep. He had always slept like this in Pace City, so he had no problems falling asleep.
When he woke up, he looked up into the sky. It was about 6:30, he could tell. During the six years of living on the street, Josh had gained the ability to tell the time by looking at the position of the sun, and knowing what time it was. He decided to head to Evergreen’s lab. He grabbed the apple out of the plastic bag, took a bite out of it, and continued back to Evergreen’s. It took him another hour to reach Evergreen’s, and it was around 7:30. He took a look at the paper Evergreen had given him. He punched in the four digit code, then the gate opened and he walked up the stairs to the lab.
“Ah, good morning, Josh. I see you’re early.”
“Had nothing else to do.”
“Very well then, come on in.” He led Josh inside to a large study, and then had him sit down in a chair. “Well, the other two trainers should be here soon, just sit and relax.”
“Who are the other two trainers?” Josh asked.
“Well, one is a girl named Alexis Branbury, and the other is a boy named Marco Cardella.”
“Marco!”
“Ah, I seen you’ve met.”
Josh sighed. “Yeah, once or twice.”
“Well, that’s good. I’ll be waiting outside for the other two.”
Josh waited for about fifteen minutes. After that time, Professor Evergreen walked in with two teens. One was a girl with blue hair and blue eyes, and the other was Marco. He began to lead them over to the study where Josh was sitting.
"Three?" the girl, who Josh assumed was Alexis blurted out. Evergreen smiled and began to walk inside the study, the two teens behind him. When he walked in, Marco saw Josh, and cried in rage.
"You're allowing a petty criminal to start a Pokemon journey with one of your well trained Pokemon?" He roared. Josh stood up angrily and they glared at each other.
"Calm yourselves. Now Marco, you can't judge a person by how they appear on the outside. Josh Seraph is actually a very eager kid. He wishes to become a trainer just as you wish to go out and see the world." Evergreen said.
"But he smells horrible!" Marco cried. Josh was struck back by this statement.
"And is that a hint of alcohol I detect? And… marijuana?" Alexis said disgusted. Josh glared at her. When you spent six years living on a street with a bunch of potheads, you start to pick up their smell.
"Enough! All of you! Stop acting like children. Now, Marco and Alexis will wait here. Josh, I want you to go upstairs and take a quick shower. You'll find some clothes of mine that you can borrow. We will then get to the good stuff." Professor Evergreen ordered. Josh shifted his eyes at the other two and then slowly walked up the stairs.
When he was upstairs, he took his old and very dirty clothes, then walked into the shower, and turned the water on. It felt very good, as he had never taken a shower in the last six years. He wanted to stay in there longer, but he knew he didn’t want to waste time, and he wanted to get his Pokemon and start as soon as possible. He got out of the shower after a few minutes, dried himself, and then saw the clothes Evergreen had laid out. There was a large, purple shirt, and khaki pants. They looked very stupid, but he had nothing else to wear. He put them on, and went down stairs. "These clothes are huge!" He said under his breath once he was downstairs. He saw that Marco was trying very hard to hold in a laugh, but Josh didn’t care what Marco thought.
"Sit down Josh! We have business at hand!" Evergreen commanded.
"Yeah, get your ass over here so I can pick my Pokemon!" Alexis demanded. Josh bared his teeth at her and sat down on the only empty seat. The Professor then fumbled through his lab coat pocket and pulled out three glove-like objects. They were in three shades: gold, black; and pink. They looked like weight lifting gloves; that is the finger parts only extended halfway up before cutting off. At the tip of each finger cut off was a metallic ring with an empty spot for a jewel. One hand had five of these and the other only had one.
"These here are what we call Pokerings. They are used in aiding the capture of a Pokemon." Evergreen explained. He then fished through his pack and pulled out three jewels. One was green, another was red, and the final was blue. "And now we get to the fun stuff." He winked. The jewels resembled the Pokeballs of olden days, but they were a lot small and had no difference in color. Evergreen pressed all three to reveal a barrage of red light.
Three Pokemon formed on the ground opening their eyes and yawning. One was small and green with a nut-like shell on its back. It had a large twig extending as its tail. It resembled a two legged armadillo. The middle one had a small snout and a curved crest at the back of its head. Its eyes were shrouded in black and its fingers looked like mini volcanoes. Its beige body seemed to emanate heat. The final one was small and cat-like. It was blue in color and its tail and head crest were actually very puffy bubbles.
"I'd like you to meet Twigillo, Fingame, and Felipor. These are your choices that will become your new best friend. Choose wisely." Evergreen stated.
Josh saw the Grass type, the Twigillo, and was reminded of his father’s Sceptile, who also died the night of his father’s murder. He knew that he had to pick Twigillo.
Marco turned to Alexis. "Ladies first." He grinned. She gave him a dirty look and then stood up.
"I want Felipor! It's so cute!" She stated and leaned down to put her arms around the water type kitten. It purred and rubbed its furry body against her.
"Ahh nice choice!" The professor smiled and handed her the blue jewel and the pink Pokering glove. Marco began to stand up to pick next, but Josh stood up faster, and shoved him down.
"I get Twigillo. This is very important to me…my father loved grass types. He had a Sceptile…" He said turning to Marco. Marco nodded and Josh leaned down to his new Pokemon.
"Twig!" It smiled and clapped its paws together. The professor handed Josh the green jewel along with his black Pokering glove. Josh put it down, and began to pet it. Twigillo looked happy to have Josh as its new trainer. Then, oddly, Twigillo fell asleep.
“You may want to watch out for that Twigillo,” Evergreen said. “It's very friendly, and likes to battle, but otherwise it likes to sleep… not uncommon for Twigillo, but they’re not heavy sleepers like Snorlax.” Josh didn’t care about this fact, he was happy of his choice.
"Well, I guess this little guy is mine!" Marco stated standing up and leaning down towards the curious looking Pokemon. It smiled and suddenly the tiny volcanoes on its fingers jetted up causing fire to spray out. "Holy crap!" Marco said falling back as the Pokemon laughed away.
"Fing fing fing!" It giggled.
"And that would be Fingame." Evergreen said handing the startled teen his red jewel and gold Pokering glove. "Be weary of this one. It's a little trouble maker." The professor then stood up. "Now, I want everyone to stand up and slip their Pokering gloves on so I can explain to you how this works." He requested. The three did as told. "Now, place the jewel I have given you on the right hand glove that only has one ring. This is what we call your starter Pokering…where you place your first Pokemon on." The three placed the jewel into the hole on the ring. They snapped into place and the teens looked up for more instructions.
"Now, push the jewel down and watch the magic!" Evergreen grinned. Marco did it first, pressing the jewel into the ring more. It made a clicking sound and then sprang forward, winding quickly around his finger to the fingertip. It then burst open and covered Fingame in a red light sucking the Pokemon inside. When it was complete, the ring spun back into place on the mid section of the finger.
"Wow! That was cool!" Marco grinned. Alexis did the same, but Josh kept Twigillo out. Evergreen smiled.
"And to catch Pokemon you must remove the jewel, press the switch on it, and toss it at the weakened creature. It's as easy as that." The three nodded understanding this. The professor then pulled out three small laptops. Each was only a few inches wide and folded open (sort of like a GBA SP). They all matched the colors of the Pokering gloves he handed out. Each trainer received the respective item.
"These are what we call Pokeputers. They contain all the information you will need to progress through Stagione. They contain a built in Pokedex to give you info on the creatures you encounter, a map, city information, etc." Evergreen explained. “Let me show you how it works.” He took Josh’s Pokeputer and pointed it at Twigillo, who was still sleeping next to Josh. “Gather around.” The three teens gathered around Evergreen (Alexis cringed her nose a bit at Josh, who still smelled a little despite the shower), and watched as a picture of Twigillo came up on the screen.
“Twigillo. Type: Grass. The Armadillo Pokemon. This Pokemon spends almost all of its life in forests. It feeds on small plants, as well as the soil they are planted in, and nuts.”
“Pretty cool, eh?” he said as he gave Josh his Pokeputer back. “You can also look up attacks for your Pokemon and the ones you’re fighting, to get a better idea of how to beat them.” The three trainers fiddled with their Pokeputers for a few seconds and then stashed them in their packs.
"And now my young trainers. You must journey to Headrest City across the hills to sign up for the league. There are eight gyms for you to compete in throughout the continent. Once you have all eight you can head back here and train for the Pokemon league. Be wary though, Stagione is not the nicest region to train in. You will meet many people that aren't friendly, so I advice you travel in groups." Evergreen suggested. He then handed each trainer their training licenses.
Alexis stood up and began to walk off. She aimed her hand down and pressed the ring, releasing Felipor as she did. It hoped a bit placing its head against her leg. "Por!" It purred.
"Felipor and I can handle this by ourselves. Thanks for the help professor, but I'm on my own now!" She said and started out of the building. Josh got up as well.
"I'm out of here." Josh said and walked out of the door, Twigillo, who had just woken up, walking next to him. He began to walk down the stairs, and when he was at the bottom, he heard a voice.
"Hey Josh!" He slowly turned around, and saw that it was Marco.
"What do you want?" He asked folding his arms. Twigillo stood awake at his side, but it grew tired and slumped against his leg. Marco began to kick the dirt.
"I know you're a little broke. I've got enough money to feed a city, so I was wondering if you wanted to travel together for a bit...you know, just until we get things situated.” Marco said.
Josh looked at him. "You don't want to travel with me, trust me. There's no part for you in my journey." He said shaking his head. Twigillo woke up, and the two began walking down the stairs again. He then heard Marco releasing Fingame from its Pokering.
When Josh got to the entrance he searched the Pokeputer map to find which way to start. "Headrest City is to the West just a few days walk over the hills." He heard Marco say as he walked by.
"Are you still following me? I told you, beat it. You don't want to hang out with someone like me." He had trouble as his sleeves kept getting in the way of the map. Twigillo rocked sleepily next to him.
Marco stopped walking and rubbed his hand through his own hair. "You know, if you reconsider my suggestion I could buy you some more fashionable attire. And besides, I don't care that you're poor."
"It's not about that... I have something dark inside me. I left on this journey to get it out, hopefully, and having an annoying rich kid like you around isn't going to help me any.”
Marco glared at him. "Look, I didn't do anything to you, alright, I was just offering to help. You don't have to be such a jackass."
Josh moved closer, and looked into Marco’s eyes. "You want my story? Alright, you get it. Six years ago, my father was murdered by a man nicknamed The Black Phantom."
Marco actually laughed, as Josh was expecting him to. "You expect me to believe that? You expect me to believe you that some fairy tale character killed your father."
Josh wasn’t expecting Marco to believe him. The Black Phantom was, after all, a myth, and nobody but Josh had ever seen him, and lived. "I was there," Josh said, baring his teeth. "I saw him. I saw a man dressed in all black appear in the middle of the night, and shoot my father. He was a cop, and a damn good one too... it was because of him that our city was as crime free as it was. But as soon as he died, the city went to the dogs. Crime everywhere, especially drugs... even my own mother became an addict, in light of my father's murder. I couldn't live with her anymore, so I left the house, and had to raise myself on the street, with all the druggies. That's why I smell so bad, like alcohol and marijuana, because I lived out on the street. And you know what? There was only one thing I thought about, the last six years...revenge. Revenge on the man who killed my father. I waited those six years, training my body and skill, for the day when I would meet The Black Phantom again. And of course, thinking about nothing but revenge doesn't turn you into an incredibly nice person. That's why I'm like the way I am today." Then he began walking off, Twigillo walking by him.
"Wait, I'll make you a deal." Marco began to walk forward. Fingame hobbled after trying to keep up as it played with its finger flames. Josh turned around. "If we can at least travel together until Headrest City, I'll get you some new clothes. After that I'll leave and you'll never have to see me again."
Josh looked at the large, purple shirt. "Fine." He stopped to let Marco catch up, then the two began walking together.
"You know this still doesn't make us friends." Marco stated as they turned a corner.
"Agreed..." Josh whispered...
Originally Posted by Gavin Luper
