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You know those days when everything is bathed in glorious sunshine? Those days when you just wake happy and stay happy? Those days when nothing whatsoever can go wrong? This wasn’t one of those days.
It started off that way for Miri though, as she organised the latest batch of new books into her new shop. The shopping district had only opened a month ago, but Miri had quickly signed up to move most of her books to a small little store on the route to the hospital. A fine enough location, with plenty of room. Plus, it wasn’t the only shop, and two of those were bookstores. Maybe after organising today she could visit them…Well, that depended on if Minstrel, her Trubbish pet, escaped again. She had yesterday, knocking over bins and finding a broken CD, so the Ledyba decided she better keep a close eye on it today, even if it stank out the shop. Good job then that it was sunny, everyone would likely be enjoying the sunshine. Miri continued putting in books onto the shelves, with Minstrel listening to some music by her till, when there was a kind of thump.
Miri’s head darted around, her eyes wide. That sounded too heavy to be the encyclopaedia she put in about five minutes ago. Was it outside? Most likely…She continued when…
“FWOOOOOOOOSH!”
“GAAAAAAAAAH!”
Miri was knocked backwards, shoved into the wall opposite and collapsed on the ground, her wings for once not causing the crash landing. Miri lifted her head up and gasped at the long, entwined tendrils of red-orange and teal blue waving in what would have been in a comical fashion had it not been so unexpected. The limbs retracted, before the whole Pokémon came through in a burst of light. Her bookcase intact thanks to its teleporting inside, even though there was now a hole in the side wall, but Miri’s emotions had come at a standstill. Looming over her, pointed legs, orbed chest and alien head, was a creature she’d only encountered in the weirdest of stories. Deoxys…and it didn’t look friendly. At all.
There was only one thing Miri did in situations when she was threatened. Only one thing. Call for help.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
Her mouth erupted in a buzzing screech that moved in waves, sending the books she so neatly organised crashing to the ground, with some bumping on Deoxys’ head as if they were nothing more than screwed up paper balls, and Minstrel, who had been completely unaware at the time, still listening to the ipod, was blown back to the store window. Hopefully Miri’s bug buzz would be enough to alert someone…hopefully…
The Deoxys chuckled in an unearthly call, savage in tone, as it transformed. One moment it was normal, then next its head was sharper, its chest browner, and its knees having blue spikes. Miri had no idea that this was its attack form, nor would it have helped with its menacing appearance. Added to this was the spectral purple glow surrounding its head as it lowered itself, aiming at Miri.
The Ledyba had to think, and fast! If no help was going to come, then she must live up to the heroes in the stories she admired: the knights, the mages, the ones who hated destiny. Some random monster had just invaded her sanctuary of books, and Miri wasn’t about to let it take her books or pet. Did heroes feel this scared though?
No more time to think. Deoxys rushed at Miri, the aura around its head intensifying. Miri ducked, but was shoved to the ground, not quite missing the attack, her wing cases vibrating under the impact but wings still intact. More books fell as the bookcase rooked. Miri instinctively covered herself with safeguard, the veil dimly clutching her. The Deoxys heaved itself up, raising a limb, ready to smack Miri through the floor.
“Trub!”
A mass of sticky green globs suddenly attached itself to Deoxys’ raised arm, drippling slowly to the floor. Looking at the window, both opponent and victim saw a little Trubbish drooling with green salvia from its acid spray. Minstrel had…tried to protect her. She could have run, she could have laughed, but instead she was helping. Miri’s heart brimmed with unexpected hope.
Which was quickly interrupted as the Deoxys saw a new foe and crept towards it. To give credit, Minstrel held her ground, eyelids lowering, mouth clicking into a scowl. If Miri didn’t do something, save her, then her pet was going to make a snack, and no doubt she would later be a meal. Miri stood up. She could use her hidden power, but that would most likely burn the store down with them trapped inside, and she had never used it as a proper attack. She could use bug buzz again, but there would be no guarantee that someone would help in time. So, what about…?
Miri turned around, grabbed as many books as her four arms could carry and chucked them in the air. She mentally apologised for the harm she was about to do these books, potentially. As they fell, her arms darted out in quick succession, comet punching them towards Deoxys.
“L-Leave her alone, bizzie!”
It wasn’t a determined shout, more of a wailing plea. Still the books thudded into the creature, causing multiple thumps that would have left a more normal foe with bruises. It was enough to get it to turn to her, its eyes blazing red. Crumbs…
Miri ran past it, picked Minstrel up and hugged her as the Deoxys’ orb began glowing white. Then…
SMASH!
Miri and Minstrel were shoved through the window by a white beam of light, the glass spreading everywhere and sending both crashing to the street. Minstrel was safe in Miri’s arms, but Miri felt her wing cases bang hard against the paving. She hoped they weren’t too damaged, or her books, or…
It had been sunny, even with her eyes closed, but now it darkened. Miri opened her eyes to see Deoxys leaning over her. This was a thousand times worse than any monster she had read. She was going to be killed, here, with Minstrel. There was nothing she could do…
Then strangely enough a thought appeared. Books were a part of Miri’s life, and there was one quote from one book that oddly rang here. When Mori of Among Others by Jo Walton was threatened by her witch mother, there was one sentence she repeated until it was over. The Litany Against Fear from Dune. Miri didn’t quite realise it, but she began repeating those same words.
“Fear is the mind killer, fear is the little-death. Fear is the mind killer, fear is the…”
“Lady Miriam!”
Who? Deoxys turned, the whole world brightening again. There, on the street, was one she had met only once before. The true knight of legend, who had been raised from the past. Sir Gawain the Kabutops, come to her rescue.
Gawain readied himself, and the Deoxys recognised a better, worthier opponent. Its form changed again to one of sleekness and launched itself at Gawain. Neither was in the shopping district after that. It was over, and Miri only hoped Gawain would be alright. It was over, but that had been horrible. The fear, the attack, the adrenaline rush…but she was alive. So was Minstrel, now wriggling in her grasp and her books for the most part. She looked over at her store. The window was broken, entirely, and there was green gloop on the floor with a small crumbling hole on the left hand side, but aside from that her shop looked ok. It would be easy to fix as long as no one stole her books.
“Miri!”
She glanced over, but didn’t see who it was as gentle paws heaved her up. The voice was one she recognised though: her fellow bookstore owner Gene. The Oshawott sounded distant after all the noise of the battle.
“I heard a screech and ran from my shop, then saw you and that Pokémon standing over you. What happened? Are you alright?”
If only. Miri spluttered a response. “Wing cases…hurt…so b-bad…b-bizzie…”
“I’ll get you to hospital with Minstrel. You can tell me what happened later.” Gene’s voice was anxious, but Miri felt her over-whelming need to help fighting against any stress.
All the way to the hospital Miri only had one thought. Not how lucky she was to be alive, not how comforting the Oshawott was, not that Minstrel was now walking at her side and hadn’t run away, but something very trivial given what had just happened.
Putting her shop on route to the hospital had been a great idea.
It started off that way for Miri though, as she organised the latest batch of new books into her new shop. The shopping district had only opened a month ago, but Miri had quickly signed up to move most of her books to a small little store on the route to the hospital. A fine enough location, with plenty of room. Plus, it wasn’t the only shop, and two of those were bookstores. Maybe after organising today she could visit them…Well, that depended on if Minstrel, her Trubbish pet, escaped again. She had yesterday, knocking over bins and finding a broken CD, so the Ledyba decided she better keep a close eye on it today, even if it stank out the shop. Good job then that it was sunny, everyone would likely be enjoying the sunshine. Miri continued putting in books onto the shelves, with Minstrel listening to some music by her till, when there was a kind of thump.
Miri’s head darted around, her eyes wide. That sounded too heavy to be the encyclopaedia she put in about five minutes ago. Was it outside? Most likely…She continued when…
“FWOOOOOOOOSH!”
“GAAAAAAAAAH!”
Miri was knocked backwards, shoved into the wall opposite and collapsed on the ground, her wings for once not causing the crash landing. Miri lifted her head up and gasped at the long, entwined tendrils of red-orange and teal blue waving in what would have been in a comical fashion had it not been so unexpected. The limbs retracted, before the whole Pokémon came through in a burst of light. Her bookcase intact thanks to its teleporting inside, even though there was now a hole in the side wall, but Miri’s emotions had come at a standstill. Looming over her, pointed legs, orbed chest and alien head, was a creature she’d only encountered in the weirdest of stories. Deoxys…and it didn’t look friendly. At all.
There was only one thing Miri did in situations when she was threatened. Only one thing. Call for help.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
Her mouth erupted in a buzzing screech that moved in waves, sending the books she so neatly organised crashing to the ground, with some bumping on Deoxys’ head as if they were nothing more than screwed up paper balls, and Minstrel, who had been completely unaware at the time, still listening to the ipod, was blown back to the store window. Hopefully Miri’s bug buzz would be enough to alert someone…hopefully…
The Deoxys chuckled in an unearthly call, savage in tone, as it transformed. One moment it was normal, then next its head was sharper, its chest browner, and its knees having blue spikes. Miri had no idea that this was its attack form, nor would it have helped with its menacing appearance. Added to this was the spectral purple glow surrounding its head as it lowered itself, aiming at Miri.
The Ledyba had to think, and fast! If no help was going to come, then she must live up to the heroes in the stories she admired: the knights, the mages, the ones who hated destiny. Some random monster had just invaded her sanctuary of books, and Miri wasn’t about to let it take her books or pet. Did heroes feel this scared though?
No more time to think. Deoxys rushed at Miri, the aura around its head intensifying. Miri ducked, but was shoved to the ground, not quite missing the attack, her wing cases vibrating under the impact but wings still intact. More books fell as the bookcase rooked. Miri instinctively covered herself with safeguard, the veil dimly clutching her. The Deoxys heaved itself up, raising a limb, ready to smack Miri through the floor.
“Trub!”
A mass of sticky green globs suddenly attached itself to Deoxys’ raised arm, drippling slowly to the floor. Looking at the window, both opponent and victim saw a little Trubbish drooling with green salvia from its acid spray. Minstrel had…tried to protect her. She could have run, she could have laughed, but instead she was helping. Miri’s heart brimmed with unexpected hope.
Which was quickly interrupted as the Deoxys saw a new foe and crept towards it. To give credit, Minstrel held her ground, eyelids lowering, mouth clicking into a scowl. If Miri didn’t do something, save her, then her pet was going to make a snack, and no doubt she would later be a meal. Miri stood up. She could use her hidden power, but that would most likely burn the store down with them trapped inside, and she had never used it as a proper attack. She could use bug buzz again, but there would be no guarantee that someone would help in time. So, what about…?
Miri turned around, grabbed as many books as her four arms could carry and chucked them in the air. She mentally apologised for the harm she was about to do these books, potentially. As they fell, her arms darted out in quick succession, comet punching them towards Deoxys.
“L-Leave her alone, bizzie!”
It wasn’t a determined shout, more of a wailing plea. Still the books thudded into the creature, causing multiple thumps that would have left a more normal foe with bruises. It was enough to get it to turn to her, its eyes blazing red. Crumbs…
Miri ran past it, picked Minstrel up and hugged her as the Deoxys’ orb began glowing white. Then…
SMASH!
Miri and Minstrel were shoved through the window by a white beam of light, the glass spreading everywhere and sending both crashing to the street. Minstrel was safe in Miri’s arms, but Miri felt her wing cases bang hard against the paving. She hoped they weren’t too damaged, or her books, or…
It had been sunny, even with her eyes closed, but now it darkened. Miri opened her eyes to see Deoxys leaning over her. This was a thousand times worse than any monster she had read. She was going to be killed, here, with Minstrel. There was nothing she could do…
Then strangely enough a thought appeared. Books were a part of Miri’s life, and there was one quote from one book that oddly rang here. When Mori of Among Others by Jo Walton was threatened by her witch mother, there was one sentence she repeated until it was over. The Litany Against Fear from Dune. Miri didn’t quite realise it, but she began repeating those same words.
“Fear is the mind killer, fear is the little-death. Fear is the mind killer, fear is the…”
“Lady Miriam!”
Who? Deoxys turned, the whole world brightening again. There, on the street, was one she had met only once before. The true knight of legend, who had been raised from the past. Sir Gawain the Kabutops, come to her rescue.
Gawain readied himself, and the Deoxys recognised a better, worthier opponent. Its form changed again to one of sleekness and launched itself at Gawain. Neither was in the shopping district after that. It was over, and Miri only hoped Gawain would be alright. It was over, but that had been horrible. The fear, the attack, the adrenaline rush…but she was alive. So was Minstrel, now wriggling in her grasp and her books for the most part. She looked over at her store. The window was broken, entirely, and there was green gloop on the floor with a small crumbling hole on the left hand side, but aside from that her shop looked ok. It would be easy to fix as long as no one stole her books.
“Miri!”
She glanced over, but didn’t see who it was as gentle paws heaved her up. The voice was one she recognised though: her fellow bookstore owner Gene. The Oshawott sounded distant after all the noise of the battle.
“I heard a screech and ran from my shop, then saw you and that Pokémon standing over you. What happened? Are you alright?”
If only. Miri spluttered a response. “Wing cases…hurt…so b-bad…b-bizzie…”
“I’ll get you to hospital with Minstrel. You can tell me what happened later.” Gene’s voice was anxious, but Miri felt her over-whelming need to help fighting against any stress.
All the way to the hospital Miri only had one thought. Not how lucky she was to be alive, not how comforting the Oshawott was, not that Minstrel was now walking at her side and hadn’t run away, but something very trivial given what had just happened.
Putting her shop on route to the hospital had been a great idea.
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I was going to continue submitting stuff I did while away last week, but then PKMNSkies is doing an event dependent on the number of submissions it gets so I had to get in while I still can. I pretty much did this all in one go, in attempt to make the pacing a bit more fast paced.
Wild Deoxys is on the loose and appearing anywhere in any form, so I thought 'Hey, what if it appeared in Miri's shop?'. So it did. I deliberately didn't beat up the store too much, because that seemed too harsh, but I think the emotional impact on Miri and the potential damage to her wing cases will be enough. I know Miri has clumsy luck, but I don't think I've pushed her to overcome a struggle aside from interacting with others. This might open a new character development for her. Minstrel also turns out to be of help, and more loyal than Miri thought. I've been meaning to have Miri use her moves, and this was the perfect opportunity.
Miri used bug buzz, safeguard and comet punch in that order. Her hidden power is fire, which is why it wasn't used. Minstrel only used acid spray. Deoxys used teleport, zen headbutt and hyper beam. It started out in its normal form, went to attack and finished with speed. The Litany Against Fear comes from Dune, but I've never read or watched the movie, but I have read Among Others. Any books I've read I assume Miri has read, and having her repeat these words seemed suitable to her character. Both these books belong to their respective owners.
Finally a couple of cameos. Firstly Sir Gawain, Miri's knight in old armour, who was created by
and is now used by 
(I imagine after Miri's attack by Deoxys, Gawain was moved with the legendry away from the shopping district so this could take place: fav.me/db0a8ll. What Gawain was doing in the shopping district is anyone's guess! XD). Miri has met Gawain once, and here's how it went: fav.me/datewhx. The other cameo goes to the sweet, quiet Gene by 
as a thank you for our recent RP. It was really fun!
Miri and Minstrel belong to me and this is for PKMNSkies. Word count: 1450
Follow up here: fav.me/db2oxlz
Wild Deoxys is on the loose and appearing anywhere in any form, so I thought 'Hey, what if it appeared in Miri's shop?'. So it did. I deliberately didn't beat up the store too much, because that seemed too harsh, but I think the emotional impact on Miri and the potential damage to her wing cases will be enough. I know Miri has clumsy luck, but I don't think I've pushed her to overcome a struggle aside from interacting with others. This might open a new character development for her. Minstrel also turns out to be of help, and more loyal than Miri thought. I've been meaning to have Miri use her moves, and this was the perfect opportunity.
Miri used bug buzz, safeguard and comet punch in that order. Her hidden power is fire, which is why it wasn't used. Minstrel only used acid spray. Deoxys used teleport, zen headbutt and hyper beam. It started out in its normal form, went to attack and finished with speed. The Litany Against Fear comes from Dune, but I've never read or watched the movie, but I have read Among Others. Any books I've read I assume Miri has read, and having her repeat these words seemed suitable to her character. Both these books belong to their respective owners.
Finally a couple of cameos. Firstly Sir Gawain, Miri's knight in old armour, who was created by
and is now used by (I imagine after Miri's attack by Deoxys, Gawain was moved with the legendry away from the shopping district so this could take place: fav.me/db0a8ll. What Gawain was doing in the shopping district is anyone's guess! XD). Miri has met Gawain once, and here's how it went: fav.me/datewhx. The other cameo goes to the sweet, quiet Gene by as a thank you for our recent RP. It was really fun!Miri and Minstrel belong to me and this is for PKMNSkies. Word count: 1450
Follow up here: fav.me/db2oxlz
© 2017 - 2024 confusedkangaroo
Comments10
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SWEET, MERCIFUL CRAP! THIS STORY!
This was a very unexpected story. Your technique of diving straight into writing and the unrelenting action of this story strongly clashes with Miri's timid lifestyle and slice-of-life genre. As a result, every hit Miri took felt like a car crash and all oft he danger felt like someone breaking into my own home (I was reading this story in between commercial breaks of Criminal Minds and the story about cutesy Pokemon was keeping pace with the show about serial killers). Every once in a while, stories will have an odd issue/episode/chapter/etc where Status Quo dies, the characters get HIT IN THE FACE with some serious crap and the viewer is just as scared and unsure as the characters themselves. That's what this story felt like.
Loved seeing Minstrel step up to the plate and demonstrate that she's not just some hyperactive pest. Miri digging deep and fighting back against Deoxys was pulse-pounding. The last-minute save by Gawain was a fistpump-worthy, "Hell Yeah!" moment (but I also like the layer of uncertainty you added by having Deoxys and Gawain completely leave the story with no verification of how either one of them is doing). Lastly, the ending was perfect; it was so in-character for a Miri story to end on an everyday observation (her shop being close to the hospital), the shift back to normalcy gave readers a chance to calm down from all of the action and it's always nice to see stories work with bookends (mentioning the hospital at the beginning and then going there in the end).
If you don't mind a critique, though, there were some typos and I was a little distracted by how the books/movies you mentioned didn't have quotations or any other little tricks to distinguish them as titles. They weren't big things, just things I noticed.
Anywho, thank you very, VERY MUCH for giving Gawain a cameo! I was beginning to think that this event would technically be considered a failure for him, since he couldn't accomplish anything in the fight against Deoxys. Being able to save Miri from certain doom, however, is exactly the reason he fights, so he would have considered this a fine use of his knightly training (it was worth it, even if he only saved a single life). This is actually a very big relief to me, because I have a few things planned for Gawain that would have been impossible to do if he was feeling guilty about anything. So, thank you again; for the awesome cameo AND for saving my future plans!
As for why Gawain was in the shopping district, I actually have an explanation for that. Asuka and Gawain are actively seeking out Deoxys and hope to defeat it before it can cause too much harm to Springleaf. Gawain probably saw Deoxys flying around and followed it to Miri's shop...I guess the time Deoxys spent attacking Miri gave Gawain enough time to catch up with the speedy alien, so...this was a bit of a team effort?
To FINALLY bring this message to an end, I'm impressed by the challenges you set out for yourself, your unique approach to writing this story (though, speedy writing should still be proofread) and I'm intrigued by what the aftermath to this story might have in store for Miri. Great job on this!
This was a very unexpected story. Your technique of diving straight into writing and the unrelenting action of this story strongly clashes with Miri's timid lifestyle and slice-of-life genre. As a result, every hit Miri took felt like a car crash and all oft he danger felt like someone breaking into my own home (I was reading this story in between commercial breaks of Criminal Minds and the story about cutesy Pokemon was keeping pace with the show about serial killers). Every once in a while, stories will have an odd issue/episode/chapter/etc where Status Quo dies, the characters get HIT IN THE FACE with some serious crap and the viewer is just as scared and unsure as the characters themselves. That's what this story felt like.
Loved seeing Minstrel step up to the plate and demonstrate that she's not just some hyperactive pest. Miri digging deep and fighting back against Deoxys was pulse-pounding. The last-minute save by Gawain was a fistpump-worthy, "Hell Yeah!" moment (but I also like the layer of uncertainty you added by having Deoxys and Gawain completely leave the story with no verification of how either one of them is doing). Lastly, the ending was perfect; it was so in-character for a Miri story to end on an everyday observation (her shop being close to the hospital), the shift back to normalcy gave readers a chance to calm down from all of the action and it's always nice to see stories work with bookends (mentioning the hospital at the beginning and then going there in the end).
If you don't mind a critique, though, there were some typos and I was a little distracted by how the books/movies you mentioned didn't have quotations or any other little tricks to distinguish them as titles. They weren't big things, just things I noticed.
Anywho, thank you very, VERY MUCH for giving Gawain a cameo! I was beginning to think that this event would technically be considered a failure for him, since he couldn't accomplish anything in the fight against Deoxys. Being able to save Miri from certain doom, however, is exactly the reason he fights, so he would have considered this a fine use of his knightly training (it was worth it, even if he only saved a single life). This is actually a very big relief to me, because I have a few things planned for Gawain that would have been impossible to do if he was feeling guilty about anything. So, thank you again; for the awesome cameo AND for saving my future plans!
As for why Gawain was in the shopping district, I actually have an explanation for that. Asuka and Gawain are actively seeking out Deoxys and hope to defeat it before it can cause too much harm to Springleaf. Gawain probably saw Deoxys flying around and followed it to Miri's shop...I guess the time Deoxys spent attacking Miri gave Gawain enough time to catch up with the speedy alien, so...this was a bit of a team effort?
To FINALLY bring this message to an end, I'm impressed by the challenges you set out for yourself, your unique approach to writing this story (though, speedy writing should still be proofread) and I'm intrigued by what the aftermath to this story might have in store for Miri. Great job on this!