THIRD RIDE ✦ TEXT / ACTION [VIOLET CITY]

[diamondo]

[ TEXT ]

[A strange text post goes out to the network today. It appears to be a list of some kind.]

▶ get a motorcycle
▶ mod the fuck out of it
▶ fuck up ryder's shit
▶ find a fucking gym
▶ train
▶ train
▶ train
▶ fucking train
▶ get stronger (physically/emotionally/mentally??)
▶ find a sauna!!!!!
▶ actually get a date
▶ somehow
▶ god this is gonna fucking suck
▶ see every city in johto
▶ fuck that's a lofty goal isn't it
▶ see every major city in johto
▶ that's better
▶ get all the badges
▶ (it's a matter of fucking pride)
▶ round out pkmn roster (no more dark types!!!)
▶ um
▶ fuck
▶ i'm forgetting something aren't i
▶ shit

[Five minutes after that's accidentally posted to the network, a proper text follows.]

oh shit ignore that last post, that wasn't supposed to go public
...actually, tell me about the things you want to do here
i need more shit on my to do list
are there any awesome places to see or anything like that?

[ ACTION - VIOLET CITY ]

[It's not surprising that Mondo's out training on the outskirts of the city. What is surprising is that he isn't fighting his Pokémon today. He's ditched the usual coat today and if one looks closely, they can see a massive bruise over his shoulders and leading down toward his back. That might be from fighting his Pokémon. Maybe. But that's not what he's doing today - today he's got his Pokémon out, situated in teams of two facing off against each other.]

Alright, we're gonna practice double battling today. Ryder! Quit trying to punch Pierce, he's your partner!

[The Scrafty shoots him a dirty look, but she knocks it off. At least until Mondo's back is turned, then she socks the Lucario in the gut and knocks him over.]

Lex, Tory! If I see the two of you biting at each other again I swear I'm gonna stick you in the fucking PC and never let you see the light of day again! You got that?

[The Sharpedo and Deino pull faces once his back is turned, but at least they seem to be listening.]

Alright, on my mark... go!

[...This can only end well.]

Comments

[strongestoftheturks]

Congratulations.

I should've taken this gym thing seriously from the start. Guess I'm a little late.

Maybe you should try for the next badge. See if it works.

[diamondo]

Yeah! I think that's what I'll end up doing, getting all the badges so they'll listen to me. I don't get why a badge will get them to listen in the first place, but whatever, I'm not gonna fucking complain about it.

I'm sure you'll have no trouble with Falkner! His Pokémon are pretty low-leveled.

[strongestoftheturks]

Thanks.

...hey. Didn't get a chance to tell you before but...you got a few good punches.

How long you been fighting?

[diamondo]

Ah, thanks! I've been fighting since I was... shit, since I was little. I mean, I grew up in a bad part of town, y'know? I also grew up with an older brother, so we fought a hell of a lot when we were younger.

[He looks a bit distant at that, but he snaps out of it pretty quickly.]

You were pretty fucking great yourself! I haven't had that much fun in a while!

[strongestoftheturks]

[Rude shrugs, he's not too bothered about praise.]

I just needed to complete the mission.

[But a tiny smirk appears after a short pause.]

...it was a little fun.

[diamondo]

See, I knew you weren't as uptight as you try to act!

[Mondo looks far too pleased with that, though.]

We'll have to do it again sometime!

[strongestoftheturks]

...how about a round? Here and now.

Just fists; no serious injuries. You win if you knock your opponent to the ground.

[diamondo]

[Mondo grins, nodding.]

You're on! Let's fucking do this thing!

[strongestoftheturks]

[Rude nods and pulls out a pair of gloves from his pocket. They're not battle gloves but they do the trick for now. Once he slips them on, he faces Oowoda, his calm exterior a mask to the growing excitement within.]

You go first.

[diamondo]

[That grin doesn't fade, but Mondo immediately shifts into a proper stance. He's about 6'2" and ridiculously large for a teenager and while it's obvious that he can pack a punch, the bruise on his back should hinder him a bit. This is a fight for fun however, and Mondo intends to enjoy himself.

He swings a punch in the direction of Rude's chest suddenly, leaving himself wide open for a counter attack.]

[strongestoftheturks]

[A hard swing. To block might not be as effective to dodge but the distance between them is a little too close for that, so Rude opts to grapple instead. Just as Mondo's fist is about to hit, Rude quickly steps to the side and pulls the kids wrist downwards and away from his body. Mondo still manages to clip him a little in the arm, but that doesn't stop Rude from dishing out a punch of his own. While the punch carries force, it's definitely controlled and aimed somewhere where he isn't injured; Rude aims for his face.]

[diamondo]

[There isn't much of a place for Mondo to move to, so that punch connects solidly. He grunts, but takes the hit rather well and moves to try to break free from Rude's grasp to put some space between them. He's not left-handed, but he aims a punch for Rude's stomach in an effort to at least wind him.]

[strongestoftheturks]

[Rude intended to keep his grip tight on Mondo's wrist, refusing to allow the kid any more use of his right fist but that incoming punch to the stomach calls for a change of plans. He lets go and immediately blocks the blow; even if it isn't Oowada's main arm, it still hits with enough force to cause even a senior Turk like Rude pain. There's a twitch of an eyebrow and Rude decides to reward Oowada with a kick to his side.]

[diamondo]

[Mondo notices the way Rude's eyebrow twitches and almost gloats about it-- and then Rude's kicked him in the side and nearly knocked him off-balance. It's a damn good thing Mondo's built like a linebacker and can take the hit, though the angle it struck him at is causing a good deal of pain. That bruising on his back really isn't helping.

He's quick to try to put some space in between them, clutching his side for a moment while he tries to come up with some other strategy. He's always focused on "attack first, ask questions later" but charging Rude doesn't seem to be the best course of action. It's sort of like Pokémon battling; it requires some thought and more than just power. Shame, because otherwise he'd be the damn best Pokémon master and fighter.

Mondo doesn't take long to move back in close though, driving a leg directly for Rude's shin, following that up by swinging a fist at his head.]

[strongestoftheturks]

[Once Mondo backs off a little, Rude resets his stance back to its initial position, feeling a slight ache forming with the arm he used to block the stomach punch. Not bad for a high school punk, but then again some of their best Turk candidates came from the streets.

He'll let Mondo come at him again; it's only fair given that the kid's injured and Rude's not actively looking to pummel him. Just a bit of roughing up, that's all. When Mondo tries to open the attack with a kick though, he may find that Rude's already been anticipating the move the instant his foot left the ground. Taking time to strategize works both ways and just as Mondo was trying to find an opening, Rude was also going through possible attacks and counter-measure in his head.

Now Mondo's a powerhouse so blocking wouldn't be too good a move. He might've considered grappling but there's a risk of injury to his hand. So that just leaves him with dodging and striking first. He...could possibly do the latter but again, Mondo's injured and Rude doesn't exactly want to land the kid with anymore than bruises.

So this time, he elects to dodge.

The kick to the shin is evaded by lifting his leg up and planting it firmly back on the ground once the kick's been dodged. Rude then follows up by ducking his head under the fist swing and planting his own punch to Mondo's stomach. If it hits, then he's going to take advantage of the situation to add an extra right hook to Mondo's head.

[diamondo]

[The first blow to the stomach hits, winding him, and the second sends him reeling backwards. Mondo's balance has always been pretty good, and he played by the same rules back home when he was training against his gang members, but between the massive bruise on his back and Rude's hits, Mondo goes down.]

--Shit.

[That's all he says for a moment, simply lying there and shielding his eyes from the sun.]

Not bad, man. You're really fucking good at this, y'know? I'm guessing fighting's something you do pretty fucking frequently back in your world?

[strongestoftheturks]

Sort off.

[Rude offers a hand to Mondo.]

I'm more of an...investigator, but knowing how to take care of yourself is important.

[You can't get by being a Turk if you couldn't survive.]

You're pretty good yourself. You can take and dish out hits. And you think. ...I'd like to see what you can do when you're at 100%. Then we'll do this properly.

[No holds barred.]

[diamondo]

[Mondo takes that offered hand and pulls himself up, wincing a little at the pain in his back, but Rude's words get him to grin again.]

Yeah, I'd fucking say so! I wasn't expecting you to be so fucking strong! And thanks, that means a lot to me! I mean, I did a lot of fighting back home, so I kinda had to learn to think on my feet, y'know?

[strongestoftheturks]

[Rude tilts his head to the side slightly; maybe he could get more answers from Mondo on what actually happened to these kids back home.]

...someone after you?

[diamondo]

[Mondo freezes, eyes widening and expression going panicked for a moment. He quickly realizes that Rude is asking about the fighting, not about the school (he has no way of knowing about that fucking school) and he relaxes.]

Something like that. I was head of the biggest gang in Japan. ...Well, biggest high school gang. Before I united 'em all I had quite a few groups out to get me.

[strongestoftheturks]

[...he caught that. If he's going to get an answer, he's going to get one now.]

Your friends don't look like the gang type.

Who was after all of you?

[diamondo]

They aren't. I met them all at school.

[Mondo fidgets. He said he'd keep quiet about it, but Rude's pretty trustworthy, isn't he? He helped them out during the raid on the museum, after all. He runs a hand back through the short strands of dark hair, looking positively distressed by now. He knows he shouldn't say anything, but...]

Promise you'll keep it a secret?

[...No, he's not five, promises just mean a lot to him.]

[strongestoftheturks]

[Well, it's not like Rude has any reason to break this promise. The only one he'll ever speak of it to would probably be the Turks, and as far as he knew he was the only one left.

It's an easy promise to make, so Rude gives a nod and waits for the explanation.

[diamondo]

[Mondo nods in return, but he doesn't speak right away. How does he even start this?]

There's a... girl in our school who we thought was just another classmate. Turns out she... found a way to erase our memories and shit. See, we actually all went to school together before, but those memories were wiped, so we all thought that we'd just arrived at school. We were locked inside and that girl... she pitted us against one another in a "mutual killing game." If we wanted to get out, we'd have to kill one another. She offered us motives and shit too, in order to get us to actually kill one another.

One of my classmates - another girl - was killed by a guy. I don't know why he did it - he never said - but we had a trial to figure out who the killer was and then he was executed. Those were the rules - you had to get away with killing someone in order to escape, but if you got away with it, everyone else died.

[Mondo doesn't look at Rude while he speaks, instead staring at the ground. His pompadour is doing a great job of blocking his face, so it's kind of hard to see what he's feeling. His voice is emotionless, like he's just stating facts.]

Another one of my classmates was killed, but that time was an accident. That hasn't happened in my timeline yet though. I know it happens 'cause Naegi told me.

Only a few of 'em actually make it out of the school alive. The girl who's behind all this executes herself and they're allowed to go free.

[strongestoftheturks]

[Rude remains as impassive as ever, listening to Mondo's story. When there's a lack of "I" and "we" at the end of the explanation, Rude can guess that Mondo...doesn't make it out. Either he was killed, or he killed someone.

It's a good thing Rude isn't part of this game; he wouldn't have had any qualms killing one of them and framing the rest.]

That's...messed up.

[He still can recognize this twisted school for what it is though, and there's a big frown on his face.]