Beast Speaker, Monster Tamer

Part 15: Blood

'Use your quirk in order to save others.'

Blood pooled out from underneath her teacher's immobile form as the villain went on unperturbed. "He's the anti-Symbol of Peace, the bioengineered 'Nomu'."

The creature let out a disgusting croak as Elise stared frozen at it. "Th-This... what did they do?"

A crack and Aizawa's scream of pain reached her. Elise saw red. She was now a Luxray, bounding past her Pokémon companions.

"ELISE!"

"Tsk, annoying. You're gonna get yourself killed, you stupid brat. All for what? To be a good guy? To be the newest face seen on TV?" He chuckled. "Pathetic, worthless trash."

A leap and she was on the monstrosity's back. It dropped Aizawa a tried to dislodge her. Blood seeped between her claws as it dug into brain matter. Electricity danced between them as the girl hung on. It staggered and flailed as her claws gouged holes into its body and yellow flashes light up the space around them. Even with all that she did, it barely slowed down the creature.

The villain was monologuing. "For shame, I've heard of you... Elise Wing."

Elise faltered at the mention of her name. Big mistake. The monster's hand clamped down on her front leg. Elise shifted back in a panic but it was too late. She could feel her left arm pull out of its socket in a nasty pop as the Nomu swung around and threw her away. She was flying.

Her head bashed into stone stairs near the entrance with a 'thud'. It was so hard to breathe. Her back hurt. Her shoulder was on fire. She could feel cramps and muscle spasms all over her body. Wheezing breaths escaped the girl as she struggled to prop herself up on her good arm. "S-senseiii," she wheezed.

The Nomu was back on top of him, smashing her teacher's face down to the concrete. Each hit cracked the pavement underneath while tears ran down her face. It hurt too much to move and Elise could only watch, helpless.

Helpless.

"—lise! Elise! ELISE!"

Blaziken was in front of her obscuring the scene. Elise opened her mouth to say something, but a violent gust of wind swept through. Her Pokémon friend anchored her in place as it passed. Gathering enough strength to sit up, Elise looked at her friend. "Aizawa-sensei," she wheezed, fresh blood dripping from her nose. The headache was so bad now.

Dark eyes scanned the girl's face. "Luxray is bringing him over now. Rest."

The girl looked at her left shoulder. "M-my shoulder!"

"Shhh, shhh it's okay."

Luxray, with Greninja accompanying it, gently came to a stop with Aizawa on its back. Elise gave a hoarse cry. Her muscles screamed as she dragged herself towards his prone form. Her vision was swimming in and out of focus but she could see red. There was blood, so much blood.

Blood.

Blood.

It was everywhere. The Luxray's fur, her teacher's face, rust-brown stains underneath her fingernails and streaking up her arm.

Bile rose up in her throat as she emptied her stomach's content on to the ground next to her. Suddenly, she was thirteen again, forced to watch as the blood bled from the Charmander's lifeless body, helpless. It was like she was looking at the scene from above, Elise couldn't will herself to move. Everything felt tight. Her lungs ached and her head pounded. The three Pokémons took a protective stance around the two humans to ward off the villains creeping in.