Chapter 56: Counterbalanced - An Unovan Tale

WARNING - From now on, if you haven't read the rest of the chapters yet,
I strongly suggest reading those first. There are important things happening/coming up in the story,
and reading those before the rest of the story just isn't as much fun as the other way around.

Counterbalanced - Chapter 56

Wide-eyed and instantly traumatized, Alex stared into the dark tunnel behind her.
Her knees were dangerously weak, and the ability to breathe seemed to have abandoned her.

…It was quiet again, now.

But Quinn’s long, pained scream was still ringing in her ears, loud and clear.

She knew.
She knew what was happening.
Nicholas was acting out his threat.

“Elizabeth. If you go now…
…I’ll kill him. Your lover.
He’ll be dead, because of you.”

She was so scared.
Pure terror was taking a hold of her fast, overwhelming her.

Even the thought of it…
It was simply… too much.

Alex was panting heavily now, and the Victory Road seemed to be spinning around her.
Her right hand was desperately looking for support on the tunnel’s rough wall, and suddenly, she was feeling sick.

For a long, horrific moment, she was sure she was going to throw up, as a consequence of her body and mind being so completely out of balance.

…
…
…

…But the moment passed, leaving just the sharp, constant pain in her broken torso behind.

What was she supposed to do…?
Quinn had told her to stay away, but…

…
…
…

Alex flinched badly as another round of Quinn’s screams echoed through the tunnel.
This time, it sounded softer… muffled.

What was Nicholas doing to him…?!

Her imagination was running wild, and the urge to break down and cry almost overpowered her.

…Calm down. Be strong.

After barely fighting back her pressing tears, Alex drew a heavy breath.

‘You’re the toughest girl I’ve ever met…’

Alex clenched her teeth together, hard.
Quinn’s words…
How untrue were they, now that she was reduced to a whimpering mess…?

‘You’re letting Nicholas get the best of you.
Being scared is okay, but you stopped thinking straight.
Stopped fighting back...’

Quinn had been right, back then.
And now, she had made the same mistake all over again, by walking away.
It would cost her Quinn’s life this time.

A sob started in her throat, but she quickly subdued it.

“No…”

Doing her best to ignore the pain throughout her body, Alex pushed herself away from the tunnel’s wall.

No more.

Nicholas had already taken their parents away from her.

“Quinn…”

She’d been afraid and evasive all this time.
Nicholas had driven her into a life of hiding and guilt.
And now that good things finally started to happen to her…

A low, angry growl escaped her.

“Enough.”

Her breathing had changed.
Slowed down. Deepened.

…
…
…

…Slowly but surely, another emotion started welling up from within.

Fury.

Without her even noticing, her fingers had tightly curled up, and were now forming fists.

Yes.

It was time to end this, no matter what.

And with that thought in mind, she started to move.
Back to where she’d come from.

---

…
…
…

…Quinn clenched his teeth, his face distorted with pain.
Lying on his stomach, and only half-conscious, he vaguely noted Nicholas stepping closer.

He groaned, trying to ignore the blinding pain.

What had happened…?!

Still dazed, he couldn’t be sure.
At one moment, he’d been sitting on Nicholas’ chest, pinning the man down.
There had been no chance for Alex’ brother to escape his steady grip, but…

…
…
…

---

…
…
…

…A chuckle.

“You’re a very hot-headed guy, aren’t you…?”

Nicholas’ voice had been soft, but clearly audible.
Quinn had simply stared down on the man’s beat-up face, working hard to remain unresponsive.

…But that hadn’t been the end of it.

Nicholas’ smile had looked scary under his mask of blood, when quietly stating:

“…She’ll be back, you know. Elizabeth.
Obeying orders has never been her strong suit. You’ll see.
Her return is only a matter of t-…”

Quinn had aggressively shaken him, but it had only been enough to keep the man quiet for a couple of seconds.

…He’d started talking again.
Comments. Questions. Taunts.
An endless stream of them.

Insulting him. Alex.
Them, as a couple.

…And Quinn had clearly felt his blood pressure rise.

Nicholas had been right about his hot-headedness.
It had gotten him in trouble more than once. He had always been the worst at ignoring provocations, and the fact that they were coming from Nicholas only made him spin out of control faster…

…
…
…

A waterfall of terrible words.

…
…
…

Belittling. Insulting. Challenging. Increasingly bold.
Each single remark seemed to hit him harder than the last.

At this point, his blood had truly been boiling, and the muscles in his arms and neck had slowly tightened.
Every inch of his body had been wound up, as he made an enormous effort to keep thinking straight.

But he was helpless against Nicholas’ constant sniding contempt.

“She must’ve been good, huh…? For you to be dedicated like this… I bet sh-…”

That was it.
The final drop.

For a moment, he lost himself.

“SHUT… UP!”

Unable to hold himself back anymore, Quinn’s fist had smashed down hard in Nicholas’ face.
And again. And again. With a wild roar, now fully blinded by anger, he’d raised his arm again for another beating, but…
…
…
…

“Aargh…!”

Strong teeth, tightly closing around his right lower leg, pulling him back.

Houndoom.

At the moment where he’d lost his temper, he’d completely stopped paying attention to anything else. The Fire-Pokémon had needed a while to recover from being punched on the nose, but now, she’d taken this moment of absolute distraction to sneak around, and take her sweet, violent revenge.

With ruthless force, over double the power she’d used to hold Alex, the strong Pokémon’s teeth sank deeply into his calf muscles.
Quinn’s eyes widened, crying out again, realizing the trouble he was in.

His fingers dug into the front of Nicholas’ jacket, but they were only able to hold on for a brief moment.

…The fabric slipped out of his fingers a second later, and then he was dragged roughly across the uneven tunnel floor. Clenching his teeth, he’d kicked at the shiny Pokémon with his free leg, struggling in vain, thrashing about, his hand clawing at every possible ledge…

Yet his efforts had only made Houndoom attack him more ferociously.
With wild growls and snarls, she’d bitten down on his leg again and again, shaking her head, pulling, drawing blood…

…From the corner of his eyes, Quinn had seen Nicholas scramble to his feet, unsteady at first, then straightening himself up.

The man had watched the unfair fight for a moment, before quietly ordering his strong Pokémon:

“Make him scream.”

And as Houndoom finally got serious, her strong teeth tearing apart his leg’s muscles, Quinn had writhed in the dust.

Oh, he’d been in pain before.
After fights. Bumping into things. Falling down…
He’d been black and blue.

But it had been nothing, compared to this.

The pain finally taking over, he had thrown his head back, and screamed.

…
…
…

---

…
…
…

“Thank you very much. That ought to do the trick…”

Nicholas’ shoes moved again as he crouched down, his hand grabbing a fistful of dark brown hair.
He pulled the breathless young man’s head back with a quick tug, forcing Quinn to look up at him.

There was a wicked grin on Nicholas’ face, and Quinn was convinced the man had finally lost the last of his sanity.
He was dealing with a madman.

“Oh, I do enjoy watching you squirm, you arrogant brat. Plus…”

Even though Nicholas was still covered in severe bruises and blood, he was looking ominously cheerful.
Ignoring Quinn’s deadly glance, and attempts to fight his grip, Nicholas continued:

“…Like this, Elizabeth will be back here in no time at all. But just to hurry her up…”

The man released his hair, and stood back to enjoy the show.

Oh no.

Nicholas didn’t even give Houndoom the actual command, his Pokémon was eager enough.

Pinned to the ground, dizzy and in pain, Quinn knew what was coming.
Closing his eyes with everything he had, he brought his own hand to his mouth, biting down hard on his knuckles.

…But not even that could completely muffle his screams as Houndoom continued to destroy his right lower leg.

…
…
…

---

…
…
…

He sensed her.

…Shakily, he lifted his head, staring past Nicholas’ feet, into the darkness.
There was no sign of her yet, but she was getting closer.

Don’t, Alex. Stay away…

But their mental connection had been fading since the moment she’d woken up in the Hall of Visions, and he wasn’t even sure if she could hear him, anymore. Maybe he was too weak to transmit messages, now…

He was bleeding badly, the puddle of blood around him growing steadily. Combined with the constant, excruciating pain in his torn-up leg, he was feeling lightheaded and numb. Even the strength to scream seemed to have forsaken him, reducing his response to Houndooms attacks to mere grunts and groans.

…
…
…

“…!”

…
…
…

Quinn could feel Alex’ shock as she saw him, beaten down and powerless.
He thought he caught a glimpse of her as she slowly moved through the shadows in the corner of his eyes, but he couldn’t be sure. Even with her injuries, she managed to tread lightly.

Her shock had only made Alex more resolved…
And now, she was sneaking up to her brother, and getting ready for an attack.

As inconspicuous as possible, he tried shaking his head, hoping to warn the girl.

You can’t win, Alex…

But his mental message bounced right off, and he flinched.
She was in no mood to accept warnings or advice.

…There was no stopping her.

…
…
…

…
…
…

…
…
…

Then, in one heart-stopping moment…

…Teeth clenched, and completely focused on her brother, Alex went for a fast blitz attack.
Overtaken by wrath, her dark eyes seemed to be alight with inner fire.
Quinn saw her leap out of the shadows, heading straight for Nicholas, and for a moment, he was in complete awe of her. This magnificent girl… injured, tortured, scared and traumatized… she came back for him, and was prepared to face Nicholas on her own.

…Then his heart sunk.

Nicholas had his back turned on Alex.
But as he heard his sister’s angry growl behind him, a small, triumphant smirk appeared on his face.

The man had been waiting for this.

…
…
…

The next moment, Alex had jumped on Nicholas’ back, wrapping her left arm tightly around his neck.
A soft groan escaped her on the moment of impact, but she wasn’t going to let her injuries stop her.
Alex’ right hand grabbed her left wrist, and pulled her forearm even tighter around his throat, creating a chokehold.

Quinn held his breath as he stared up at the pair. In theory, this could work.
Considering the possibilities, it had been the most sensible attack.
If she could just hold on long enough, the lack of air would…-

…Grabbing Alex’ arm, Nicholas seemed to stumble back at first, as if he was pulled out of balance by his sister’s weight on his back. But as he backed away further, speeding up towards the tunnel wall, it became awfully clear what his intentions were.

“No…!”

Quinn clawed in the earth, his eyes widening.

Alex cried out in panic, a second before she crashed into the wall behind them.
Her grip on Nicholas’ neck lost all its power as her broken ribs were crushed even further between the rough surface and her brother’s body. Spinning around in her arms, Nicholas gave her no time to even wrap her head around the paralyzing pain.

Leaning back, he allowed his sister to fall forward, before placing his hand on her chin and…

…with a ruthless show of agression, he smashed her head back into the wall.

Horrified, and unable to do anything, Quinn watched on as Alex immediately went limp in her brother’s arms, her strong fighting spirit completely dissolving in that single moment.

…Quinn was panting now, feeling like he might faint.
The remnants of his connection with Alex was wavering heavily.

Was he witnessing her murder…?

Almost careless, Nicholas turned around, and threw Alex on the floor, just outside of Quinn’s reach.

She landed on the ground with a thud, where she remained motionless.
Her hair was glistening with blood, and her eyes were closed.

Panicked, Quinn clenched his teeth, making a tremendous effort to move forward, despite Houndoom pulling him back after every attempt. Lightheaded as the blood loss made him, he still… needed to know…

“Alex…! Please…”

Looking awfully pale, Alex was lying a little over an armlength away from him, as he desperately looked for any sign of life…

…
…
…

…Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Alex groaned softly, and her eyelids quivered.

She was alive…!

The terrible, sinking feeling in Quinn’s heart lifted slightly.
…But not for long.

A couple feet away, Nicholas growled.

“Damnit…! She. Just. Won’t. Die.”

Determined, unpredictable and very angry, the man moved forward, swooping down on Alex, and pinning her down by straddling her.
For a moment, he looked down on her, ignoring Quinn’s shocked, incoherent swear words directed at him.

Alex’ eyelashes fluttered again, and her eyelids opened a little further as Nicholas hissed:

“…Stupid brat.”

Nicholas leaned forward, his bloody face now only inches from his sister’s.
The man’s voice was full of barely contained anger.

“No more delaying this. You’ve been standing between me and my business all this time…”

Shakily, Alex’ lips parted as she prepared to speak, but Nicholas didn’t let her.

“It’s finally coming to an end. I should’ve done this a long, long time ago…”

And abruptly, his hands shot forward, closing tightly around her neck.

“…!”

Immediately, Alex’ eyes shot open, and her body was stirred back into moving with a shock.
She would’ve screamed, but Nicholas’ hands were cutting off her air supply very effectively.

Moving frantically now, Alex’ legs kicked up dust.

Twisting, struggling.

Desperate to breathe, her nails scratched his hands, his arms, his face…

And Quinn found himself screaming at Nicholas, trying all tactics that came to mind.
He swore, insulting him, but it soon changed to begging him to stop, offering to take Alex’ place…
Houndoom wasn’t letting her guard down for a second, pulling him back with all her might as he tried to crawl forward. With renewed energy, he kicked at her, turned, fought…

…All to no avail.

Adrenaline rushing through his body, and completely ignoring Quinn’s desperate cries, Nicholas leaned on Alex’ throat even heavier, as he screamed in her face, almost ecstatically:

“No, Elizabeth…! You don’t deserve a future…! I will win…!
There will be no storybook ending for you, where you marry your prince, and live happily ever after with the money that is rightfully mine…!”

He lowered his voice now, and leaned in closer to whisper, apparently not even feeling the deep, panicked scratches she left across his skin. Her eyes were shifting fast, tears running down from the sides of her face, and her mouth was open, desperate for air.

“And you know what…? It’s your boyfriend’s turn, next. Maybe I’ll let Houndoom finish him off…”

Alex’ wide eyes shifted at Quinn for a moment, but he could see she was already sinking away as the lack of air got to her.
He found himself struggling to breathe as well, panting heavily, affected by their connection.

…Quinn had no choice but to watch on as her movements slowed down, and got weaker.

Alex’ nails did no more damage as they slipped off of Nicholas’ arms.
Her legs were just moving aimlessly now.

Maintaining his tight grip around his sister’s throat, Nicholas was grinning wildly, as Alex’ body started to lose power.

“Yes, Elizabeth… That’s it. Don’t worry, it’ll be over soon…”

…
…
…

Alex’ right arm slid down to the ground.
Her hand twitched.

…
…
…

“Please… Please…”

Quinn felt his own tears starting to flow.
He hadn’t cried in years…

…
…
…

Her eyelids only half open now, Alex’ hand shakily moved an inch towards Quinn. And another.

…
…
…

“Alex…”

…
…
…

Her legs twitched once more.

…
…
…

“No. No. No…”

…
…
…

Her eyes slowly rolled up as she lost consciousness.

…
…
…

…
…
…

…
…
…

…
…
…

…
…
…

…
…
…

…
…
…

…
…
…

“Gaa-aahh…! NO…!”

Quinn screamed as their mental connection snapped.

The pain in his leg, no matter how excruciating, was completely overshadowed by the heartbreaking agony he felt. His loud cries were a mixture of swearing and sobbing.

…Dead. She was dead. Alex… No. No. No…

He… He hadn’t been able to save her…

…
…
…

Right in front of him, Nicholas was staring down on his sister’s pale, lifeless face.

“It… It’s done.”

After a moment of silence, a relieved laugh bubbled up from inside Nicholas.

“Finally… Now I can finally…-”

…
…
…

…brrm… brrm… brrm…

…
…
…

Overwhelmed with despair, Quinn wasn’t listening to Nicholas’ words in the slightest.
But as he was lying flat on his stomach, in full contact with the ground, he was the first to notice the tremor.

…
…
…

…brrm… brrm… brRM… BRRM… BRRRRRM…

…
…
…

In his dazed mind, he was slow to recognize the rhythm.

…Nicholas was still saying something, but…

…
…
…

BRRRRRM… BRRRRRM… BRRRRRM… BRRRRRMMM…

…
…
…

…A second before impact, Quinn realized what was happening.

In a reflex, he pressed himself to the ground, making sure he was laying perfectly still, as…

…
…
…

…Tauros gave no warning, no time for Nicholas to defend himself.
Furious, wild and violent, the Pokémon dashed around the corner, his head low.

Peeking up from his position, Quinn was just in time to see Nicholas turn his head, and freeze.

…
…
…

…
…
…

…The next moment, Tauros’ gray horns had mercilessly dug into Nicholas’ torso.

“Ah…!”

Nicholas didn’t get the chance to let out anything more than a short, surprised cry, before he was abruptly swept away by Tauros, and dragged along…

…Off Alex.
Over Quinn.
Past Houndoom.

Into the darkness.

…
…
…

It had happened in the blink of an eye, too fast for Quinn.
Behind him, Houndoom had instantly released his leg, and had run off, following Alex’ Pokémon with an appalled series of howls.

…
…
…

…
…
…

Silence.

…
…
…

…
…
…

…Unable to grasp what had happened, it took Quinn a moment to realize that he was no longer being held.
Slowly, he clawed in the sand, pulling himself forward.

“A-… Alex…”

His quavering voice was weak.
And as he tried to move faster, the edges of his vision started to blur.
The effects of blood loss.

…But he paid little attention to it.

He moved again, before stretching out his arm.
With some effort, his fingers managed to grab Alex’ outstretched, motionless hand.

As he proceeded to pull the girl’s body to him, he started talking to her, with the blind determination to wake her up.

“Alex… It’s alright now.”

He wrapped his arm around her waist as soon as he could, wanting to hold her.
But her ribs felt so broken and unsteady, that he immediately pulled his hand back.

…She hadn’t responded to his touch at all.

He moved his hand to her shoulder, shaking her.

“Come on, Alex. Wake up.”

Dead. She’s dead.

“No…”

His fingers caressed her face.
Her pale cheeks. Her closed eyelids. Her lips…

Driven on by her lack of breathing, he abruptly pulled her head even closer.
Placing his lips over hers, he blew all the air he had into her lungs.
With no indication he was doing this right or not, he gasped, and repeated his action.
And again. And again.

Come on, Alex. I need you to be alive…

Quinn slightly tilted her head back, to gain easier access to her mouth.
If only he’d followed a first-aid training, then he’d know how to do this properly…
He’d only seen people do this on tv…

He took another deep gulp of air, and in a moment of wisdom, moved his fingers over the sides of her nose, to stop air from coming out of her nostrils. As he blew into Alex’ mouth again, he saw her chest rise as his breath reached her lungs.

He leaned back, hoping for a result.

…
…
…

Nothing.

…
…
…

He inhaled again, ignoring his rising panic as well as his blurring vision.
If he was going to die of blood loss, he might as well spend his remaining time on trying to bring Alex back.

…
…
…

…More air.

He anxiously watched her chest fall as he leaned back.

…
…
…

Nothing.

…
…
…

He grit his teeth.

“Come on, lady. Breathe…!”

As he blew air into her mouth yet again, he felt himself get dizzy.
Was it the blood loss, or was he doing this wrong…?

Unsure on what to do, his hand crept to her neck, trying to detect a pulse.

Was reviving her even possible, like this…?

…
…
…

Placing his mouth over hers again, he made another, increasingly desperate attempt.

…
…
…

Nothing.

…
…
…

Far away, in the dark behind him, Houndoom cried out.
Not angry, or ferocious, as Quinn knew her, but forlorn and heartbroken, and he knew…

…Nicholas was dead.

Killed by Alex’ raging Tauros.

…
…
…

Quinn kissed the side of Alex’ face, one of his hands clawing in her hair.
His voice came out in a whisper.

“Did you hear that, love…? Nicholas is gone.
Come back to me, there’s nothing left to be afraid of…”

As he breathed into her mouth again, he felt a tear running down his face, and he realized that he was losing hope fast.

“Come on…”

Quinn grit his teeth, not wanting to give into the dread he felt.

But there was no time left…

“Alex… Alex… Please…”

…
…
…

Nothing.

…
…
…

His fingers went over her face again.

Dead. She’s dead.

…
…
…

What would he do without her…?

Despairing, he clenched his fists, and cried out:

“NO…! Live, damnit…!”

In a wild movement, his fist came down hard on her chest.

…
…
…

…Her eyes flew open.

With a long, ragged gasp, immediately followed by wild, uncontrollable coughing, Alex was jumpstarted back to life.

In a reflex, her legs kicked, as if she was still defending herself against Nicholas, and her hands tried to push Quinn away in a panicked attempt to escape from her attacker.

…Not believing his luck, Quinn gaped down on Alex for a second, before folding his arms tightly around her, pulling the struggling girl as close to him as he possibly could.

“It’s me, Alex… Sssshhh… It’s over. It’s finally over…”

Slowly but surely, Alex seemed to realise she wasn’t being attacked anymore.
Still trembling, her gasps soon turned into sobs, and she pressed her head against Quinn’s shoulder as she finally recognised him, her tears flowing freely.

“Q-Quinn…”

“Sssshh… I’m here, love. I’m right here.”

Quinn continued to make soft, hushing sounds, until her crying had completely stopped.
Then he carefully placed his head on her chest, and closed his eyes, just listening to her heartbeat.

…
…
…

Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum.

Quinn couldn’t believe how hugely comforting this sound was to him, and he finally relaxed a bit.

He… He was suddenly feeling… very tired…

…
…
…

…
…
…

---

…
…
…

…
…
…

Voices.

…
…
…

Flashes of light, and the voices grew louder.

…
…
…

She’d been halfway to unconsciousness.
Her head was throbbing.

There was pain… everywhere.

…
…
…

Gentle hands on her arm, her shoulder…

…
…
…

With difficulty, Alex slowly opened her eyes.

Silhouettes of people, looming over her.
She flinched as nimble fingers inspected her torso.
They proceeded to touch her head, and examine the puncture wounds on her wrists…

Then, they started to pull her away from Quinn, and suddenly, she was wide awake.

“N-no… I…”

But the people around her were talking, and her words were lost.
She turned her head, ignoring the severely bruised feeling in her neck, and her eyes widened.

“Quinn…!”

Her loud cry temporarily halted the conversations echoing through the tunnel.

Quinn’s eyes were closed, his head softly sliding to the ground as Alex was pulled away from him.
Only now did she notice the pool of blood around his lower body.

Alex started to struggle against the hands that held her.

“No…! Look… Look at Quinn…!”

Someone knelt down beside her, blocking her view of Quinn.
As a hand gently wiped some hair out of her eyes, and Alex suddenly recognized Yena.

“Yena…! Please… He’s…”

The blond girl grabbed Alex’ hand, and held it tight.
There was a worried look on her face.

“They’re going to look at him right now, Alex. Just… try not to move, okay? You’re badly hurt…”

A blue Pokémon was standing by her side, and somewhere in the back of her head, Alex realised that Oshawott had evolved.
Still dazed, she tried to shake off another person’s hand as it went over her neck…

“Heal Pulse.”

On her other side, a bright, multi-colored ball of energy appeared in the air.
The Pokémon creating it leaned forward, then spread its little hands over her ribs, concentrating the Healing Pulse’s mending effects on just her upper body. Alex sighed as the pain immediately started to lift.

Rick’s Audino.

She’d only been in the same unit as Rick for a couple of days, before she’d picked a fight with their leader, and got transferred again. Now, the blond, freckled young man had appeared by Yena’s side.

The hand that she’d felt going over her neck earlier had been one of the feelers on Audino’s ears, checking her heartbeat and physical condition. Alex had seen this skilled Pokémon in action a couple of times, and knew its healing abilities to be remarkable.

If she could just…

Looking down on her, Rick’s face was serious.

“Stay still, Alex. Audino wi-…”

Alex abruptly interrupted him, ignoring his words.

“Rick. Let Audino heal Quinn.”

Rick resolutely shook his head.

“There are good people looking at Quinn. Now stay st-…”

She was still in survival-mode.

Startling Yena, Alex’ free hand shot up, and grabbed the collar of Rick’s shirt.
There was panic and frustration in her voice as she hissed through her teeth:

“Damnit, Rick…! I outrank you…! Do as I say…!”

His eyes wide, Rick opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again as a calm voice behind Alex’ head said:

“…And I outrank you, Alex. Rick will remain here. Now stay still.”

Chase.

His gloved hand gently untangled her fingers from Rick’s shirt.
Then the man knelt down, his knees on either side of her head, making sure it couldn’t move.

…Feeling like she’d lost all control of the situation, Alex started to cry.

If she lost Quinn after all this…

Squeezing Yena’s hand as tightly as she could, she protested in between sobs:

“B-but Quin-nn…”

His usually stern face now compassionate, Chase looked over Yena’s shoulder.

“I just looked at him. His leg is messed up, but I think he’ll be alright.
They’re putting him on a stretcher right now…”

Yena’s soft voice added:

“We need to get you to a hospital, as well…”

…
…
…

…
…
…

…
…
…