Love in the Time of Tomorrow

Chapter 5: A Fury

It's always nice to see readers trying to figure out what's going on when that's what I've intended. There may be answers ahead, but we still have a long road ahead. Time for Chapter 5!

Chapter 5

A Fury

The remnants of the meteors sprinkled down on to the grass, flickering out of their tiny embers as they made contact with its surface to leave what remained virtually untouched. Serena's chest heaved, watching as the older man stepped forward. Aidan wasn't walking with his usual gait; no hands tucked behind his back, no bookish looks of intelligence. All of those were replaced with a man wearing hard lines on his face, and his arms at his side. It was the first sign of just how much he was not playing around.

Nor was the woman.

"You took out Draco Meteor...impressive," she spoke, almost looking pleased. The meteor debris finished falling completely, the sky returning to its opalescent blue. Next to Serena, Bonnie was also trying to get up. Squishy was right in front of her, acting as a protector while Dedenne recovered as well, though Serena was more focused on the woman in front of them.

"Not all that hard," Aidan spoke, though his tone said he wasn't looking to have any notion of small talk in this encounter. There were some noises in the vicinity, and Serena wanted to guess at the fact that the students had caught sight of the battle, beginning to flee, though she didn't dare tear her eyes away from the scene to confirm. "Now, answer me, filth."

"Answer you? You've hardly asked a question," came the woman's taunting remark. Serena's eyes narrowed, and she tried to stand, but Aidan's body language shifted just a little. It was screaming at her to stay put in that very moment. So, all she could do was stare at the woman's upturned smirk, her auburn hair curling at the ends as the blond walked forward yet another step.

"Rocky," Bonnie hissed to her senior next to her. He turned his head, supporting himself on Rhyperior as Squishy closed ranks. "Can you get to the town or something?"

"Don't know if I'll have time for that, squirt." Serena had to agree, observing the two forces that seemed about to collide with one another. Already, though, she was looking for an opening, either to aid in the dam that was about to break loose or to escape and make sure no further damage was done to Nova Town in its wake.

"Why are you here? What is your purpose? To cause further rancor and death?" Aidan asked harshly. The shadow that had cut through the meteors reappeared now, this time materializing itself next to Samurott, enough for Serena to see what it looked like: it was Banette. Her face scrunched in confusion. "Did you blow this town half to hell? Did you kill my son?

"Did you kill my best friend? !"

Serena's eyes widened, almost sending another shock of sickness through her veins, but she held on. It wasn't just any normal Banette. It was Lionel's Banette. The stark realization of Aidan's words slammed upon them, even if Rocky seemed completely nonplussed by that exact phrase. Bonnie, however, wasn't.

"Lionel..." she gasped out, halfway to trying to stand up. The woman's expression was un-telling, her eyes closing a bit to appear like a smug, lidded expression. "He's...no...not...not Mr. Lionel..."

"So what if I did?" the woman finally responded. A question being returned to the initial question clearly did not amuse Aidan, whose face etched itself further in anger, like a palpable aura that flared around him. "Granting, I had no direct hand in it. But are you just going to go after everyone involved?"

"No, I will not. So, just answer me this: why did your Team Rocket attack Nova Town? Why did you kill my friend?" Aidan asked one last time. His voice cracked at the end, now running out of any sense of patience. Above, Altaria hovered back down to a reasonable level, regarding each opponent with the same lidded eyes as its trainer. The woman smiled now, but it was just as vapid as before.