But it wasn't to hear a banshee-like scream and to see a Vulpix rushing him in a blur.
There was no time to leap aside or set himself properly, he just got his forepaws in the way and twisted.
It saved his life as a tail-held knife whiffed past his ear.Tumbling with her, he landed on his side and started to struggle with the Vulpix.Tasha was a little over half his size, but that didn't matter a damn, because the vixen was insane.In a frenzy she attacked, not caring as Chai's keen claws scythed through her fur and scratched her flesh, barely keeping her away as she lunged and tried to claw and rip and tear and then every other second, stab.She was as light as a feather and about as hard to hit, Chai was rolling about with her ever on top of him, dodging the kicks of his hindlegs and diving and pouncing almost right through the quick guard of his forelegs.It was all Chai - a seasoned dirty fighter of uncounted stray street brawls - could do to keep from dying.
Cuts opened on both of them, second after second and the struggling Umbreon realised as a long gash opened along his foreleg from a barely-deflected knife, that they would both bleed to death before either of them won.
And Tasha didn't care.
So Chai waited for a moment when she was still drawing the knife back, pulled all four limbs back and then cannoned her into the sky with both hindlegs.She flew up into the air with an angry, rasping squeak.He rolled out from under her before she could land on him like a bladed missile.
Staggering to his feet outside of her pounce range, Chai began to count the number and severity of his cuts.Then he gave that up because the news was too depressing.He was the only Pokemon with any chance of stopping her.
And then Tasha landed on an air-conditioning unit and he considered his next move.Rush her?Tackle her and try to bury her under his weight?Finish her off with one strike?He didn't think he could hit her with a-
And then Tasha's pumpkin was burning bright.He realised almost too late that he was standing still for too long.He dived just the very instant that the flamethrower began billowing out, high pressure flames bursting through the jagged pumpkin holes screamed as they rushed towards him with terrible speed.
Funny, in all of the fights he'd had with October, he'd never truly faced the terrible power of Fire.Now, even as he leapt out of the way in seeming slow motion, he felt that horrible, awful heat as the incandescent flames howled right past him, seeming to seep right through his fur, skin and flesh, reaching right through him with a stinging heat that threatened and promised to consume him whole."
Wowzers! What a piece, huh! A comission from
\n\t\t\t\t\tXishka, who, in addition to Dark_Violet's piece here, really came together to illustrate the store seen above, written here by October_Flixard!I'm really happy how this all came out. <3