[FIN] Back Again

[Suudonym]

He didn't realize there was a knife in the equation until he felt the blade, and by then it was far too late to dodge its range; he turned his face quickly to a side to minimize the depth of the strike, reacting instinctively to bring up a foot and kick roughly outward straight into her stomach.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

His movements effectively ended her initial attack as his foot connected with her stomach, and she was propelled backwards onto the floor with an 'oof!' Undeterred, she pushed herself back up with an angry half-scream as she lunged towards him again.

The sudden sight of blood coupled with a surge of violence seemed to have startled the Bulbasaur, who made a distressed noise as its vines unintentionally slackened about Luke's wrists.  

[Suudonym]

He didn't know what was going on, and he didn't know what to do, but apparently he didn't need to for his body to be able to act. He pushed his wrists apart abruptly to break free of the loosening vines and stepped aside from her lunge, aiming a low kick to trip her and bringing his elbow up sharply towards the back of her head.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Confusion laced her expression when he moved aside easily to avoid her attack and countered with his own, but she had little time to react before she stumbled forward, only to receive an elbow to the back of the head that effectively floored her. As her knife clattered to the ground, the Bulbasaur hunkered down closer to the floor, trembling in fright as its vines slid out just enough to cover its eyes.  

[Suudonym]

He didn't stay to make sure she was unconscious; all he knew for certain was that she was on the ground and he was standing, and that meant that it was his opportunity to escape. His feet moved faster than his thoughts, and by the time he noticed the sensation of something on his face he was already well away from the vicinity of the warehouse. Thinking it sweat, he swept the back of his hand across the spot and was taken aback by the smear of red left behind. Memories of the slash and recognition of the steady throbbing feeling came to the forefront of his mind, and he stopped, unsure of what to do. Fine a mirror? Find a mirror with a sink. A bathroom, probably. Or should he just call the police?

His hands shaking slightly as the adrenaline from the encounter began to ebb, he simply stood there for a moment in an effort to get his bearings and recover his senses.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Hands in his pockets and a breathy song in his voice, Abel walked along the sidewalk with Isaac at his heels, the pair headed towards a nice cafe for dinner. The sight of a familiar redhead caught his attention, and the blonde brightened as he shifted his course to approach him. "Hey, Luke," he greeted with a raise of one hand, though the closer he got, the more he realized... He looked an awful lot more red than he usually did. That.. wait, was that blood? The nearer he got - after concern quickened his pace - the more it became very obvious that Luke's face was bleeding rather a lot. "Holy s**t, man, what the hell happened to you?"

Right about then was when the little Bulbasaur, panting from the effort and still looking distressed and afraid, appeared from the street Luke had just emerged from, having decided for whatever reason to follow him this whole way.  

[Suudonym]

He was hesitant to touch the wound, but it seemed like he should be doing something to lessen the bleeding. But for much of anything he needed a mirror, and to get to a mirror he had to go through someplace public... Maybe it was better to just call an ambulance, even if it didn't seem like an ambulance-worthy injury.

The sound of his name called his attention up, and though he didn't know the individual he saw, he knew that said individual knew him - or at least knew his name and was comfortable calling out to him. "I don't-- I don't really know, to be honest," he said uneasily. "Some woman with a knife... It seemed like she knew me, but I don't know why. He caught a drop of blood from his chin before it fell, realizing as he did that he'd already missed several drops that were now upon his shirt. "Do you have tissues or - or something?"

The Bulbasaur's arrival went unnoticed; he wasn't expecting to be followed and didn't think to look to see if he was.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Tissues? Man you're gonna need more than some tissues for that," the blonde said with a deep frown. He didn't know how bad it was, but given the amount of blood dripping down his face and onto his shirt, it looked pretty bad. He cast around quickly, both to see if he could see the girl Luke spoke of and to find the nearest place with a restroom. When he didn't see the girl, he instead gestured towards the nearest building which just happened to be a cheap restaurant and put a hand on the redhead's shoulder to try and steer him toward it, "Come on, let's go get you cleaned up first so you stop bleeding all over yourself and then we can call the cops about it."

"Saauuurrr," the Bulbasaur agreed, panting less now than it had been a few moments ago, though still mildly distressed.  

[Suudonym]

Well, he figured tissues would probably be pretty ineffective in the long run, but they'd be a good start at least... When he saw the restaurant that was their apparent destination, he frowned, "Is that a good idea? I mean, a restaurant...?" People were probably eating in there; he felt like he needed to cover his face or something.

The sound of the Bulbasaur calling out drew his attention, and Luke regarded it with some surprise. "That's her pokemon, I think," he said. He supposed it could have been another Bulbasaur, but what were the odds? "That's actually... useful." They could take it to the pokemon center and have its registration identified to get the woman's name. "Are you coming with us?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel blinked down at the Bulbasaur - when did that get there? - then paused at the thought, and a restaurant... Probably wasn't the best idea, but it was the closest and if he remembered right, the restrooms were right near the entrance. "Not really.. Well, I dunno," he said with a frown, then pointed at Luke, "I'll run and go ask real quick, actually. Wait here," the blonde said, then turned to depart, only to glance down and point at his Espeon, "Isaac, wait here with him."

The Espeon made a noise but obediently moved to stand beside Luke, and took to peering up at the redhead with concern. That looked horrible, and probably hurt quite a bit... He couldn't even imagine something like that happening to his own dear friend.

The Bulbasaur, at the words of both Luke and Abel, plodded forward and sat down beside Luke with an agreeable, obedient, "Bulbaaa!"

Emanating from whence Luke had come was the outraged scream of a woman, rising just over the noise of various cars passing by and echoing through the streets.  

[Suudonym]

He voiced a brief acquiescence; he didn't mind waiting, though he did wish he had something better than his hands to keep the blood from running from his face.

His attention fell to the Bulbasaur that sat itself down happily. It certainly didn't seem as foul-intentioned as its earlier actions implied. "Do you like that woman?" he asked of the little grass-type. "Do you want to stay with her?" He knew that wouldn't be permitted - criminals couldn't legally keep pokeballs, and they would surely be separated, willingly or not - but he still wanted to gauge what the pokemon's wishes were.

Speaking of said woman, the distant echo of a feral cry caught Luke's attention, and he raised his attention, focusing, nearly without breathing, on the street he'd come from. He wasn't sure he was entirely comfortable standing out there alone, even if he did technically have the company of the Espeon and Bulbasaur.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The scream similarly caught Isaac's attention, and the Espeon immediately turned, his short fur standing on end and his colorful eyes focused unblinking in the direction the sound had come from. He didn't like this, not one bit.

Neither, it appeared, did the Bulbasaur, as it suddenly hunkered down when the scream echoed out from the streets. Luke's questions received a confused, mildly frightened look in return, though the latter feeling was most likely due to the scream - it hadn't appeared frightened anymore until that moment.

Abel emerged from the restaurant he'd previously indicated, a large cloth napkin in hand, and quickly jogged towards the group. "They said you're fine to come in, the bathroom's right inside the door," he said when he reached Luke, immediately offering him the cloth for his face with one hand while moving to usher him in that direction with the other, "and gave me one of these for you. C'mon, let's get you cleaned up. They offered to call the cops too, with what little I could tell them, so they'll likely wanna hear more about that chick and everything from you when they get here."  

[Suudonym]

If the Bulbasaur didn't understand, Luke surmised that it probably didn't have much of an opinion or strong feelings one way or the other. That would make separating them easy, at least, though he wondered what would happen to the Bulbasaur after its pokeball had been confiscated. "Don't worry," he offered in baseless reassurance, presenting a smile that he guessed might not have had the effect intended with the current condition of his countenance. "It's safe here."

He turned towards the approaching man as he reappeared, listening to him speak and reflexively raising a hand to receive the cloth that was offered to him. "She was unconscious when I left," he said, moving to follow and wiping red from his face - he still avoided the wound itself, though, as irritating it just didn't strike him as a wise course of action. "She might not be anymore, though."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

This time, Luke's words received a smile from the Bulbasaur, though whether it understood him or not was anyone's guess.

The news that she had been unconscious but may not be anymore received a frown in reply as they walked, though he didn't question it - unconsciousness varied a bit, depending on the cause, and it was very probable that specific types of blows would render someone unconscious for a short amount of time, but not too long. He didn't even think to consider that there was a reason Luke had offered that piece of information. Instead, he shrugged and attempted to stay optimistic, despite his low opinion of the police and legal system, "Even if she's not, they'll find her either way, don't worry. How d'you think her pokemon will be helpful?" He asked as he opened the door and held it for Luke to pass through. The restrooms were indeed right near the door, off to one side, and clearly marked.  

[Suudonym]

He generally kept his head down once inside the building, still not certain that he was entirely comfortable walking around looking like Halloween had come early but with few if any alternatives at the moment. "If it's captured," he explained as he entered the restroom cautiously and, finding it empty, made his way to the nearest sink, "then there's a piece of data inside it that attaches it to a certain pokeball - that's what makes it so you can't catch a pokemon that already belongs to someone. At the pokemon center they can use that data to figure out whose it is."