"No, I see you, chryssa glasgow ." Said one John Douglas Sullivan, looking up confidently at his nemesis from the bottom of the small hill.

Dressed in a dapper suit and with a bouquet of flowers slung over his shoulder, the bugcatcher sported a lazy grin as he stared up at the bunkered down Empress, brow tilted in a show of mockery.

Her warning shot had landed at his feet (almost... kinda), promising pain and suffering should he take even a single step further.

Naturally, he took two.

"Duly noted." He said, before harrumphing at her as he swung his arm up and pointed a finger skyward, dramatically. "Doing it anyway! Ya getting this bouquet whether you want it or not, yer majesty!"

It had been a major pain in the bottom to find enough flowers for a bouquet in winter! She would not escape his thoughtfulness!

In response, she nearly gave him a concussion, his feet slipping over the slide her Lapras had suddenly placed between'em, sending him rolling down the small portion of the hill he had managed to climb, wind knocked right out of his lungs on landing.

He had barely managed to keep the bouquet intact.

"Indeed, you realize-" He said from where he laid, before he snapped up to a sitting position, glaring up at the girl."That this means WAR, Chryssa Glasgow?!"

A pokeball was suddenly produced from his sleeve and thrown in one smooth, practiced and dramatic motion, releasing into the icy battlefield...

An Accelgor Ninja.

Her defeat was inevitable.

It stood there, arms crossed, scarf fluttering in the wind dramatically, surely summoned to handle only the deadliest of opponents his trainer could possibly face-!

"Cover me!" Said the youth as he jumped back to his feet and ran around the frozen part of the slope, beginning to make his ascent up the small hill. "I've got a date and the lady's waiting for me!"

It was only then Namegon the Accelgor looked around, noticed Doug's 'opponent' was Chryssa, and realized why he had been called upon.

He dropped down on his butt with a grumble and began to moodily make snowballs.

"The Ocean Armies will never recover from today's humiliation, Chryssa Glasgow! These flowers have your name on them!" Said Doug, before throwing back his head and cackling madly while running up the hill.

It was clear he had been practicing- his laughter that is. His balance, however...

He nearly fell back, his arms pinwheeling around madly in an attempt to keep him... not quite upright, but off-the-snow at least.

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TAG: chryssa glasgow

A DELIBIRD flies towards the two of you, holding a bag of presents in its beak. As he sees the chaos you two are making, the bird begins to panic, dropping its bag in the snow and wondering what to do.[break]

Until an idea came to the creature's mind. The bird landed and started foraging within the bag to bring out 4 cylinders wrapped in ribbons. Quickly, the Christmas bird proceeded to give two to John Sullivan and two to chryssa glasgow . The bird also provided a nice necklace for the Lapras and a new scarf for the Accelgor before flying away, hoping this would calm them down.[break]

Were the youths to open their cylinders, they would find tickets for free food at some of the stalls on the main street. Maybe eating would give them a peaceful ending to this meeting?

"You'll see for yourself in a second!" He said as he barely managed to throw himself out of the way from the horrifying barrage of two whole snowballs dropped atop him, spinning in the air to avoid crushing the bouquet. "But if you absolutely must hear spoilers... the main flowers are red carnations!"

He grinned up at her from where he laid, before suddenly taking pause to gather his head atop the back of his palm, getting a better look at her.

"And now that I'm closer- You look pretty, Glasgow!" He said as he sprang to his feet, catching a sudden baton that was thrown his way before pointing it right back at Chryssa. "Good to see we are both taking this seriously!"

Nevermind the blood and gore bit, though. There were easier ways to get his heart.

"Nice bugs, by the way. Adopting the hives' tricks, eh?" He said, chuckling darkly.

"Unfortunate, however, that they could not surpass the original! Now, My ninja! Unleash snowy fury upon the empress!" He said as he pumped a fist in the air, throwing his head back for a now well practiced cackle.

A cackle that went on, and on... and on. And the fury, well...

No such fury descended upon Chryssa Glasgow, no matter for how long Doug laughed.

And he laughed for a while- until it became tired and strained, his head moved around as he did, bemused.

And then it settled on the bottom of the small hill, were the ninja bug still remained, now trying out his new scarf, a couple of sloppily half-made snowballs forgotten off to his sides.

Doug slowly squatted down and began packing some of the fake snow together, shaping it into a ball before rising up to his full height and looking back at Chryssa again.

"... SURPRISE ATTACK!" He threw the snowball at her.

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TAG: chryssa glasgow

"Boom."

His greatest rival fell to the snow, at last vanquished by laser-guided snowy death. Her lieutenant could do little more than release a mournful wail to the heavens as the fall of the Ocean Empire became imminent.

His footsteps across the snow came closer and closer to the now dead empress until he was standing directly atop her, bouquet in hand.

"Headshot." He said, plucking a single flower out of the bouquet before crouching down besides the empress, sliding the red carnation through her locks of hair. "As beautiful in death, as in life."

A tragic, yet inevitable, end to the once upon a time called 'Eternal' war...

Standing up, the youth closed his eyes and seemingly offered a little prayer for her soul...


"But we both know that's not enough to kill the Empress. ." He said, casually leaning the bouquet against his shoulder while smirking down at the Santa hatted girl. "Still a win for the Shadow Hive, though. How about you try your hand at diplomacy for the post-war treaty, Glasgow?"

He then waggled his baton, smirk growing.

"Over lunch, naturally. Almost like a date!" But it was totally peace talks.

Totally.

...

"Very cute final form, I must admit." He said, holding out the bouquet towards her. "Worth the suspense."

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TAG: chryssa glasgow

Doug, who had been whistling to the Lapras' tune as Chryssa came to her decision, grinned wide.

"Heck yeah!" He said, cheering with a pump of his fist. Before immediately schooling his face into a prim smile. "That is to say- A wise decision, Empress Glasgow."

He stepped off to the side, gesturing towards the festival with an arm.

"Then, shall we-?"

"--But I want to ride my War Lapras down the hill."

This girl was as brilliant as the stars in the sky.

"Bless that perfectly timed snowball." He said breathlessly as he stared at the sled equipment the Lapras had been outfitted with.

"Your dramatic timing cost ya yer one chance, Empress." He said with a wide grin, approaching and petting the pokemon's neck and leaning in close. He seemed to get along with her rather well. "Jeez. Even if the tackle had missed the heart attack would've finished the job."

In life opportunities came and went. Chryssa's finishing move was now their ride.

Wordlessly, the youth offered a hand to the girl, his grin softening.

He then bit his lip, eyes looking off to the side as his brows furrowed, clearly in thought.

Then his grin came back full force.

"Guess what?" He said, winking- before he took two steps towards the girl and swooped her off her feet into a bridal carry, more thankful now towards noah faber  than ever before. His cheeks were coloring even as he spoke. "You fell for my clever ruse, you fools! Your Ocean Army's Empress is my prisoner now!"

He swung one foot atop one of the many knobs on the Lapras' shell before deftly pushing off it, climbing atop it with Chryssa in his arms. He smiled at the Lapras playfully... and she knew what to do.

He had muttered the plan to her earlier after all.

"Ride, my accomplice! Riiide!" He said before throwing back his head to laugh, the Lapras' fins dragging along the fake snow under it.

Her body dragged forward from where it had been perilously settled, and gravity did the rest of the work.

"Woah!" Uttered the youth as he fell on his butt on the shell, Chryssa in arms, wind whipping past them as they sled down the hill at...

Pretty considerable speeds! This would probably have killed him for real!

This was a far off thought in the back of the youth's mind, though. He was still laughing now, though the practiced edge to it was long gone.

The youth's attention though, quickly drifted away from the downward hill and to his 'prisoner' instead, his eyes turning towards her as the slope slowly began evening out, until friction brought the Lapras to a full stop.

In retrospective, the ride hadn't been anywhere as long or as fast as it had felt.

Yet his heart was still beating a thousand miles an hour.

"Weird." He said in a mutter to himself, glancing down at his chest.

Then a snowball exploded right across his temple.

"Whu?"

Off to the side, a bug ninja wearing a spanking brand new scarf stuck out his tongue at him.

"You traitor!"

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TAG: chryssa glasgow

His heart was beating even faster now than it had during their ride down. He felt breathless no matter how much he filled his lungs with air. His face was burning even in the cold winter weather.

The only cold thing left in him was the sweat gathering in his palms, hidden by his gloves.

'Wait... Uh oh.'

The young man reached behind him and fetched his straw hat, placing it atop his head and tipping it far down as the girl laughed at him and his pokemon's betrayal.

Her laugh only made his face burn harder.

'Seriously?' Her. His rival?

Really?

He tipped his hat up, looking at her smug face.

For a second he thought he had a heart attack.

'Oh, thank God. It just skipped a beat.'

That was a relief.

...

'Ah shit.'

He wasn't as dense as he so often pretended to be.

The Ocean Army had already won- and its leader didn't even know it.

"... And if it was?" He said in response as he slowly stood, Chryssa still in his arms.

He fixed his face up with his smuggest look.

As much as he could manage with his face as red as it was.

"I said ya were my prisoner, didn't I?" He said, barely managing to get the words out. "So what if I- I..."

He... Snorted.

"J... J- Just kidding! Don't look so scared Empress. Yer army would weep if they could see ya now." He said, forcing a smug snicker as he reached up to tip his hat over his face, holding the girl up on one arm.

Next time. The time wasn't right. He wasn't jumping the gun. It wasn't the right moment.

... Right.

"Actually, no. I'm an idiot." Wait. "Yeah. I actually just wanna keep ya to myself." WAIT.

He jumped off the Lapras' shell, landing on the ground carefully with the girl in arm.

STOP. No guts, remember?!

"We got food court tickets, but no table." He said, glancing over his shoulder all the way to the top of the hill. "My camp's nearby. How about we pick up our lunches and then go there?"

To work out the treaty.

"On a date."

A charity speed-date?

"A real date."

Crazy bastard.

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TAG: chryssa glasgow