poor lulu was not a common phrase. poor matt, maybe, for finding himself fallen at her heel. she looked down at him, not moving to help; however, in an extremely rare moment, there was some modicum of compassion in the way she asked him, ”are you alright?”

without more than a second to answer, there was a scream right ahead. the person with the gun was now facing the clerk. their weapon shook in their hand, not yet pointed.

”open the register.” it sounded hollow. weak.

lulu’s attention snapped ahead, and, noting the lack of confidence in the robber, quickly descended upon him.

”oh, please.” 

she lunged for the gun. 

the man swiveled and shot with a loud bang.

lulu looked down, shocked to find blood running into her shirt from where the bullet had grazed her shoulder on its way past. 

”stay back,” he ordered.

and just like that, she was in a stalemate.

her hand itched for a pokéball, but she wasn’t yet reaching for it. she glanced down, wondering if the guy who’d fallen behind her was still on the floor.

Matt Vice

☉

though in shock, she was also in the middle of an adrenaline rush now. she took the moment to grab the pokéball she’d been slowly reaching for and release an alakazam, just as the second bang fired off. as matt ducked for cover, the gun in the robber’s hand began to glow a pink-purple energy. alakazam’s psychic lifted it into the air, easily disarming him.

while the man was now relatively harmless, lulu was angry and in survival mode. she didn’t think about it. she took the moment to pull her fist back and then send it into the man’s face, causing him to stumble into a bunch of candy.

”idiot.”

she looked over, seeing more blood. when a kick came towards her, her alakazam was quick to react again. this time, its psychic dragged him away down some of the length of the store and into a display.

Matt Vice

☉

her heart pounded as she stared at the man on the floor, now a good distance away, as she considered how close it had been. she heard the gun fall nearby with a clatter, out of her alakazam’s psychic grasp. though she didn’t hear sirens yet, it would surely be any second.

she felt lightheaded, though, and stood there longer, holding her shoulder with a pained glare until she turned towards him. the other person who’d been shot.

”i’m fine.” not really, but it could’ve been worse. him, though? the hand under her good shoulder touched her cheek. ”your face…”

but she did need help, which became increasingly obvious to her as the moments passed, and blood drenched her hand. of course, it had been the day she hadn’t brought her gardevoir with her.

”okay,” she hissed with a nod, ”think i’ll take you up on that.” though what specifically went unsaid. there was no name given back, either, but maybe she was just in shock.

Matt Vice

☉

just a scratch.

her stare, narrowed with pain, was accompanied by the smallest curl of a smirk. tough guy. the curl in her lips dropped away again at his suggestions, however.

“no. not the hospital.” she didn’t really care at the moment how suspicious it seemed, and didn’t have the mind to clarify that it was simply because she hated hospitals—not that she actually did. it it just wouldn’t been a good cover, of course.

she winced, gritting teeth as she held her hand up near her shoulder. ”you said you could bandage it?”

with her alakazam, she’d easily be able to teleport to the submarine’s infirmary, but the need for attention was immediate, as evident by the blood dripping onto the floor.

her eyes went to the man on the floor.

”you and me both.”

Matt Vice

☉

”oh, good.”

he looked very young to have seven kids of his own, but neither that fact, nor the potential plight of his situation occurred to lulu in that moment.

she liked jerky. nonetheless, her head shook to deny his offering. maybe it was a bad idea. maybe she was a hard ass.

”it’ll be fine. just do it, please.”

her other hand went to stretch the neckline of her darkened shirt down over her shoulder. her face wrenched as she did so.

once her shoulder was cleaned, he might notice the other small, circular scar beneath the wound where a different bullet had once gone through. some people won the lottery, others got struck twice by lightening—but she had reached for it this time.

through a slightly ragged breath, she asked, ”what’s your name?”

Matt Vice

☉