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thegoodgayshit · 7 years

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Marvel Runaways/Pokemon AU Part Four!

The runaways have a run in with Team Pride and Karolina and Nico get operated from the pack.

You can read it here or down below, whatever suits you!

Enjoy!

"FASTER! Come on guys KEEP RUNNING!" Chase was roaring, and Karolina sprinted with all her might. The six teenagers were moving as fast as they could, wind roaring in their ears, chests heaving as their lungs tried to keep up.

Karolina spared a second to glance behind her, Gert was falling behind, her face red with panic. Karolina, looking to her right and sharing a look with Nico, the pair nodded and slowed down, waiting for Gert to catch up and grabbing her arms to help her run faster.

The six runaways ran deeper and deeper into the lush forest, away from the town they had come across. The Team Pride goons, eight of them to be exact, charged after them, their red cloaks flowing behind them like capes.

Karolina didn't have time to dwell on it as she was running, but she knew later on she would be thinking the same thing as the other runaways. How the hell did they find them?

A log was slowly approaching the group, and Chase, being the fastest, reached it first. He lifted one arm and leapt, sailing over the log seconds before Alex and Molly join him. Karolina nudged Gert forward and the purple haired girl did the same as she reached it, sailing over the log sprinting after the others.

As Nico and Karolina simultaneously leapt over the log and kept running, they realized what those few seconds of time letting Gert go first had cost them. The road ahead split into four way fork, and the other runaways were nowhere to be found.

For a moment, the two hesitated.

"Now what?" Nico breathed, eyes darting down each path.

"I don't know." Karolina answered breathlessly.

They didn't have time to think about it. They heard the voices of the eight goons, and Nico grabbed Karolina's wrist and tore down the fourth path, the one most shaded by the trees. As they sprinted away, the goons jumped the log, and the two girls could hear their frustrated voices as they sprinted away.

"Which path did they take?" shouted one.

"I don't know idiot! It could have been any of them!" another bit back.

"Enough! If we don't hurry we'll lose them. Split into pairs!"

"Roger that!"

They heard the hammering of footsteps tear after them, but Karolina and Nico had a good lead. They sprinted further through the shade covered forest, running for a few more minutes. Finally, the trees parted to a clearing, and Karolina felt hope wash through her. Building up a little more speed, she sprinted forwards. Nico however, came to a screeching halt.

"Cliff!"

Karolina felt herself be yanked back by Nico's hand still wrapped around her wrist. Nico had pulled her back inches before her feet would have tipped over the edge, soaring down to a river at least fifty feet below them.

Karolina, shocked by hat had just happened, turn to Nico with relief washing over her face. "Thanks."

Nico however, looked grim. "Don't thank me yet. Where are we supposed to go now!"

"You!"

The pair of girls spun around to meet two Team Pride grunts, one male, one female. The girl had long black hair and dark eyes, and the boy had windswept blond hair and eyes as cold as ice. They were at least four years older than Nico and Karolina, and they shared wicked grins.

"I suppose you all thought you'd get away if you split up eh?" The boy scoffed,

"yeah, as if we're stupid enough to fall for that one!" The girl smirked.

Karolina and Nico shared looks, eyes glinting with understanding. They didn't like fighting Team Pride if they didn't have too, but now that they weren't outnumbered and had a better chance, the girls figured that fighting these two was their best option at the moment.

"What the hell is the point of always chasing us?" Nico hissed, clenching her fists.

"What kind of question is that darkness?" The girl said, and her laugh was high and cold. "You are top priority to our leaders! They say you're Team Pride's most wanted, who are we to pass up the opportunity for a promotion!"

"Exactly. Now hand over your Pokémon and come quietly." The boy said, extending his hand.

"As if!" Karolina snapped, eyes flashing with rage. "We're not going anywhere with you!"

The boy growled and retracted his hand, reaching instead for the single Pokeball on his belt. The girl mirrored him, grabbing her one Pokeball as well. "Fine! Then we'll just have to make you!"

"Glameow! Get them!"

"Do your thing Salandit!"

From their Pokeball's white light appeared two Pokémon, a cat with a spring like tail, and a black salamander Pokémon with menacing purple eyes.

Karolina and Nico each reached out of their bags and tossed their own Pokémon.

"Espeon, hold them off!"

"Umbreon! Protect us!"

The purple and black Pokémon appeared side by side, Espeon looking at the Team Pride Pokémon disdainfully, and Umbreon tensing and growling protectively.

"What are you waiting for Tyler?" The girl hissed, pointing at Karolina and Nico. "Attack them!"

"I'm going Jane!" The boy snapped back, muttering something under his breath. He shook his head and pointed at Umbreon. "Salandit use ember!"

The lizard shot out a small flame that soared quickly towards Umbreon, but Nico was quicker.

"Counter that with Shadowball!"

Once Umbreon fended off the small flame with a much bigger ball made of condensed darkness, Karolina was quick to assist the dark type.

"Espeon use Swift!"

A series of white stars sailed towards both Salandit and Glameow, making contact and knocking both Pokémon backwards, yelping in pain.

"Aguh! That wasn't fair!" The girl growled. Karolina raised an eyebrow. "You're trying to literally kidnap us, what about that is fair!"

The girl growled again, raising one arm. "Glameow, fury swipes on that purple thing!"

The boy nodded in agreement. "Salandit, use poison gas!"

"Dodge it!" Both runaways called in unison.

The Pokémon leapt into the air to dodge the attacks, and, still in unison, the two girls called out their attacks.

"Espeon, use Psybeam!"

"Umbreon, feint attack!"

Umbreon landed in front of Salandit, crashing into him hard and the Pokémon yelped and rolled to the forest floor at the boys feet. Espeon let out a pretty wave of colour that shot at incredible speeds, hitting Glameow and sending her reeling.

"What the hell!" The boy growled, pulling out his Pokeball and retracting the tired Pokémon. The girl did the same, clenching her fists. Karolina and Nico now took a confident step forward, their Pokémon at their sides, glaring at the two venomously.

"Now look who's in trouble." Nico snapped.

The girl and boy shifted, sharing angry but anxious looks. Eventually, they realized they had been defeated, and took a few steps back.

"It doesn't matter! There's just two of them here. The bosses will be happy enough with just the four." The boy muttered to the girl.

"Do you see how strong these kids are?" The girl hissed back. "If the others are anything like them, I wouldn't be so confident."

"Aw! Thanks!" Karolina smiled, genuinely pleased with the compliment, and Nico couldn't help but snort out a laugh. Karolina figured the goth girl must have found that funny, but nowadays without her parents, compliments were harder to come by. Karolina would take what she could get.

The two grunts shared another nervous look at the two runaways, before taking off, sprinting back the way they came.

Umbreon and Espeon cooed in delight, intertwining their tails. Karolina let out a little exhale, finally letting her heart slow down after it had been hammering in her chest.

Nico however, didn't seem to be any less tense. "What about the others? We got lucky, those two were about as smart as rocks."

This brought Karolina back to reality. The sun was getting lower in the sky. If they didn't find the others by nightfall, they would have to camp somewhere and wait until morning.

"Well it would be really stupid to go back the way we came." Karolina said, looking down the path the grunts had fled through. "We would just run into Team Pride regrouping."

There was a moment of silence. Karolina bit her lip and looked back at the goth girl, who's expression shared the same uneasiness.

"You do think they're alright? I mean, they can't be in trouble can they?"

Another beat. "Honestly, I don't know." Nico sighed, looking anywhere but at Karolina. She couldn't bear to see the usually upbeat girl look so worried. "I mean, if they stayed together then they only had to deal with two of them. If Gert got separated from the pack-"

"Oh god, she was closer to us than the others." Karolina breathed out,

"yeah, and if she was outnumbered on her own…"

"But she has Old Lace with her! And Jolteon and Ponyta. She's definitely alright!" Karolina pressed, and Nico stopped talking. It was clear that Karolina refused to think of any alternative other than all their friends were safe and okay.

"You're probably right." Nico said, "but we still need to find them. Let's get moving."

The two recalled their Pokémon, heading along the left hand side of the cliff, hoping that if they headed through the forest in that direction, they would come across the other paths. The two walked in silence, nervous that they would come across Team Pride again. They didn't, but they also didn't come across the other runaways either. The longer they walked, the tighter Karolina's chest became. The thought of the others being in trouble was agony for her.

Nico, seemingly noticing this, turned to the blond girl with a soft expression.

"Hey, it's going to be ok. The others are tough, they probably beat down Team Pride ages ago. If anything, they're probably worried about us."

Karolina didn't respond right away. Instead she focused her attention to her hand. More specifically, the hand Nico was squeezing comfortingly. Karolina watched it for a second to long, and Nico flushed, letting go of the blonds hand and looking back towards the forest.

Karolina felt embarrassed. She didn't realize she had made it weird. She kept pace with Nico, trying to ignore the hot pricking of her hand over the release of Nico's.

When they broke through the second clearing, they were back by the edge of the cliff. This one was shaped differently, while there was forest in the surrounding spots of the cliffs edge, there was a small series of shallow Pokémon-sized caves along the edge. Nico knew they had to stop for the night, the sun was setting and she didn't know if they would be able to find shelter if they kept going. Plus, neither girl had eaten, and Nico was certainly beginning to feel it.

Nico halted in the clearing, which caused Karolina to turn and look at her in surprise. "What are we doing?"

Nico sighed, she knew this wasn't going to be easy. "We need to stop for the night. I'm tired and hungry, and we can't go any farther in the dark. We're just going to get lost."

Karolina didn't seem to register this information. "What are you talking about? We haven't found the others yet. We can't just stop!"

"Karolina." Nico reached out to calm her down, but she just jerked backwards.

"No Nico! We can't just stop! We can't lose them, I don't want to lose them-"

She was working herself up to a point of shaking, looking on the verge of tears and Nico stopped. She wasn't going to try and reason with Karolina right now. She was tired and scared, and she just needed a break like Nico.

"Karolina, we aren't giving up on them okay? I promise you, the second the sun rises we are getting back into that forest and not leaving until we find them. But if we collapse from exhaustion or die of starvation that isn't going to help anybody."

Karolina stopped. She was still shaking and close to tears, but she didn't jerk away when Nico pulled her into a hug. The hug was tight and familiar, and Karolina sank into it, calming down. When Karolina wasn't shaking anymore, Nico pulled back and tucked a strand of hair behind Karolina's ear.

"Remember what I told you? The only way to deal with this is to stick together. But right now we just need to calm down and get some rest. Ok?" Karolina looked like she was about to pass out from fatigue, but she nodded not breaking eye contact with the dark haired girl.

Nico smiled, grazing Karolina's chin with her thumb reassuringly. "Awesome. Now let's set up camp alright?"

Pokémon really did make the job easier. Rockruff dig out a small cave for the two girls in the side of the rocky hill, making sure they didn't drop in some wild Pokémon's den. The puppy Pokémon seemed to tell that Karolina wasn't feeling right, and stuck by her side loyally. Espeon, Umbreon, and Mareep worked together to gather some kindle for a fire, while Nico carried the heavier logs that required opposable thumbs to lift. When there was enough firewood, to build a fire inside the small cave, Nico called for Houndour to use ember, and the fire started. Nico, Karolina, and the Pokémon sighed gratefully at the warmth. They finished just as the sun was setting low in the sky, and the stars appeared in the black night.

Nico was ready to settle down when her growling stomach reminded her she had forgotten something. She lifted her last Pokeball, and out came Nuzleaf. The Pokémon appeared with its head tilted in glee, the leaf on his head flopping to the other side.

"Hey Nuzleaf. Do you mind checking the forest to see if there is any berries around? It's too dark to see anything now."

The Pokémon nodded, excited to be given a task, and leapt into the forest.

"Nuzleaf was a good choice Nico." Karolina's voice surprised the goth girl, she had honestly expected her to shy away from Nico for the night, after forcing her to stop the search for the runaways. The blond hair girl was looking sleepy, leaning on Mareep and her big, soft coat. Her pretty blue eyes blinked slowly at Nico. "He's used to being the forest, if anyone can find food its him."

"You're talking to me." Nico stated, sitting down cross legged next to the blond girl.

Karolina hummed, she didn't seem distressed any more, but she did look weak, as though she had been fighting Team Pride instead of Espeon. "What's the point in not? Am I annoyed you wanted to stop looking? Sure. But my brain knows you made the right call."

"What about your heart?" Nico asked, choosing to lie down with her arms crossed behind her head on the dirt ground. It wasn't the cleanest of options, but she didn't have a Pokémon like Mareep to sleep on like a pillow. Her Pokémon were sitting at her and Karolina's feet, Houndour and Rockruff were watching the cave entrance like guard dogs, and Umbreon curled around Espeon sleeping.

Nico wasn't sure if Karolina was even going to respond. The girl had her eyes closed peacefully, and Nico could see her chest rise and fall with deep breaths.

Karolina on the other hand, didn't have an answer to Nico's question. Her mind was swirling with anxiety, but she forced it down. Instead, she listened to the thrumming of her own heart, getting louder and louder as Karolina realized how close Nico's body was to hers. They were centimeters apart, so close Karolina could feel the brush of Nico's elbow on her shoulder as she adjusted to get comfortable.

The little bit of tension was broken when Houndour barked, and Nico sat up quickly. Karolina jerked up as well, feeling her heartbeat race as she looked for an intruder. It was only Nuzleaf, returning with arms full of berries and herbs. Nico grinned appreciatively at the grass type, as the Pokémon placed the food on the ground. Even Karolina's sprits rose, as all the Pokémon roused to eat some of what Nuzleaf had collected.

"You're awesome." Nico praised, patting the Pokémon. Nuzleaf just chirped, and began dividing the food for each Pokémon as well as Karolina and Nico.

By the time everyone had eaten, they were feeling much better, and most of them were about to try and sleep. Karolina however was standing near the edge of the cave, staring up into the sky, and when Nico noticed this, she approached her.

"You alright?" Nico asked, wincing at her insensitivity. Of course she wasn't.

Karolina didn't seem to be offended, she just smiled at Nico before looking back up at the stars.

"Just wondering how the others are doing. I wish there was some way to let them know where we are. We can't call out to them in case Team Pride is looking for us too."

That's when Nico had an idea. She turned to the blond in delight.

"You're right Karolina! We can't call out for them. But we don't have too!"

Karolina looked at Nico in confusion. "I'm not following here."

Nico was two steps ahead. "Houndour! Rockruff! Come here for a minute!"

The two dog Pokémon came over slowly, Rockruff nuzzling Karolina's leg. Houndour sat next to Nico loyally, and she goth girl smiled at the both.

"I want you two to go into the clearing and take turns howling. The others will be able to follow the noise because they know it's you, but Team Pride won't know what the noise is for!" Nico seemed impressed with herself, crossing her arms confidently.

Karolina actually broke into a grin. "Nico that's genius!"

"Thanks!" Nico said back, her eyes lighting up at the happiness in Karolina's expression. It was finally something they could do that would actually help find the other runaways.

Rockruff and Houndour took position, and every ten minutes howled. After about an hour, they started intervals in thirty minutes. The Pokémon and the trainers were slowly loosing energy, and Nico beckoned the two dogs to come back over.

"Perfect guys. At this point the whole forest heard that. Hopefully that will lead them on the right tracks to find us. You can both get some sleep now."

The two dog Pokémon fell at the feet of Karolina and Nico, who's backs were against the cave walls. Karolina looked and felt much better, no longer seriously concerned for their friends. They were smart, they would have definitely heard the howls and knew what direction to travel in the morning.

"All we can do is wait." Karolina said, but waiting didn't seem so awful to her anymore. She was much more content, and leaned into Nico's shoulder.

"Thank you Nico. You actually managed to calm me down." She said gratefully.

The goth girl flushed, looking embarrassed. "I really didn't. It was just something we could do."

"It's enough for me right now." Karolina said, smiling into her shoulder.

"That's good."

There was a few moments of silence, each girl just listening to their own hears thrumming in their chests. Another moment of pause, before Karolina looked back up at Nico, and even in the faint firelight her eyes were still a marvelous blue.

"I never answered your question earlier."

Nico hummed, totally forgetting what she had asked. "Which one?"

"You asked me how my heart felt."

Nico turned her head to look Karolina in the eyes. "Ok, what's the answer then?"

Karolina gave Nico a soft smile. "My heart doesn't care what decision you made, because it knows that you of all people care about us the most."

"That's not true." Nico countered.

"I'm not buying that." Karolina said, her voice dropping below a whisper as she nudged herself closer to Nico. There was a moment of eye contact between the two, challenging each other playfully.

Nico felt her heart flutter again as Karolina's face got closer to hers, and she couldn't stop her next thoughts from escaping her mouth.

"I think I just care about you the most."

The second she said it she realized how it sounded and went bright red. Karolina looked slightly taken aback, before breaking into a wide grin.

"Really?"

Nico, if possible, blushed even further. "Really."

Another few seconds of silence, before Karolina leaned back on Nico's shoulder, throwing a hand around her stomach. Nico, still flustered, settled into a comfortable position for the two of them to lie. Karolina's breath was tickling faintly on Nico's neck, and she struggled to try and calm her banging heart down.

Another pause, before Karolina mumbled something into Nico's neck.

"Sorry?" Nico asked, not catching it.

"I said I care about you the most too."

Nico didn't know when she fell asleep, but she does remember that despite the rough walls and floor of the cave, she didn't feel uncomfortable in the slightest.

#marvel runaways #deanoru #pokemon au #karolina x nico #Rainbow Witch

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