So instead of working on the poison fic I ended up writing an entirely different short fic yesterday. I’ve put it below the cut for the freaks (affectionate) who care.
Corbeau makes the very stupid decision to test Nihilego venom on himself. October has to resort to less conventional tactics to keep him in check until it wears off.
(Inspired by nartothelar’s Nihilego Corbeau stuff!)
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“Philippe? I haven’t even gotten near the latest Special Distortion yet, what– wait, why are you calling from the elevator?”
“This isn’t about Special Scans, kid! We got a situation here at the Syndicate!”
“What?”
“Look, I don’t have much time to explain–” October heard what sounded like a Hyper Beam go off in the background of the call. “The boss got his hands on some Nihilego toxin, and…”
October’s blood went cold.
“…He tested it on himself.”
“It was a really low dose, so it should wear off within the day, but he knows we can’t let him leave the building in this state. And I don’t know how much longer we can keep him in here.”
“Metagross! No!!” A grunt shouted in the background.
“Shit. Looks like it’s my turn. October, you’ve beaten the boss multiple times, plus you two have that thing going on– if anyone can get him in check, it’s you. Hurry over!”
The line went dead.
October wasted no time. She started running.
Her cousin September had dealt with someone under the influence of Nihilego toxin before, and from what she had told her, it wasn’t pretty.
“Anything or anyone that Nihilego latches onto will have its native skills forcibly activated to their fullest extent and will then act as it naturally desires to.”
That Lusamine lady had been effectively driven insane by Nihilego. Even if it was such a low dose, and even if he did have a little natural immunity to it already, would the poison do the same to Corbeau?
As she sprinted, less-on-topic thoughts started swirling at the back of October’s mind.
What if he’s the hot kind of crazy? What if he tries to get me to take some? Arceus, will I be able to–
She interrupted her own thoughts as soon as she noticed them.
Shut the fuck up! I’m gonna deal with this! If I can handle saving Lumiose twice, I can handle Corbeau being off his rocker!
October reached the Rust Syndicate building, and the elevator doors dinged open just in time for her to see Philippe return a knocked-out Skarmory to its pokéball. He turned to look at her.
“Kid!”
“Go heal up your team, Philippe! I’ll take it from here!”
Philippe nodded and traded places with October in the elevator. Corbeau laughed maniacally as the doors closed.
“Hello, hello, October. Glad to have you join us!”
Corbeau smiled wide, staring at October with a ravenous insanity in his eyes. She started to panic as he walked toward her.
FUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCKKKK, HE IS THE HOT KIND OF CRAZY.
October shook her head and let her Simipour out of its pokéball.
“‘Beau! This isn’t you, and you know it! I can’t let you take a single step closer!”
Corbeau laughed again.
“That so? Well, if it’s a battle you want, then it’s a battle you’ll get!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October’s Mega Emboar collided with Corbeau’s Mega Scolipede, fainting on contact. Corbeau had mopped the floor with October’s team just as easily as he had everyone else in the Syndicate.
October hadn’t been this scared since she was knocked off her bike by that alpha Pyroar two years ago.
“You put up a good fight, but I won’t let anyone stop me! With Nihilego’s help, a perfect Lumiose is possible!” Corbeau adjusted his glasses with that same manic smile.
“Corbeau, will you listen to yourself!? There aren’t even any Nihilego in Kalos! It’s just the poison messing with your head!!”
“‘Messing with my head?’ Kid, it’s finally cleared it!”
Suddenly, part of what September told her about Nihilego’s venom returned to October’s mind.
“Anything or anyone that Nihilego latches onto… will then act as it naturally desires to.”
October had an idea. Given the circumstances, she was significantly less enthusiastic about it than she normally would have been, but it was the only idea she had. She approached Corbeau… and grabbed his hand, putting her other on his cheek. She took a deep breath and smiled.
“Well, alright then, mon cheri. I guess I’ll hear you out,” October cooed in the most alluring tone she could muster. “Why don’t we sit down and discuss?”
Corbeau actually looked surprised for a moment. Then the look of insanity returned.
“‘Course. Glad to see you’re starting to see reason!”
October took Corbeau by the hand and led him to a couch, where they sat down facing each other.
“Okay, Rust Boy,” October purred, moving one hand to Corbeau’s shoulder and running her fingers through his surprisingly soft hair. “Tell me about this big smart Nihilego plan of yours.”
Corbeau then acted as he naturally desired to in such a situation.
Without any warning, he gave October the longest and most passionate kiss either of them had ever experienced. By the time it was finally over, October was dizzy and blushing so hard she resembled a shiny Solgaleo.
HOLY FUCKING SHIT.
“That enough discussion for you, sunshine?”
October had planned to respond with something witty, but she was so flustered that her voice completely failed her. Instead she quickly moved ahead to the next step of her plan: grabbing a book off the table next to the couch and hitting Corbeau over the head with it as hard as humanly possible.
October assumed it was pure adrenaline that made her able to hit Corbeau hard enough with such a small book to successfully knock him unconscious. He fell backwards on the couch.
October stumbled as she stood up from the couch and arranged Corbeau into a more comfortable sleeping position. She put one hand over her mouth in disbelief over what just happened.
Then she called Philippe.
“Ms. October! You’re–” Philippe paused. “Your face is, uh, really red. Is everything alright?”
“Y-yeah, I just had to perform some, uh…” October looked back down at Corbeau’s unconscious body.
“Emergency cognitive recalibration.”
Philippe nodded in understanding.
“Thanks, kid. I don’t know what Lumiose would do without you. I’ll be on my way back soon.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Corbeau awoke to the sound of the elevator doors opening with a ding. He groggily sat up to see Philippe reading in a chair across from the couch he was on, and October walking in with two cups of coffee and a paper bag from Nouveau Café.
Corbeau also felt like he had the hangover to end all hangovers.
“Nngh,” he groaned. October went over to him and set the paper bag and one cup of coffee on the table.
“Morning, sleepyhead.”
“…Morning.”
“Gotcha something.”
October sat down on the table and held out the other coffee cup to Corbeau, but before he could take it, she lifted the cup out of his reach.
“So, what did we learn about testing alien neurotoxins on ourselves?”
“Can it, kid. You don’t need to rub it in.”
October smiled.
“There’s the Corbeau I know and love.” She handed him the coffee, and he took a sip.
“You’re lucky you took such a low dose, y’know. I’ve got a cousin in Alola who’s seen firsthand what long-term exposure to that stuff can do to people.”
“Guess so.”
They both drank their coffee in silence that was soon broken by Philippe taking the crinkly bag of croissants October had gotten for him.
“Philippe and I destroyed what was left of the poison. Just in case you got any ideas.”
“How dumb do you think I am?”
“You were stupid enough to try it in the first place.”
Corbeau let out a small huff and went back to drinking his coffee.
“Everyone makes mistakes, kid.”
“‘Beau, this was way more than just a mistake. Things could’ve gone seriously wrong.” October took another few sips of her coffee, then looked at Corbeau with a mischievous grin. “…But you are a better kisser than I thought, so I’ll let it slide just this once.”
“What!?”
October chugged her coffee to avoid answering, then looked at her watch.
“Oh, would ya look at that! I told Urbain I’d battle him 10 minutes from now. Gotta go!”
I’m bored out of my skull. Have a little interaction between October and Corbeau that I wrote down in my notes app like a month ago. (Dunno why it’s kinda blurry; sorry about that)
