Well, Mac had a few lucky breaks in that last chapter. And not to ruin the surprise, but he has two more here. Not necessarily lucky, though.
The moment Mac got back in the house, he was surrounded. Lorenzo was stood hands on hips with Bianca stood next to him, hands behind her back. Latias showed less restraint, and flew up to him, licking his cheek. Latios also ended up materialised behind him, though he went for the tambourine in Mac's hand, grabbing it with his teeth while Mac pushed Latias away.
"Hey, hey. Thanks that's enough, now. Stop, I think Lorenzo wants a word with me."
Lorenzo stayed frowning on the outside, but on the inside he was already softening as Mac gently pushed Latias' snout away with the flat of his hand. He had to admit, Mac was nice with the dragons, and he was only trying to help. Then again, it was stupidly dangerous.
"Yes, Mac, I do want a word. Just a few, mind..."
Mac nodded as he looked down at Latios, who was still trying to get his teeth around the tambourine. Mac spoke to Lorenzo and moved the instrument to a better angle for Latios at the same time. Instantly, He got a better grip, and managed to take the instrument from Mac's hand.
"Sure, fire away."
Lorenzo nodded.
"Just what were you thinking?"
Good question, if not a bit blunt.
"What do you mean? I was thinking you guys had had enough with those Team Rocket people and that you'd want them to stop"
"Fair enough, but there are better ways to go about it then chasing after them yourself."
"If that's the case, how come they haven't been stopped before? How come Latias ended up in my house a few days ago? I'm pretty sure it was because someone didn't stop them the last time they tried kidnapping her."
Lorenzo looked slightly upset and Mac felt guilty, but his argument got the point accross. Lorenzo countered.
"Fair enough, but, be honest, what have you actually achieved from your excursion today? Was it worth the risks?"
Mac smiled and took a small bottle from his pocket, similar to the one Bianca had got the dragons tablets in earlier on. It contained a clear white liquid.
"This."
Mac saw both Lorenzo and Bianca's expression falter, whilst Latias flew up and tried smelling the bottle, but Mac urgently pushed her away again.
"What is that?"
Mac smiled and put the bottle back in his pocket.
"That, Lorenzo, was a drug called dopamine. Where I'm from it's used to put large mammals" - He stopped and smiled at Latias - "to sleep. Until half an hour ago, this was inside a dart that was loaded in a Team Rocket weapon."
Lorenzo raised an eyebrow and Bianca's eyes widened as she realised what Mac had done. Lorenzo didn't quite figure it out.
"Wait, so...how did you get that?"
Mac smiled.
"I broke into the Team Rocket base and disarmed their tranquilliser gun. How else?"
Bianca squealed and clapped, before running and hugging Latias around her midriff. Latias did a happy coo and turned her neck around to return the hug, but Lorenzo was still slow on the uptake.
"So...that means?"
"It means, they can shoot at Latias and Latios with that weapon all day, it won't work. Instead of tranquilliser I've filled it with saline. If they do get shot with it, absolutely nothing will happen."
Lorenzo had to admit, when Mac said it like that, the consequence certainly seemed worth the risk. While he tried to decide his opinion, Latios wheeled around Mac and shook the tambourine from side to side like it was a fish he'd just caught, making it produce the rustling noise. Latias' face lit up and she squealed.
"What is it? Where did you get it? It's so shiny! I want one!"
Bianca was asking the same questions.
"Okay, okay, time out a sec. Mac, where did Latios get that?"
Mac smiled as Latios continued to shake the instrument in the background.
"Oh, I got it for him. He took a liking to it as we went past a shop, and, well, I couldn't say no, could I? Second best decision of today, easily."
The last bit of his sentence was barely audible over Latias squealing again. Latios had tried giving her the tambourine, but had missed her mouth by a few inches. Instead of it exchanging hands - or rather, mouths - the disk ended up slipping over Latias' snout and falling down her neck.
"OH WOW, MY HEAD FITS THROUGH IT!"
Closely followed by,
"All the others are going to be so jealous!"
She flew up so her wing would go over Bianca's head, then flew to the mirror that was just behind her to stare at the tambourine in place. She liked the result. The red dragon looking back was admiring the disk too, and with good reason. The metal disks reflected the light from above and made a twinkling that - in Latias' opinion - was highly attractive. Eye catching. Then there was the noise: a soft metallic jangle followed her whenever she moved, like she was constantly flying past wind charms.
Okay, perhaps it wouldn't be great for hunting, but it sure was something to show off.
"Look Latios! Look!"
Latios was already there, appreciating the additional accessory that Latias had. It certainly did make her stand out.
"It looks great! And it makes a good noise!"
"I'm going to show everyone in the garden!"
Mac watched as both Latias and Latios chatted for a few seconds, then flew into the kitchen and presumably from there into the garden. Which meant there was nothing more to distract Lorenzo.
"So, you're telling me you broke into someone else's house!?"
Mac shrugged. "It looked more like a HQ than a home. And it was either that or risk Latias or Latios being captured. Again."
Lorenzo was loosing the argument and he knew it, and he massaged his forehead.
"Please tell me that was it?"
Mac smiled.
"Nope! I've completed the whole of phase one. Bianca's told you what each one is, right?"
"Yes. So you've broken into someone's headquarters, stolen a dangerous chemical, looked at secret files and 'hacked' their computer as well?"
"Yep. Not bad considering we only came up with the plan a few hours ago."
Lorenzo shrugged and threw his hands to his side.
"Have you had tea, at least?"
"Yeah, actually, there's a rather nice coffee shop around from where their base is. Does cups of juice for the Pokemon"
"I know where you mean. Now, we've all had quite an exciting day and it's already half nine, so I suggest that we all get some rest. You've got work, tomorrow, Mac."
"What time?"
"We're leaving at nine. I'll wake you at half seven if you're not already awake, we need to make sure you look presentable."
Mac nodded and made his way to the stairs.
"No problem. See you tomorrow then, you two. Good night!"
Bianca gave a jolly wave goodnight, but Lorenzo kept his to a formal "Sleep Well". He was still slightly angry.
Mac couldn't sleep. His mind was too active, to anxious, and at the end of the day, too awake. He'd slept for more than thirty of the past forty-eight hours, and his brain wouldn't rest.
Sev's voice. The pilot. The new job tomorrow. The whine of the engines, an explosion. The pretty flight attendant. The gurgle of Sev's throat as blood drained out of it. The crunched of bone, the flash of light that ended so many lives, yet, so tiny in Mac's vision. He had caused it.
Mac checked his phone, pretty much his only valuable possession left. And it'd lost its value. It had been dropped a few meters, thrown into a tree, drowned, bloodied, exploded, accelerated and trodden on in the past week, and most of its functionality was gone. It couldn't call, send texts, use the gyroscope or the GPS, the WiFi was shot and the volume up key was wedged in place so he could never put it on silent, but Mac kept it. He used it to check the time now. 00:44. He'd gone to bed more than 3 hours ago, and not slept a wink.
Not that he wanted to. Sleep was bound to bring nightmares.
With a sigh, Mac crawled out of his sleeping bag and sat in the meditating position, looking at Cubone who had decided to sleep next to him, outside of the sleeping bag. Mac didn't meditate, but the position clicked all his joints into place. After ten seconds of that, he got up and pondered to the door of the art studio, treading carefully to avoid waking up Cubone. Mac was wide awake, nervous, and it was night time. The perfect time for an adventure.
Mac silently made his was outside and to the archway, pausing at the entrance. It was relatively light out here because the sky was clear and the moon was full, but the archway looked pitch black, with a pinprick of color at the end. Mac reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, clicking on the light, one of the few features that still worked. It cast a moderately powerful beam about three meters. It wasn't bright by any means, but it would do. Mac had grown curious about the dragons. And how they slept.
Mac entered the archway and almost immediately turned around. The air was colder and it sent a chill down Mac's spine. But he was focused now, like the beam of light, and set off walking forwards. Albeit at a much, much faster pace. Just when he couldn't take it any more, he was out of the other side, panting. He had ran the last bit, scared of the darkness and silence other than the echo of his shoes against the stone floor.
But he was out now, and the moon lit the way once more. Mac flipped off the LED on the phone and looked around. He was on a long wide balcony with a pedestal in the center from which water flowed out of and into a lake below. Stairs descended either side of the platform, and into the woods, which - like the tunnel - looked dark and uninviting.
Luckily, Mac didn't need to go in them.
Sticking out like a sore thumb in the trees, were the two dragons, precariously roosted on two branches that ended with their snouts touching. Mac waited for his eyes to adjust and looked closer.
Around them, also wedged in the tree, were various sticks and other plant life, which appeared to be held in place either by the dragon sleeping on it, or a miracle. Even as Mac watched, parts of the construction fell off and hit the ground.
Mac sighed when he realised that the sticks were Latias and Latios' failed attempt at building a nest. It was a shocking effort, in Mac's opinion, and it actually made him stop and think.
All birds knew how to make nests. It was just a given. Saliva stuck the sticks together, and you built it as high up and as far under cover as possible.
To be fair, it looked like Latias had made an effort with the saliva-glue thing. Certainly, part of the sticks appeared to be wet and discolored. But for whatever reason, they weren't sticking.
And what was more, the 'nest' was built with half of it out in the open, facing the lake, not covered in any way.
Mac thought some more as he snook to the underneath of the tree they were roosted in to investigate further.
Why were they building a nest anyway? Surely if they had lived here since birth they would already have one? Was Latias expecting young? And why was their nest so bad?
Mac couldn't answer, and opted to inspect the building materials. Among the fallen parts were sweet wrappers, animal bones, leaves, berries and - here and there - a red feather, perhaps from Latias malting.
Mac looked up the check the dragons were sleeping, before darting forwards and taking a feather.
Bianca jolted awake as a loud noise filled the bedroom. She scrambled around for a few seconds, panicking, then located the source of the noise. Her phone - which was resting on the nightstand - had its screen lit up bright and ring tone blaring, the noise which had woken her.
Who was ringing at one in the morning?
Bianca picked the device up and looked at the screen, squinting at the bright back light . The call was from Katie.
Bianca sighed as she hit the answer button. Katie - although she wasn't the partying type - was probably drunk and calling to let her know she loved her or something like that.
"Bianca! You there?" Katie sounded worried. And there was a noise in the background, kind of like a howling, though it was too quiet to tell over Katie's voice and the call quality.
"No, Katie, I've decided to take up a career in digging water graves so I'm at work right now. Of course I'm here, where else would I be at one in the morning?"
"Sorry Banksie, but we've got a colossal problem"
"So you called me? What about your parents?"
"They're still on the mainland. But, listen. Could you send Latias and Latios over?"
Bianca stuttered. What could Katie want with the Eons at this hour? Was it some kind of Team Rocket ploy?
"Why?"
"Are you in bed?"
"Katie, it's one in the morning. What do you think?"
"Get up and go to the garden, I'll tell you why on the way."
"What, your kidding me!? It's, like, two degrees out there, and I'm in my nightie. At least give me something to work with."
Bianca could hear Katie getting frustrated and stood up out of her bed, searching for and putting on her slippers as Katie responded.
"Absol's gone crazy. She's yelping and howling and the pups are copying her, and I can't get close because she just growls at me."
"And?"
"Have you seen those teeth? Ain't anyway I'm going near those"
"Put her in her ball?"
"She keeps dodging it"
"Why? Try and corner her or something"
"I don't know why. And I tried that, but she's standing her ground and showing her teeth."
"Fair enough, but why do you need the twins?"
"The neighbors are complaining about the noise and I was hoping that Latias could calm her down or something. Latios might embarrass her into behaving, what with her fancying him an everything..."
"I don't know, judging by the mark she left on Latias I don't think either of them are too fond of her right now..."
"Bianca, it's urgent. Please?"
"Okay then, sorry. I'm on my way. They'll be about five minutes."
"Your a life saver, Bianca."
"Don't I know it." Bianca mumbled as she hung up and ran down the stairs.
Mac picked up the feather and turned it over in his hands. It was small, about two inches long and one wide. The fibers that made up the feather stemmed off a main quill, and looked very precisely arranged. One side of the feather was plain red, but the other didn't seem to have a color. Rather, it appeared that the the fibers were redirecting light around the outside of the feather. Looking at it head-on from this side, the feather appeared to be a series of random patterns which changed as it moved. Curious, Mac put his finger on the edge of the fibers. All the color that was in that sector of feather suddenly went. It was certainly interesting.
Mac looked around and picked up two more feathers, a white one, and a red one with a splodge of white, before gently storing them in a pocket.
Bianca left the house running and darted to the archway, stopping briefly to flip a switch on the wall, making a dozen florescent tubes that were recessed in the arch buzz on, lighting the way to the garden. She shouted while she ran.
"Latias! Latios! Get up! Absol needs help!" The shout echoed, but it wasn't enough to wake them. Mac didn't even hear her.
She stopped shouting and concentrated on running, getting breathless but also closer to the balcony. She burst out of the arch and shouted, eyes not adjusted and unable to see how close the dragons actually were.
"Latios! Latias! Absol needs you! Katie says she's having a fit or something!"
Mac looked up and saw Bianca, but she didn't see him. Mac, more crucially, didn't see the dragons.
Latios was up and flying the moment Bianca had reached the 'a' in his name. Latias was woken too, but opted to stay hidden until she or Latios had identified the loud noise. When she realized it was Bianca, though, she flew up and towards her too. Which left nothing holding down the poor attempt they had made at a nest. In complete silence, the nest collapsed.
Mac was completely unaware of the construction heading straight for him. Worse, what had looked like large sticks from far away, were actually sizeable branches, weighing a lot more than Mac could have predicted.
Fortunately, the first one to hit him was a glance on the shoulder, and though it knocked him over, it didn't hit his head.
Unfortunately, the pile consisted of more than one log. The remainder of the heavy logs fell on and around Mac's legs. Mac couldn't have heard it over the sound of the logs actually falling, but both of his Fibula cracked as they fractured and split, causing immense pain and making Mac cry out.
Latias was closer, and the only one to hear over the sound of the logs. While she flew to him, Latios was impatiently flying around Bianca, almost shouting in Lati.
"Awake! What? Absol? Why? Trouble! Trouble! Hurt!"
Bianca explained as quickly as possible before Latios could panic any more. "Katie called. She said Absol is howling but she doesn't know why, and she won't stop. She wants you to go and calm her down. Take Latias too."
Latios nodded and turned to face Latias, only to find her no longer roosting in the tree. He panicked and rushed to the nest, before he found her scent at the base of the tree. He flew down and saw her sniffing around a stunned Mac.
"Latias, Mac?"
"Yeah, Mac. He looks hurt."
Latios was more interested in Mac's hands then his legs. They smelt very faintly like Latias' flippers.
Mac managed to snap out of it, to find Latios sniffing his hands and Latias watching. He wasn't looking in that direction, but if he was, he would have seen Bianca leaning over the rails and staring at him.
"Mac? Is that you?"
Mac was staying very, very still. Partly because his legs hurt beyond description, but also because it looked like Latios was considering him as a midnight snack.
He spoke in a quiet and measured voice, and Bianca strained to pick it up.
"Bianca, I think Latios is going to eat me. My legs hurt too much to run...could you distract him for a few minutes?" The pain and the paranoia had given him a rush of adrenaline, also making him delusional.
Bianca frowned and started to walk down the stairs. Mac didn't appear to be making much sense. That, and what was he doing in the garden in the first place? Was he having a nightmare?
Latias, meanwhile, turned around to look at his legs. He said they were hurting, and judging by the angle the bit below his knee was at, he probably was in quite a lot of pain. Latias wasn't an expert on the human anatomy, but she was pretty sure their legs weren't meant to bend in two places.
Bianca got to ten feet away before she saw his legs. It made her own turn into jelly. And there was also this crisis with Absol too.
"You two" - Latios stopped inspecting Mac's hands and looked back at Bianca - "Go and help Absol. I'll sort out what's happened here. And probably call an ambulance."
Both dragons nodded, wanting to help Absol, but before they left, Bianca made a humming noise and called Latias back.
"Latias!"
Latias flew back around to Bianca and made an inquisitive 'nyu' noise.
"Mac looks quite bad. Put him to sleep for me?"
Latias nodded and looked at the boy, eyes glowing.
Mac panicked for the few seconds he had before Latias psychiced him to sleep.
"That it?"
"Thanks. You go and help Absol now."
Latias nodded and flew up to Latios, the pair accelerating towards to Katie's house the moment they were level, leaving Bianca alone in the garden with Mac and his broken legs.
Both dragons had had enough sleep, and Latios sounded concerned as he chatted to her.
"Did Mac wake you up?"
"No, but his legs looked bad. Did he climb the tree and fall off?"
This thought hadn't occurred to Latios, but now Latias had mentioned it, he was convinced that's what had happened. He'd climbed the tree, touched Latias' flippers, and fallen down. How else could her scent have been so fresh on his hands?
Latios filled with rage. How dare Mac touch his mate! Especially without asking! Especially especially since she was asleep at the time!
Latios was glad Mac's legs were broken. Perhaps he could go to the hospital after he'd sorted Absol and scare him a bit more. Not hurt him, Bianca would never forgive him. Just scare him. And a swipe across the arm with his paw for good measure. Yeah.
Bianca looked at Mac and decided that she wasn't really qualified to help him, and pulled out her phone. Quite how both his legs had ended up bending at a right angle halfway between his knee and his ankle was beyond her, but he definitely wasn't safe to move. She dialled the emergency number, followed by a two. The call cut straight to the hospital.
"Emergency response, location and problem."
Of course, Bianca wasn't just about to announce the location of a massive off the map garden to a telephone operator. She dodged the question, desperately trying to remember the squad number of a friend she'd made when she'd trained with the ambulance service.
"Can I request a specific person to attend?"
"As long as it's not life threatening and they're on duty."
"Okay. I've got a friend who's been crushed by falling tree. He's fine, not bleeding, but his legs are twisted up. Is squad 5 available?"
There was a tapping noise down the line.
"Yes. What's your location?"
"Tell the team it's Bianca. They'll know."
"I can't do that. I need you to tell me a location."
"Er..."
As Latios and Latias approached Katie's house, they heard Absol howling, accompanied by the higher pitched whines of her pups. As they got closer they could hear exactly what she was shouting. It didn't sound good.
"WAKE UP!"
"DON'T TOUCH HIM! HE'S JUST RESTING!"
Latias was more emotionally tuned than Latios, and to her, Absol sounded desperate. To Latios, she sounded manic.
As Latias got into view, she stopped suddenly. Partly because of what she could see, but also because a certain smell had just caught her nostrils. Latios drew level and stopped too. Both of them looked down in dismay.
Absol was lying on the floor, rear in the air and leaning on her front paws. the pups were surrounding her, yowling. Whether it was because they felt their mother's despair or because they wanted feeding, Latias couldn't tell.
What she could tell was what she was barking at.
Directly in front of her was an Absol puppy, lying completely motionless on its side. Latias recognized it as the one that she cleaned earlier, and almost cried with Absol when she realized with her heat vision that it was stone cold. Dead.
Latias had killed stuff all the time, and no doubt some of it was only a baby, but it didn't seem right when the dead thing was one of her friends pups.
Latias turned around and buried her head under Latios' wing as Absol shouted at the puppy again.
"WHY WON'T YOU LISTEN?!"
That did it for Latias, and she let out a sob. Latios just floated there. It was shocking, yes, but at the same time, Absol had one less puppy to feed. He floated there a bit longer until Latias calmed down, then moved his wing up a bit.
"Latias. She needs to stop now. We might as well go down there and break the news to her."
"I don't want to. She'll be so upset, what if she hurts the other ones?"
"Shes upset now. And if she gets violent I'll stop her."
Latios didn't want to dwell on it any longer, and flew slowly downward in a spiral. He got within smelling distance before Absol noticed.
Her head snapped up and she growled.
Latios moved a foot forward and the growl got deeper. The other pups had retreated behind her.
Latios flew a final foot forward before Absol barked at him.
"DON'T TOUCH HIM!"
He flew a bit backwards and looked upset.
"Sorry. I'm not going to-"
"GO AWAY!"
"Absol?"
"LEAVE MY PUPS ALONE!"
"I'm not-"
"GO! FLY BACK TO YOUR LITTLE GARDEN AND MOLEST LATIAS!"
Latios had tried being nice and that - obviously - had failed. Since Latios only knew two ways of doing something, one being nice and the other being violent, he tried the second approach, and went for Absol. He stooped down, and before she could realize, the scruff of her neck was in his mouth.
The moment she caught up, she started hissing and flailing her paws in the air.
"PUT ME DOWN! I WILL KILL YOU, YOU, YOU MONSTER! LOOK WHAT YOU DID! LOOK!"
"PUT ME DOWN! I SWEAR TO ARCEUS IF YOU DON'T PUT ME RIGHT DOWN NEXT TO MY PUPPIES RIGHT NOW I WILL BITE YOUR WINGS OFF AND FEED THEM TO THEM!"
"COWARD! YOU'RE NOT BATTLING FAIR BECAUSE YOU KNOW YOU'D LOOSE!"
"WHAT KIND OF MATE IS A FAT BIRD? YOU ONLY LIKE HER BECAUSE SHE'S THE ONLY ONE OF YOUR KIND LEFT!"
Latios blocked it out and flew Absol to the roof of the house, before dropping her a minimal distance onto the tiles. Perhaps separating her from the pups would help her focus.
Reality served to prove him wrong.
The moment her paws got traction, Absol turned and leapt at Latios, teeth out and aiming for his neck. Latios dodged it with relative ease, flying out of her reach. Not that it mattered, because she'd used the opportunity to escape, running to the edge of the roof in the direction of the garden, and jumping off.
Latios didn't panic. Absol looked perfectly built for jumping the two stories, and she proved this when she hit the ground paws first and galloped to her pups, which had barely moved during the entire episode. They were all stunned with their tails between their legs, their mother being carried away by a dragon quite a scary thing to happen. They yipped and ran under her for comfort and protection the moment she returned.
As Latias flew down to Latios, Absol picked up the dead pup in her teeth and hid it under herself, still convinced it was sleeping.
Latias frowned at Latios.
"No! That was wrong! She's really upset, you cant just pick her up like she's prey and carry her away from her pups!"
Latios frowned back.
"I know...but I couldn't think what else to do."
"Because you're stupid. Fine. I'll do it."
Latias glanced down at Absol. She was staring back up at them with fear in her eyes. Her heckles were raised, but her tail was tucked in and her legs were shaking slightly.
Latias flew down to her in direct sight, wings down and face glum. Her reception was better than Latios'.
Instead of growling, Absol whimpered and sunk lower to the ground, covering the pups further.
"Please, don't eat them..."
Latias stayed glum.
"I don't want to, Absol."
"Why else are you here then if it's not to eat something?"
"Because were your friends and we heard you needed help"
Absol went from depressed to neutral.
"Well...I...guess. I don't need your help though. Unless you've got any food or milk to give."
"Sorry, no. I could get some?"
"No, I'm fine."
"But you were howling?"
"Oh, that. Well..."
Absol looked ready to carry on, but she suddenly broke down and started howling again.
"ONE OF MY PUPS WON'T WAKE UP! I WANT TO FEED IT BUT HE JUST LIES THERE. AND...AND..."
To prove her point, Absol grabbed the pup from under herself and gently tried to lower it on it's feet. But the pup was stone dead, and its legs just flopped.
"HE WON'T WAKE UP! WHAT AM I DOING WRONG!? HE MUST BE HUNGRY. WHY. ARE. YOU. STILL. SLEEPING?"
The last bit was shouted while she stamped her front paws on every word. Absol went back to trying to be nice to it.
"Wake up? Please? I've got loads of milk now? Please?"
Latias couldn't stand it any more.
"Absol. That pup. It's cold. Some of it's fur's falling out. And it's so thin. Absol?"
"NO! HE'S FINE!"
"He's dead, Absol."
"HE'S NOT!"
"Please, Absol, just listen."
"You're lying! You want to steal him and eat him!"
"No Absol! He's yours! You can keep him! It's just..."
"YOU CAN'T HAVE HIM! HE'S GOING TO WAKE UP SOON!"
"He's dead, friend. He's not going to wake up"
Absol opened her mouth to shout back, but froze. Deep down, she knew Latias was right...
She heavily sat her rear on the floor and howled her despair the sky, one final death kneel.
As she did, the first flake of winters snow gently sailed down from the sky and settled on the dead pup's fur.
Bianca breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the blue lights bounce off the wall of the tunnel. Shortly after it, a familiar nurse Joy's head popped out over the balcony. Bianca shouted and waved.
"Down here! His legs are crushed, I didn't want to move him."
Joy saw Bianca and shouted as she ran for the stairs.
"On my way!"
The blue light moved down the staircase with Joy in front and a man behind. Bianca vaguely remembered him being a doctor, but was too worried about Mac to bother about him seeing the garden. Latias could always wipe his mind afterwards.
The blue light was being made by four flashing lamps attached to the corners of a floating back board.
The emergency boats had to be as small as possible in order to fit down the narrow waterways, and the backboard was designed to be as versatile as possible. On a boat, it acted as a siren and lights, and on land it could clear busy tourist streets in seconds. On water it could lift up to three hundred kilos - enough for the medic to perform CPR on the water.
The nurse and doctor threw the board to the side as they arrived. Bianca pointed at Mac and explained.
"I found him like this. It looks like those logs fell on his legs while he was walking or something."
Nurse Joy nodded as she broke out some scissors to cut away Mac's trouser legs and get a better look at the injury. She explained the doctor's awkward presence as she worked.
"Right then, Bianca. This is Doctor Fritzakerly. He was the one who did the initial assessment on Latios, you can trust him."
Bianca nodded as the doctor went to examine Mac. He interrogated her as he inspected.
"How did this happen?"
"Long story short, Latias and Latios tried building a nest and it fell on him. They were using logs instead of sticks."
"Hmmm...a nest? Will we be getting little Latis soon, I wonder... Who is he?"
"His name's Mac. He's...a friend."
As much as she trusted the doctor, she wasn't quite ready to reveal how Mac had got to be in Altomare. They might lock her up in the loony bin if she did.
"So they didn't do this to attack him? Fair enough."
The doctor nodded and looked at nurse Joy.
"Nurse?"
Nurse Joy glanced at Mac.
"Nothing we can do here. Put him on the board and then into the theatre, we'll need an op to get this put right."
The medics did the rest of their work as if Bianca wasn't even there, lifting Mac onto the board, securing him to it and carrying him off almost without another word, except nurse joy as she left.
"Bianca?"
"Yes?"
"He's going to have to have an operation. We'll take him with the fast boat, you'll have to make your own way to he hospital. Ask for Mac at the desk."
"Got it."
And then he was gone, blue lights on the stretcher disappearing down the archway.
Bianca was left alone in the garden, freezing cold and shell shocked. She only moved when a snowflake fell and landed on her nose.
That s**t right there, that is the F**KING MEANING OF PATHETIC-MOTHER-F**KING-FALLACY. F**KING SHAKESPERE COULD NOT HAVE ORGANISED SOMETHING SO SHI**ILY PATHETIC IN IT'S F**KING FALLACY! YOU DON'T HAVE ENOUGH QUALIFICATIONS TO RESTRAIN ME! U-G-L-E, I DON'T WANT ENGRISH DEGREE!
*ahem*
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