Chapter 11: Live Wire
Left.
Right.
Straightaway.
"Do you have any idea where you're going?" asked Val.
"I have an inkling," answered Grovyle.
Right.
Up a flight of stairs.
"Have we reached the armoury yet?" asked Chris.
"Have we entered a room full of weapons recently?" asked Carol with clear irritation in her voice.
"No...?"
"Then no, we haven't." She muttered under her breath, "Moron."
"I heard that!"
Val said, "Please don't fight. You'll attract attention."
"But she said I was stupid!"
"Quiet back there," said Grovyle.
Everyone quieted down.
Peak moved closer to Val and whispered, "We need to get away from those guys. They're trouble."
"But they're helping us," said Val.
"How long until they turn on us, huh? You can't trust thieves."
"...you're right. But how are we going to get out of here without them?"
"Well, we-"
"Here it is," said Grovyle.
Peak asked, "The way out?"
"No, the armory."
"Sweet!" said Chris as he went up to the door. He grabbed the doorknob and tugged. "It's locked."
Carol looked at the door. "There's an electronic lock."
Next to the door was a keycard-operated lock. Carol looked at it closely.
"How are we going to get in now? We don't have a keycard," said Chris.
"You don't say," said Carol. "Maybe we could overload the lock with an electric attack."
Val looked over at Peak. "Want to try shocking it?"
"Of course! I'm going to break that thing - no problem!" Peak began to spark.
"Wait-"
"Thunderbolt!"
He let loose a bolt of electricity at the lock, but it instead went towards the nearest conductor: Carol.
She felt the electricity pulsing through her. This was more than she had been able to muster with her semi-accidental Thunder Wave and Spark attacks, and she had no idea what to do with it. She punched the lock out of shock, and reflexively willed the attack's power into the machine.
It exploded in a cloud of dark smoke.
Everyone started coughing.
"What the fuck?!" exclaimed Carol.
"Oops," said Peak. "My bad."
"That was loud," observed Val.
Carol slapped Chris in the face without even looking.
"Ow! Why'd you hit me?"
"Force of habit."
"Just wait for the smoke to clear," said Grovyle in-between coughs. "When the smoke clears, we'll have to be quick or we will be found."
As the smoke began to clear, Chris said, "Haha. I can see again."
"Shit," muttered Carol.
"What is it?" asked Chris.
"Give me the knife, Chris."
"Why?"
The smoke cleared completely. A jagged, black tail extended behind Carol.
"I grew a tail."
"Yours looks funny," said Chris.
Carol frowned imperceptively and countered, "You chased yours."
Chris cheeks turned a deep red. "Sh-shut up!"
"Just give me the fucking knife."
Chris gave her the knife.
"Thank you." She pocketed it.
Chris looked around and tapped his fingers together. "...well?"
"I'm not cutting a hole in my pants while you're looking, pervert."
"Don't call me that!"
Grovyle yelled, "Stop fighting! Every two minutes, you two start fighting, and I can't take it anymore! Just shut up!" After a moment, he added, "Before I make you."
"...Can we just enter this armory already?" asked Peak. "I want to get out of here."
"Yeah..."
Chris pulled on the door. Nothing happened. "It's not-"
Carol pushed the door, and it swung in. "It's a push door."
"Oh, um, I knew that! I definitely knew that..."
She sighed. "Be quick."
Chris went into the armory and looked around. He was like a kid in a candy store.
"Haha. Look at all of this."
There were SMGs, shotguns, pistols, and even a sniper rifle. But ammo was scarce.
"Hmm..." Chris stuck his hand in his pocket. He pulled out the contents. "Three shotgun shells and some lint." He thought for a second. "The lint's important, I should keep that."
"Hurry," commanded Grovyle.
"Right." Chris searched throughout the room.
Val asked, "Shouldn't we help him?"
"No," said Carol. "He's in one of his moods. Never interrupt that monster when he's in a mood."
"What is he looking for?"
"A gun."
"A what?" asked Peak.
"A killing device," said Carol with clear distaste.
Val was dismayed. "Is that all you humans do? Design killing machines?"
Peak scoffed. "I'm hating your kind more and more by the minute."
Chris laughed maniacally from behind a corner.
"What is it?" asked Grovyle.
Chris put on an Eastern European accent. "I am Heavy Weapons Guy-" He carried out a huge, multi-barreled minigun. "-and this is my weapon."
"Chris, now is not the time. Get something practical," commanded Carol.
"Fine." He put it down on a table and searched for another weapon.
A few seconds later, he came out holding a double-barreled lupara. "Mr. Angelo? Mr. Salieri sends his regards." He pretended to shoot it at an invisible man. "Boom! Credits roll."
"Chris."
"I know, I know." He stuck the short gun into a pouch stitched onto his jeans. "It's a perfect fit, though."
He opened a chest and pulled out a small pistol with an attached flashlight.
"What's that?" asked Carol.
"It's a, um, Five-seven," said Chris as he popped out the magazine, which seemed too long for the gun.
"Is that any good?"
"Yeah. It fires armour piercing rounds. Extended magazine." He did what he considered to be the ultimate honor for any item he found, and stowed it in his inside jacket pocket. "Found a few shells for the lupara, too."
"Are you done yet?" asked Carol.
"Yeah," said Chris. "I also found this for you." Chris placed a snub-nosed revolver on the table. "Six shots."
"Thanks." Carol was about to grab it, but Grovyle stopped her.
"No. Don't."
"Why?"
"Your electricity might set off the gunpowder," said Grovyle.
"Oh, that's right," said Carol. "Keep it."
"Okay." Chris hid the snub-nose up his sleeve. "Let's go."
Peak sighed. "Finally."
They went back into the hallway.
"Quickly," said Grovyle, "this way."
The five ran down the hallway until Chris said, "Wait."
Carol asked, "What is it this time?"
"I think someone's up ahead," said Chris.
"Why?" inquired Grovyle.
"Aura, maybe."
"Whatever," said Peak. "We have to go there anyway. Let's just get out of here."
"Besides," said Carol, "you have a gun, don't you?"
"Yeah, but it's not very fun to use it on mooks," said Chris.
Val said, "We could maybe attack them by surprise."
"That could work," said Grovyle. "Let's go."
Chris asked, "So, if we see guards?"
"I'm gonna electrocute them," said Peak.
They all ran further down the corridor.
Eventually, they came up to a door at the end.
"We need to go through here," said Grovyle.
"What's this?" asked Chris.
"I have no clue. Move."
Grovyle opened the door, revealing a hallway. All the way down the hall, there were cells on each side. The doors had tiny windows at a grown man's (or a larger pokémon's) eye height.
Chris got on his toes and peeked through the closest window.
"Hell's bells! There's someone inside this one!"
He pointed the flashlight inside. "Hey! Are you alive in there?"
A young man called back, "For God's sake, I'm trying to sleep here! Can't you patrols just leave me alone?"
"Sorry," said Chris.
"Wait a minute," said Carol. "I know that voice."
"Carol?" asked the teen. He stood up from the cold stone floor, bending backwards and letting loose a few worrying "Pop!"s from the vertebrae in his spine. Sleeping on a stone floor for a week tends to have that effect on you. He rolled his neck to get some circulation going and walked up to the window in the door of his cell. "Is that you?"
She went up to the cell. "Steven."
Steven looked into her face. Her blue eyes and the soul behind them proved it was Carol, but everything else-
"What happened to you, Carol?"
Even in the dark, her changes were obvious. Her once-bright blonde hair was now black as night. Her ears had changed shape and color to become round and mostly black and migrated to the top of her head. There were also two barely visible circular patches of yellow fur on her cheeks. Very soon, she'd be able to launch more than a mere Spark.
Chris got at her side and announced, "We're turning into pokémon!"
His hair and ears were now blue and furry. By now, he had already begun to develop a black, furry mask that ended halfway from the rear of his head and at the tip of his nose. Where the beginnings of facial hair had once been forming, short blue fur was growing on his face.
And that's not even counting their tails, or their changed sizes. Both of the time-travelling humans had shrunken to their pre-pubescent sizes; the pokémon they were becoming were quite small compared to even a human child.
Steven let his jaw drop in shock. "What? How?"
Carol sighed. "We don't have a clue."
"It's awesome!" exclaimed Chris.
The twins responded at the same time: "No it isn't!"
"This could be dangerous," continued Steven. "We have to study this. But first, could you free me?"
"Of course!" Chris pushed on the door. "It's not-"
Carol looked around and pulled a lever on the wall. The door slid into the wall and Chris fell forward into Steven.
"Oof. Sorry."
Steven walked out and hugged Carol. He had to bend down a little.
"It's good to see you again," said Carol.
Steven observed, "You've gotten smaller."
"How long were we gone?"
"A week."
"How did you get in this place?"
"After you left, Dusknoir traced my signal and arrested me."
Chris said, "I thought you went through seven proxies."
"Unfortunately, they traced me through a hole in my security system."
"Steam?"
"Yeah, they traced my account while I was playing Counter Strike. The lag was just too damn high to use proxies!"
"Crap. Were you playing on Office or Dust?"
"Chris," said Carol, "shut up. Let's just get out of here."
As they left the hallway, Steven observed, "You have two more pokémon with you."
"Oh, yeah," said Chris, "they're from the past. Prisoners of Dusknoir."
"Hmm," said Steven.
"Do we have any safehouses we can go to?"
"No. We'll worry about that after we escape, though."
Grovyle said, "Get ready, we're nearing an exit."
After a while, Carol said, "Grovyle says we're nearing the exit."
"I know that," said Chris, "I heard him."
"I can't understand him," Steven quickly explained.
"Oh..."
"So, you can understand pokémon now?" asked Steven.
"Yes," said Carol, "it's convenient."
"Fascinating!"
Val said, "I didn't know humans couldn't understand pokémon."
"It just proves that humans are monsters," said Peak.
"Shut up," said Chris. "I'm not a monster."
"You're quickly turning into one, though," said Steven, not understanding the first two thirds.
"Quiet!" commanded Grovyle.
"Shh!" relayed Carol.
The group of six approached the end of the hallway.
They heard voices behind the door.
Grovyle whispered, "How many are there?"
Chris closed his eyes. He saw five barely distinguishable blobs of light (each a pretty colour) in front of him. He turned around to see two dark red blobs behind a dark barrier.
"Two, at least," whispered Chris. "I think they're behind a wall."
Grovyle and Chris argued whether it was the door or the wall.
"What's he doing?" asked Steven.
Carol said, "He thinks he can use aura."
Steven was excited at the prospect. "Can he?"
"Maybe. I can shoot lightning, so anything's possible."
"You can use attacks?"
"Yeah. Also, don't tell Chris that I trusted his powers. It would get to his head."
"It would also mean a lot to him coming from you."
"He doesn't care what I think," said Carol with certainty.
Steven sighed, "You might be surprised."
"I doubt it."
Grovyle interrupted, "Let's go. We can catch up later."
Chris readied his shotgun. "Can we go loud?"
Grovyle quickly grabbed the barrels and pushed it down. "In your dreams. We'll stay quiet and not get caught."
"But if we're spotted?" asked Chris eagerly.
Grovyle sighed. "If we are spotted, then you can use the gun. But it's not going to happen."
"Yay," said Chris.
Grovyle opened the door slowly.
It was an exterior door, and two Sableye were standing guard. They were facing away from the door and staring into the endless darkness.
Grovyle crept up behind them and banged their heads together. They both fainted.
Chris asked, "Can we take one of them prisoner?"
"What would be the point?" asked Grovyle.
"Let's just find a car, guys," said Steven.
Carol said, "That's a good idea."
"Move," commanded Grovyle.
"Follow him," relayed Carol.
Peak asked, "What the hell is a car?"
"You'll see," said Chris.
"Are we outside?" asked Val.
"Yes."
"Where are the stars? It's nighttime, isn't it?"
"They've been gone for a while. Also, it isn't night. The time is..." Chris pulled out his satellite phone. "...high noon."
"What?" asked Peak. "It's so dark!"
"We'll explain all that later," said Grovyle. "Chris, shut that damn thing. It's too bright."
"Got it."
Carol and Steven, who had gone off in search of a vehicle, stage-whispered, "We found something!"
Everyone met up at a black SUV parked behind a corner of the building they had just left.
"That'll probably work," said Chris.
"Pick the lock, Chris," said Steven.
"Right." He picked the lock quickly. "Open sesame." The inside of the car lit up as the driver door opened. Chris hit a button and unlocked all the doors.
"Who's driving?" asked Chris.
"I am," said Carol.
Chris and Steven said, "No way."
Carol pushed past both of them and sat in the driver's seat. She shocked the starter solenoid through the ignition and started the car. "Shut up and get in the back."
Steven quickly called, "Shotgun!"
"Oh, come on," said Chris. "I never get shotgun."
"Damn straight," said Steven as he got in the passenger seat. "Get in the back."
Grovyle told the two other pokémon, "Get in."
"What is that thing?" asked Peak.
"It's a car, a human-designed vehicle. Just get in."
They all piled into the back of the SUV.
Chris leaned in between the front two seats. "So, where are we going?"
"Away," said Carol as she put the car into gear.
She floored it, and Chris fell into the second row of seats.
"Oh, shit," said Chris as got next to Peak, Val, and Grovyle on the rear bench. "I suggest you find something to hold onto."
Carol made a hard left, pushing all of the pokémon on top of Chris.
"Wah!"
"Ow!"
"Argh!"
"Oof! Gah, fuck! Get off of me!"
The SUV gained speed as it barreled towards the front gate of Dusknoir's compound.
At the gate, a Sableye standing guard saw them coming.
"What the fuck is that?"
It smashed through the gate, raising all the alarms.
"Get Dusknoir! Something's going on!"
By the time Dusknoir could even react to the situation, the fugitives were traveling north on I-95 at seventy miles an hour.
The general atmosphere was cheerful with a sprinkling of mild confusion.
None of them noticed the black car following them.
