Trip was running. Very fast. All of the hedges blurred together as he headed in the direction furthest from where he had started. A hand caught his wrist.
"Are You out of your mind?" Gary was behind him hissing as low as his voice could go. Trip realized that Victoria was hobbling after them being helped along by Leaf and Misty. Trip paled. In his hurry to get everyone away he had almost deserted Victoria. Gary shook his head.
"I'll carry her" Trip offered and Leaf helped her onto his back. A twig cracked. Everybody froze. Trip saw Leaf's panicked expression as she tried to push herself closer to Gary. They waited a full ten seconds before Misty got out her scanner.
"It was nothing. We're safe... for now" Trip started moving forward through the maze. There was no way he would let Victoria get hurt anymore. From now on she was staying were he could see her. The two girls followed with Gary bringing up the rear, always checking for danger. Trip sighed. This was on hell of a night.
Paul was in Mightyena form, Team B had decided that if anyone could get an unconscious Dawn out of there it was Paul. Dawn was currently almost strapped to his back as he ran as far and as fast as he could. The rest of Team B would hold off the creature. May had the best chances, being super effective. So instead of going with the original plan they were splitting up. Paul didn't care. The injured always came first. He wasn't sure when he decided that that statement applied, but he was fairly sure that Dawn was the first instance. Unfortunately for him he was having to carry over double his body weight in Dawn and... well... Dawn's wings. Not the ideal situation but the one he found himself in.
Leaf was becoming aware that the hedges and bushes around her were becoming... sickly. The further in they got the more she noticed. She skidded to a halt causing Gary so bump into her.
"STOP!" Leaf hissed as loudly as she could. Trip and Misty turned. Leaf went over to the nearby hedge and ran a finger down a purple speckled leaf.
"It's been here" Leaf wasn't sure how she knew but she just did. She turned to Gary.
"We're going the wrong way. It's near us." Gary looked thoughtful, as if weighing up the options.
"If we all turn around and go back It'll know" He said slowly realizing the danger they were all in.
"But I'm not taking Victoria any further." Trip looked at Gary defiantly. "If It's down there then I'm turning around right now."
Leaf looked at Gary. Gary glanced over at Misty. Victoria thudded down off of Trip's back.
"No Gary... Don't do it" She whispered clutching onto Trip for support.
"I've got no choice." Gary turned to Misty. "Your in charge Mist" He said as he began to run down the path. Leaf saw the tears glide down Victoria's face and felt the pain in her stomach. Gary was prepared to risk his life for his siblings to get away. It was touching, but it was stupid. Trip hoisted Victoria into his arms and began to run in the opposite direction. Misty followed but Leaf Struggled at the back. She couldn't help him where he was going but she wished she could.
May was with Drew and Ash. They were hunting. Drew was definitely more Pokemon than human right now as he chose the right paths to follow and cleared away debris. Ash was covering their back and checking the radar as often as he could using his new found almost sonar hearing to determine the best way forward. May was scared. She was the one with the best chances of defeating the Creature but she didn't know how to fight yet. All she could remember were the brief self-defense classes she had to take as a child. curling and flexing her hands into fists she tried to remember all she could about the best offense tactics. Drew froze and Ash copied. They had sensed something she couldn't quite see, May strained her eyes to see in the dark looking for the giant purple shape but saw none. Instead she saw a teenage boy with long, shaggy brown hair approaching. Gary.
"Hey Gaza, Had me worried there" Drew stepped forward offering out a hand. In the blink of an eye Gary grabbed his hand and snapped. There was a sickening crack and May thrust her hand over her mouth to muffle her scream. Ash jumped forward to stop Gary from hurting Drew anymore but Gary threw out his fist and another crack and a burst of blood confirmed a broken nose. May looked at Drew, his face writhing in agony and something inside her burned HOW DARE HE HURT HER BOYFRIEND May was only faintly aware that she was hitting Gary until he staggered back. May looked down at her hands. They were on fire. She shrugged it off in the heat of the moment and hit Gary again. This time he was ready. his years of training had kicked in but he couldn't fight the fire. Avoiding her hands he went for her gut scoring an electrical punch that winded May but she was burning with rage. She threw him off and hit him again and again and again. Each time hearing a sickening crunch.
"May, Enough" Someone spoke softly. May snapped out of her rage and saw Drew curled up on the floor clutching his wrist. May looked down at the bloody, broken body on the floor and realized what she had done. Ash was looking at her with something close to shock or intense fear. May looked down at the body breathing shallowly on the floor and backed off. She would Finish this. NOW!
Victoria felt it before she heard it. Gary. There was something wrong with Gary. The one person she could never lie to, never hide from was in danger. Mortal Danger. Victoria dropped off of Trip's back. He stopped, his eyes wide and questioning. Victoria looked at him sadly.
"You Know I love you" She whispered as she leaned up to kiss him. She let her lips brush his before she set off the invisible suit, disappearing and heading away. She began to run back the way Gary had gone, but she paused, watching as Trip tried desperately to find her, throwing his arms round and trying to feel through the air for her. Sadly she turned back to the long dark path. She would find Gary, he wouldn't have let her do this alone.
Victoria headed back down the path and down another. She heard a muffled scream over to her right and sprinted that way, carefully choosing which of the hedge passageways would lead her down the quickest route. Sprinting down the path she saw Drew, Ash and Gary all lying on the floor with various injuries. She rushed over to Gary and turned off the invisibility setting. She successfully stopped the bleeding before turning to Ash and Drew. Grabbing a long stick from the hedgerows she fashioned a splint for Drew's arm. Moving onto Ash she mopped up the blood and moved his nose back to the correct position. Victoria's eyes flicked round. She heard a shout. Then it hit her. Where was May?
May turned a corner and came face to face with a demonic smile. Crooked teeth poked out of a crooked smile from a crooked face, May stumbled backwards as the arachnid scuttle down the hedge towards her.
"I was hoping to feast on the grassy boy first but you'll do" the rasping voice tormented her, leaking into her mind. The monstrosity spewed poison at May and she winced in pain. May moved in for a punch but the creature kicked her with one of it's many legs, knocking the wind right out of her. May feinted left and lunged right, catching it unawares and knocking it off of the side of the hedge.
May was halfway through her second fire coated punch when the huge creature reared it's head back and began to go offensive. It's blood was like acid. Mutinous rancid poison that flowed from the wound on her side. May was pinned down by the sheer amount of legs the thing had. Something yellow shinned from the other side of the Clearing. A bight golden light blew it off from it's perch on May's body as May went in for a fiery uppercut. The beast went in for a jab but a flurry of sharp leaves from a green smudge on the left knocked the arm away. May Brought her knee up and kicked like she had commanded her Blaziken to do on many a time. A ferocious Blaze Kick set the Ariados alight. The air was filled with the rancid smell of burning flesh as May began to black out...