Saylee Pokémon: 18 Deaths: 7
Key Pokémon: 27 Deaths: 2
Groudon was huge beyond words. The volcanic crater shattered and collapsed as it pulled itself up, its rumbling bellows resolving themselves into the word "TRAITOR!" Before the tank sank under the lava, Saylee, Key, Shelly Marc and Kalle caught a glimpse of one of Groudon's madly rolling yellow eyes, an orb the size of a large house, beginning to glow red with rage.
Marc dove for the controls of the tank and sent it ploughing through the lava. It burst out of the boiling ooze in a side tunnel which was shaking violently and beginning to collapse. Marc activated the drill on the front, allowing them to smash through falling stone and make for the surface.
"So that's why they call it Mother Nature," Shelley muttered. She'd gone as white as a sheet.
"So I wasn't the only one who thought that sounded female?" Key gasped.
"Kyogre's probably female too, it'd fit the pattern," Saylee growled, pulling a box of transparent burn bandages out of her medbag. "Thanks for your help cleaning, Kalle, much as I hate to be grateful to you… and much as I don't understand why the hell you saved our lives."
"Nobody was supposed to die in there," Marc said quietly. "Certainly not your Blaziken. I'm very sorry. Groudon should not have awoken, not to the Blue Orb…" He pulled down his hood, frowning at Saylee. He looked as pale and drawn as Saylee remembered from their previous confrontation at Mt Chimney, but his expression was considerably grimmer. "What pattern were you talking about?"
"I mean that if any—literally almost any—other person on this bloody planet had brought the Blue Orb here, not a single bloody thing would have happened!" Saylee shouted as she pressed a bandage to her side and started to position another over her stomach burns. She couldn't feel them anymore, but they were making the inside of the tank smell sickeningly of cooked meat. "The kind of person who'll use the power properly… ROSHIT! They chose you two so you'd keep fighting it out for them!"
"What the hell are you going on about?" Kalle asked agitatedly.
"You see that?" Saylee said, pointing to one of the viewscreens. They had surfaced and were rolling down the slopes of Mt Chimney, giving them a clear view of lava spurting out of every crack in the mountain as Groudon tried to smash her way out. "All that power's coming to you, Marc. And after however many weeks or months of agony it takes for that power to figure out how to handle a human body, you're gonna fight to the death against—against the guy with Kyogre's power. That power's coming to you because, in a human body, all those seals…" she pointed at the Blue Orb, which Marc gripped possessively. "…all those pokéballs and what have you that can contain Pokémon? They don't work on humans. You and Kyogre'll tear apart each other—and, incidentally, the planet—until you die. Congratu-fucking-lations!"
"He's going to have Groudon's power?!" Shelly shrieked angrily, going pale. "Hell NO!"
"No," Marc echoed softly, going just as pale as Shelly. "That wasn't the reason I did this… it was a hoax to draw Archie out, to draw him here, he'd never listen otherwise…"
"Why the hell should he listen to you?" Shelly demanded angrily. "After what you did to his father? No, Archie's gone to take precautions against exactly this. In fact, by now…" She smugly switched on her radio, tuning it to the national news.
"…state of the art, Gabby. It can go as deep as fifty thousand feet, which is a good seven thousand feet deeper than any other submarine currently operating on the planet. While we still have the schematics and can build another, until then Team Aqua will be impossible to…"
"They stole a submarine?" Key said as Shelly switched the radio off again.
"The only submarine on the planet that can reach the depths of Kyogre's resting place," Shelly said proudly. "Even if he can't wake it with the Red Orb, that doesn't matter. He'll still be able to capture and control it, and use its power to destroy Groudon and make this world a better place!"
"Okay, I know Kyogre's a Pokémon, so I guess a pokéball could catch it," Key sighed in exasperation, "but there's no way even an Ultra Ball could hold it! It's too strong!"
"Does he have the Master Ball?" Marc said quietly.
Saylee clocked Kalle on the head with her elbow in her haste to grab Marc's shoulder and pull him around to face her. Marc pulled away immediately from her touch, but seemed to catch the expression on her face. "Say that again," she demanded.
"You know of the Master Ball?" Marc said curiously.
"That abomination of technology that Silph created? The ignition point of the whole Kanto civil war?" Saylee snapped. "I hunted down and burned every schematic and prototype there was, but Archie's father worked on it, didn't he?"
"He did," Marc said, glancing over her, looking at her for what seemed like the first time instead of skimming over her. Even with the bandages on her side and the blue tank top she was pulling over her head, most of her scars were very visible. "You're from Kanto, aren't you? So am I, and so is Archie. His father, Adrian…"
"Don't you even talk about him, you murderer!" Shelly spat. Kalle grabbed her as she lunged angrily towards Marc. "Adrian Irving was a good man, dammit, and he's dead because of you!"
"…worked for Silph Co. before fleeing the country with his family prior to the Mew Two psychic event," Marc continued, ignoring them. "He was an engineering genius. He could have constructed a Master Ball for the purpose of capturing and controlling Kyogre twenty years ago if that was what he wished. We intended to save the designs as a very last resort against the likes of Groudon and Kyogre…"
"Not even they deserve that," Saylee said angrily. She released Zac and Sanborn, who thanks to the confined space ended up with their claws extremely close to Marc and Kalle's throats. "Thanks for the patchup and the rescue, but I'm still locking all three of you up. All three of you are culpable for Conspiracy To Destroy The World Through Sheer Bloody Idiocy, and Marc, you say you didn't mean for anybody to die, but can you explain pushing me towards that lava pit? Because if you hadn't, my Blaziken might still be alive."
"You sayin' Teddy's kicked it?" Sanborn said, tightening his claws around Marc's throat. "Just say the word, an' imma rip this motherfucker open."
"I already said that I never intended to kill you, and I meant it," Marc said as Key set Leslie on Shelly. "I could tell your Blaziken was strong. I knew he'd catch you. I didn't know the ground would collapse like that."
"Sure, like you didn't know that magma chamber would collapse on Adrian?" Shelly spat.
Marc's jaw tightened. "Enough," he sighed. "This conversation will go no differently than it has a million times before. Kalle." A disturbing grin cracked across Kalle's face. He flung Zac back, not caring as the Linoone's claws ripped at his arm. Sanborn was knocked aside as Zac hit him, slamming them both into the inside tank wall. Marc slammed down a switch on the control panel at the same time, and Kalle grabbed onto him just as the roof opened and the chair Marc was on went shooting out.
"You cowardly bastards!" Shelly yelled, free to move after Leslie instinctively shot over to her brother to help him up. Shelly hauled herself up onto the roof of the truck. "Godsdammit, where are they?!"
"Skye!" Saylee called, releasing her Altaria out of the truck's roof. Key released Topaz and Shikoba. "Kalle and Marc will be drifting down on a parachute somewhere! Find them!"
"They killed Teddy!" Zac added angrily.
"They what?!" Shikoba screeched, taking off sharply with Skye and Topaz in tow. Leslie darted up onto the roof after Shelly.
"Looks like Marc set this thing to roll to Mauville," Shelly called, backing away carefully. "I'd get them to sound evacuation bells anywhere near Mt. Chimney. You can see the glow from here!"
"Wait!" Key yelled, climbing up after her. She was knocked back down by Leslie being flung down the opening. "Where are you going?" She yelled up.
"I'm gonna meet up with Matt and Archie. After that?" Shelly smirked down the aperture at them. "Like I'd tell you." She pointed at Key. "You just mess with Archie, and she—" she pointed at Saylee, "—is crazy. Bye, girls! It's been terrible! Let's do it again, never."
Key hauled herself up again as Shelly dropped off of the truck. "She's gone," she sighed, dropping back into the truck. "Disappeared into the forest. What do we do now?"
"Unless you know how to stop this thing, we might have to wait until it reaches its destination," Saylee sighed, standing up to go to the controls then sitting down heavily as her left leg gave out from under her. "Ow… bloody numbing solution."
Leslie peered up at her, flicking her ears. "Is it really true, though?" Zac asked for her. "Ted's dead?"
Saylee nodded, starting to cry as, in the absence of anyone to be angry at, grief took over. I warned him, and he still stayed with me… oh, Teddy… I'm so sorry…
"What about, um, the stuff about Marc and Groudon?" Key asked awkwardly. "You never said anything before…"
"I didn't realize before," Saylee muttered, wiping her eyes and appreciating the change in topic, at least for now. "I didn't know until I saw the Blue Orb rejecting him the same way that the Red Orb rejected Archie. It all made sense from there…"
"So if Archie goes anywhere near Kyogre with the Red Orb…" Key said tremulously.
"…We get the aquatic equivalent of that," Saylee said, pointing at the display of the volcano still visible on the monitor. Rocks and fire were shooting into the sky. "But as for how we're going to find him at the bottom of the bloody ocean…"
"Well, Shelly did say she's going to meet up with Matt and Archie somewhere," Key pointed out. "I'll bet that 'research institute' of theirs at Lilycove is involved."
"You're right," Saylee said, scrambling for her pokégear and dialling. "Scott?"
"Sar! What the hell went on at Mt. Chimney? A bunch of rangers just 'ported back saying they never saw you, but the damn volcano is erupting!"
"It's Groudon, it's awake, sound the alarms and get people the hell away from that volcano," Saylee said sharply. "You've heard about the submarine?"
"Of course! That's where everyone is now, as a matter of fact. The Aqua Institute's getting busted right open. Are you coming to join in or what?"
"We might not be able to," Saylee said. "Look, is anyone spare to watch the coasts? One of the Aqua admins is still running loose and planning to rendezvous with the sub, which means it's going to have to surface, or at least reach swimming depth. I would've expected the Aqua Institute, but they might be revising that plan if the rangers are already there."
"Damn. I'll spread the word on that, as well. Anything else you want me to PA?"
"Marc and Kalle are floating around somewhere too," Saylee said. "Our flying-types are out looking for them, but, y'know…"
"Eyes out. Got it. Sounds like you ladies have had an interesting night."
"And it doesn't look like life's going to get boring any time soon, sadly," Saylee sighed, hanging up.
"What about your not friend, Lance?" Key asked, fiddling with some of the console controls.
"Better see if he's alive," Saylee sighed, dialling. She didn't keep Lance's number saved, but she was annoyed to find that she remembered the number anyway. She was half-relieved and half-annoyed when he picked up. "You're still alive, then."
"That's my line. I was flying above the volcano, not running around inside the damn thing. I had one of the Magma admins, but she got away when the volcano, you know, erupted."
"Can you do us a favour and get your dragons patrolling the coasts?" Saylee asked. "I'm sure your dragons have much better night vision than our Pokémon, and the stolen sub is going to surface sometime soon to pick up an Aqua admin. Things are only going to get worse if Kyogre gets awoken as well as Groudon."
"You're telling me. I've been trying everything against this thing—Hyper Beam, Blizzard, Hydro Pump—and all that happened was it went underground, and I think it was more bothered by the volcano coming down on its head than us."
"You attacked Groudon?" Saylee asked, feeling her head spin. "You're serious?"
"What," Key said flatly.
"You attacked Ho-oh, didn't you? Can't let you be crazier than me, bad for both of our images. I'll get my dragons patrolling, but where the hell are you?"
"I'll let someone know when I find out," Saylee sighed, hanging up and flopping back against the chair. She felt extremely tired, and her vision was swimming.
"You alright, Lee?" Sanborn asked with concern. "Girl, you blasting heat like the desert!"
"Oh, shit," Key said, putting her hand over Saylee's forehead. "Not that It'd be a surprise if you picked up an infection in a burn like that, but still… hang in there. We're not far from Mauville."
"Gotta tell them to… evacuate…" Saylee murmured, trying and failing to keep her eyes open.
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"You're lucky we caught that infection fast," the doctor said, checking Saylee's vitals. "You've got a good immune system on you, and you're responding well to the medication. The injuries aren't too deep, but you could have bled out if they hadn't been cauterized by the burns… going to scar pretty badly as a result, though."
"I can live with that," Saylee said, shivering at the cold touch of the cleaning gel.
"You're really going to have to watch how you move for the next couple of weeks," the doctor continued warningly, tucking a strand of lavender hair behind her ear. "Although from the looks of it, you know about how scars heal." She gestured at the older burns across Saylee's back. "You're a ranger, right? You're the only sort that tend to keep scars like that. Apply the cream and change the bandages daily, and try not to rip that open. I'd advise taking some holiday leave."
"I'm on holiday just now, actually," Saylee said. The doctor raised an eyebrow at her; her lavender hair colour stood out quite sharply against her dark skin, emphasizing her incredulous expression.
"Are you the type who needs to holiday alone in a locked hotel room to stay out of trouble?" she asked, applying burn bandages to Saylee's side. "My cousin's a ranger, and you have to all but tie him up to keep him out of—" A siren suddenly went off outside. "What the hell?"
"This is not a drill," a voice said over the PA. "Mauville must evacuate. Earthquakes will soon hit this area. Please proceed in an orderly fashion towards transport towards Slateport. Please do not crowd the teleporters. Repeat: This is not a drill…"
"Am I cleared to move about on my own?" Saylee asked the doctor, who was outright staring at her as the announcement looped. "I'm sure you have other patients to get out of here."
"I'll feel all the safer once you and your cursed luck are outta here," the doctor said, waiting until Saylee had pulled her tank top back on to open the door. "Still can't tell if your luck is amazingly good or amazingly bad, though."
"Both, and they just kinda cancel each other out in the end," Saylee sighed, grabbing her bag and heading for the door, moving somewhat stiffly with her left arm clamped to her side. "Thanks, doc!"
"The safe thing to do would be to get south or get out of Hoenn!" the doctor called after her. Saylee ignored her, going downstairs to see Key standing on a chair to stay out of the way of the flood of patients being herded towards the hospital's emergency teleporters. Her hair was dark blonde from the shower, and she was towelling it dry while watching a news report about the raid on the Aqua Institute.
"Apparently the submarine was there, they just didn't reach the access bay in time," Key said, helping Saylee get up onto a chair next to her. "The strike teams got in easily enough, but then they got split up and confused by portpads hidden in the floor. The sub was only spotted as it was leaving."
Short-range single-destination warp pads… Silph built those, too, Saylee thought, remembering the Silph headquarters that she and Blue had tentatively navigated five years before. Timing's right, too. Archie's father really did rebuild Silph technology… the Master Ball too…?
The report switched to one about the evacuation orders about Mt Chimney, repeating the warnings of earthquakes and abnormal seismic activity. "Let's go to the Ranger station in Lilycove and check out what they found," Saylee decided. "They may have found a lead to where Team Aqua wants to go next."
"I'm up for that," Key said, getting up and following her out.
"You should go home," Saylee said, walking sideways through the crowd with her right side forward to protect her injuries. "I've gotten you into way too much danger already, which is kind of the opposite of what I promised your parents. Going after gods and supervillains will be dangerous."
"Like it's not going to be dangerous anyway?" Key said with a shrug. "Mom called to ask me to go home, but… If I go home, I'll just be helping shepherd the kids around from evac warning to evac warning. I told them that I'm with you and I'm safe. Okay, that part was probably a lie," she added quickly when Saylee opened her mouth to interject, "but I figure if I stick with you I'll stand a better chance of actually knowing what's going on and maybe even making a difference, you know? Besides…" She flung an arm around Saylee's shoulders, helping her push her way out of the door while covering her injured side. "You're my friend. That means that the crazy shit you do, I do." They made it to the front doors and stepped outside. "Do you see Shikoba, Topaz or Skye anywhere?"
"I'm sure they're looking for us, and they'll be here soon," Saylee said, looking up at the sky. There were still a few hours until dawn, but Mauville in full evacuation mode was as bright as day.
The first tremor shook the ground sharply under their feet, filling the air with frightened screams.
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Saylee
Key