Shadows of Almia
Chapter 25 – Call to Arms
Sven heard a small sound from around the corner, but Kate didn't seem to give any regard for it. Quickly, he yanked the girl back behind him, and clamped her mouth shut before she could say anything. They both stood there, tensed as a conversation was occurring right next to them.
"I apologize for our coming here without warning," A voice chuckled apologetically. "Terminate the production of Miniremo units soon, and congrats on the success of your personal project. Shift the staff over to our main projects. See to those two items on the agenda."
Kate found this voice strangely familiar. The man speaking was curt and straight to the point, but somewhat sincere. The Ranger racked her mind of who it could be, but she really couldn't figure out who it was at all, even if she did know his voice from somewhere.
"Consider it done, boss," An overly confident tone then snapped something in Kate's head. "That also foes for the fine personages of the Sinis Trio!"
"Fuu..." a woman's voice seemed amused. "By the way, I wanna take this successful sample of your special serum. We wanna use it, right, Heath?"
She was answered with an uneasy grunt, and the voice chuckled again, a chill running down Kate's spine as he spoke once more. The name was close to the tip of tongue, and she was sure she knew this one.
"The design data of the Incredible Machine will be deleted shortly, and we will be mass producing results of Project Black Water as soon as possible. It's been a great honor to have you visit us!"
Kate froze upon realization. She had last seen this voice since a year, but the silent cackle that followed was too recognizable.
"Kincaid!" She hissed behind Sven's hand, and the cowboy Ranger was wondering what was making her so pissed. She was really struggling against his grip, but his grip was far too strong for her to handle. As much as Sven hated to admit it, but he was sure that she could have really been nearly as strong as he, despite the age difference and all the other details. Luckily, they weren't heard as a helicopter moved away from sight.
"Boss's helicopter is something else," Another voice said. "These high winds aren't giving it any trouble at all. I wish we had helicopters like that."
"I hear you, but helicopters are too small for transporting Pokemon and Gigaremo," Another said. "Our diving team need to catch a Wailord soon. That will make up for the cargo ship we lost to the Rangers."
A small chuckle came from Kincaid, "The Wailord capture can be left to the Dim Sun Marine Unit. I have other news of interest. The boss made a promise to me. When the Incredble Machine is completed, I will be promoted. There is an executive position waiting for me at headquarters."
They seemed to shuffle away to a distant door, and Sven finally let Kate go. She fell to her knees, and began gasping for air. Circulation behind a tightly closed hand was not good for her lungs.
"What was that for?" Kate shot him a deathly glare, and Sven shook her head with a concerned frown.
"You don't run out like that as if you're high and mighty," He warned her. "Did you not notice that the boss of Team Dim Sun was right here a minute ago? Who knows what he could do if we were caught?"
"Good point," Kate nodded, and she looked at the roof of this oil rig. "Seems to me this is Dim Sun's secret base."
"But what did they mean by Incredible Machine?" Sven added to their spoken observations. "What's that about?"
"Dunno," Kate shrugged and they headed for the door.
"Well, we do know what our main goal is here," Sven smiled. "They said they were deleting data on that 'Incredible Machine' today, we'll just have to make it in on time."
Kate nodded in agreement, "We'll have to invade this place, right?"
"Whoa," Sven was alarmed at her ambition. "We're only here to infiltrate, not invade."
"What's wrong with that?" Kate looked at him. "I might as well take out the guy in charge of this place and interrogate him. That'd be much more useful."
"But that's like counting your chickens too early…" Sven muttered in exasperation as Kate swung open the door to the rest of the building. Thank goodness the security in the place was awful.
A grunt took in a deep breath, and tried to keep staring at this ridiculously huge electric device. He had forgotten what he was told to do, and now he wondered why he was looking at a hunk of sparked metal. Now what did his superiors say about this…?
"This generator us for powering the trap in the corridor. It must not be turned off..."
Okay, noted and memorized. He heard footsteps behind him, and he then froze. What was this…? A weird feeling.
"I sense a sinister presence..." He turned around, and nearly fainted. "Gwah! A Ranger? Two of them, even?"
Indeed, a girl and a man were staring at him, with raised eyebrows. He began to sputter and drop everything that he was holding.
"I was just going over maintenance notes for myself! Pretend you never heard me! Otherwise, they'll give me the boot!"
The two Rangers scoffed at him and walked right past him, and started staring at the machine itself. They then had a casual conversation about random things, and the grunt felt overly excluded and ignored. Well, he had nothing to fight with, so he really did have no reason to interrupt them.
"Well, we'll just have to overload the circuits," The man sighed. "Ne, Luxray, can you do the job?"
The Dim Sun grunt squeaked as he noticed that a large lion-like Pokemon came slinking around him, and its fur was beginning to give off blue sparks. It generated a stream of thunder from itself and onto the machine, which began overclocking before shutting down altogether. The Dim Sun grunt gawked at just how easily they had taken the machine down, and he said nothing as they left quickly. It took him moments to realize to alert the higher ups. He grabbed for the nearest PA, and began screaming into it.
"INTRUDERS! INTRUDERS ON THE FIRST FLOOR!"
"Shit," Sven growled under his breath as they broke into a run, and Dim Sun grunts were suddenly flowing out of the doors. The two Rangers glanced at each other before charging head on into the crowd of grunts. Suddenly out of the crowd, poor grunts were being launched at the ceiling, and tripping everyone else. The ones equipped with Miniremo were crushed by the other people being tossed at them, and several of them were given friendly sparks to their bottoms. It wasn't long before the Rangers were left to themselves, grinning at the trouble they caused.
"Hey," Sven smiled. "You're pretty good, for a rookie Top Ranger."
"Speak for yourself," Kate sighed. "At least you didn't have to take crash courses in school."
"True, so true," Sven shrugged, and they continued down the hall. It wasn't long before the halls started flashing red all over, and a distinct electronic voice wailing "CODE RED" was blaring alarms all over the place, much to their dismay. Luckily, it would only take some time for the reinforcements to come at them.
The two Rangers arrived in a new corridor, with more rooms to spare. They exchanged glances, pondering whether to split up. They didn't really have much choice. If they did, it would be easy to evade those goons, but harder to communicate with. Now, they didn't want that, did they? Oh, well.
"The Wailmer you're looking for should be in here, then," Sven said. "I'm exploring this floor some more. Kate, you deal with the Wailmer."
"I'll do that," Kate nodded, and the cowboy went running in another direction as she faced another way.
She walked down this corridor. The alarm managed to calm down, and it was blaring elsewhere, probably after Sven. She noticed that not much people were around, and she reached for the sword on her back and drew it out. It blinked menacingly in the fluorescent light, the small drips of seawater rolling off the sharper end. The Ranger continued her walk down the hall. It was then when she stopped mid-step, a small hint of a presence from behind her.
A grunt was standing behind her, knees knocking against each other from pure fright. Kate was sure he wanted to say something, so she turned around to face him.
"Hey! You intruder! You shouldn't be in here!" he turned on his Miniremo."Jolteon, get her!"
It wasn't a long capture, and when Kate let the electric fox go, she looked back at the grunt with little interest.
"You were saying?"
The grunt was afraid. He really didn't know anything else to do, and that sword the girl was holding was scaring the hell out of him. What was he supposed to do now? What were the procedures for this?
"Y-you shouldn't be snooping around!" he babbled, and he couldn't control himself. Kate looked at him with a raised eyebrow, expecting to say more. He was sure he was not supposed to say more about what was being conducted here, but she looked to scary to lie to.
"T-this section is... Pretty dangerous. It has... Bad things... Conducted here..."
Kate relaxed her trip on her sword. "Bad things, you say?"
"Y-yes..."
"… Care to share more?"
The Dim Sun grunt was taken aback. "Wh-what?"
"I said," Kate made her way over to him, brandishing that dangerous blade. "I'd like to know more about what's 'conducted' here."
A bead of sweat ran down his cheek. Curse himself for being a troublemaker to himself! Now she would pry the information, and everything about the syndicate could be in complete peril. He bit his lip in frustration. He was stuck, and he could tell that the Ranger had picked it up, too.
"Well" He felt impatience rising from her. "You answer."
"Ee-Eek!" He squeaked, and began to babble everything to Kate, who merely stood in place and listened with little change on her stolid face. However his last note did something else to her demeanor.
"... the only ones left are three little boys... brown haired and a bit scrawny, and they called themselves a vegetable… a herb? What kind of name was that, I mean, who names their kid Basil-"
An eerie silence fell upon the two opponents, and Kate had turned her back on him. The grunt closed his mouth and stared at the person in question, and he sputtered, backing away slowly from her.
"I… I told you everything I know… Let me walk away peacefully, please..."
Just as he took another step, something whizzed past his face, and it left a paper cut on his face. Suddenly something dark was leaking out of the Ranger, an aura that he only saw in one other person in his life. It wasn't soon when he didn't see her, and a blade was aimed at her shoulder.
"No. Take me to these boys."
A loud rumble startled the captives of their prison. Ben looked outside and tried to peer out of the bars. Kellyn, who was tending to the sleeping Basil, was glancing at the ceiling, wondering if anything awful happened above.
"What was that?" Ben asked, and Kellyn shrugged.
"Beats me," the boy said, and Ben returned to trying to look outside with a grim expression on his face.
It must have been a week since he returned his friends. He found it strange now whenever he moved. His feet felt lighter than usual, and his arms moved more freely, or he was comfortable with flexing really far to the point of scaring the hide off of Kellyn. Ben was sure it had something to do with those scientists who screwed with his body back there.
Basil still remained asleep. He hadn't woken up when he came back. For being a successful experiment, Ben gained an ounce more respect from the guards, and he managed to get the cell cleaned o their bloodstained walls. He also asked for Basil to be cleaned up. Ben didn't say much about what he did to his best friend. As much as he could connect the situation to those scientists as the perpetrators, he couldn't help but admit he was the one to blame. Had he not done all the things that wound him and Basil up here, none of this would be happening.
It must have been a whole month since he had been here, not seeing the sun for this long. Was that bad for your health? He forgot the answer when he heard the hatchet to the chamber open, and a few footsteps coming their way. Kellyn and Ben squinted in this dim lighting, and were on guard for anything that came. Then the footsteps stopped and they winced at the sickening cracks and painful grunts were made not too far from their cell. Ben and Kellyn tensed when they heard a heavy thud. The footsteps continued once more and they saw a feminine figure before them. She was holding something sharp, and she raised it above her head and swung sharply down on the door.
It seemed as if nothing had been done to the door, until a small creak made half of the set of bars shift to the side. The barrier crumpled apart and the pieces fell Dow wih a loud clang, and Ben and Kellyn shielded their eyes from what the flying dust. They had flinched in fear at just how powerful this woman were completely frozen when they a voice they didn't expected to hear.
"And I guess he was right... There were only three boys here…"
"Kate!" he shouted and the girl flinched at his voice.
"Ben?"
She stepped into the light, and her face was more noticeable. Ben couldn't help but run at the older girl and hug her. Even if he had no real right to, he was just too happy to see someone he knew. It was a refreshing feeling that replenished her energy to begin walking again.
"Ben..." Kate muttered, and she knelt down and hugged the boy back. She then let him go and looked at the sleeping Basil on the floor. She was fully aware of the cuts and bandages on her little brother's body, and she stood beside him for a few minutes. It was until then when she said in a low cold voice.
"Ben," she said, kneeling down to his eye level. "Tell me everything that happened to you. From the beginning to the end."
"Ah, um…" Ben was nervously fidgeting his fingers. He had mentioned everything he could remember: the "exercise" sessions, the needle, what he did to Basil (well, he was too terrified to talk about it, Kellyn had to fill in the gaps).
The deadpan look on Kate's face was disconcerting to him. He couldn't tell if she was shocked or plainly listening to him. Was she even listening at all?
Kellyn shifted between his feet uneasily. He had seen Kate before, at that one Outdoor Class, where the Dim Sun grunts shot Ms. April and threatened Kate with a gun. No one else was injured, thanks to her and Ben, but that was only outdoor class, and it was terrifying. Now this was a real mission, Kate seemed drastically more serious. She said little, and she didn't react very much to her brother's injuries. Kellyn just assumed that she acted like so because she shouldn't be acting upon emotion in missions.
The Ranger stood up to her feet and approached Basil. And examined his wrappings more carefully. She looked content with what she saw, and stood up. Kate looked at the two other children in the cell and approached them, and gave them a almost tight hug. She let got of them with little words, and patted both of them on the heads.
"You did a good job taking care of my little brother," She said in a small voice with a gentle smile. "You managed to follow the medical protocols well."
Kellyn and Ben felt heat rise up to their cheeks. They were mere students… first-years, and they were being praised by a Ranger. It was… too embarrassing, even more that it was a well-rounded young woman who was talking to them. They cursed their hormones.
Their hairs came back on end when they heard distinct shouts coming from the door leading to the cells. Kate stood up, and picked up her sword again, her eyes narrowed. It was expected that the grunts stopped short at their cell. It was only three of them, armed with strange wrists Gauntlets. Not like Kate needed to know what they were. She was sure they were only smaller versions of Miniremos. No, really.
"Oh," she said flatly. "I'm just a visitor."
The grunt glared at how easily she took their presence. Was she just toying with them, not taking them seriously? His pride boiled and he didn't back down, despite the fact that the Ranger was holding a dangerous weapon in her hands. He loved puzzles, and he wanted to toy with her mind, too.
"What do you want?" He smiled. "You'd make a good change of pace after my work over here! Three cheers for the new dream energy! Good-bye to oil!"
"Insanity," She said in a bland tone, and she dove forward and kicked the grunt hard in the stomach. He had little time to react before slamming into the wall opposite. As he slipped down to the floor, Kate looked to the left and spotted a Dim Sun guard charging at them. The Ranger sighed deeply and sidestepped, letting the grunt fall forward. She then gave the man a good knee in the gut, landing an open palm down on the guy's neck. The poor grunt fell splat on the floor, with little resistance. She then looked at the last one, but he was too terrified to move. It was only in three seconds flat that she swiftly kicked him in the head, knelt down, and grabbed onto the man's collar. She heaved back, and easily tossed him into Ben's cell and into the rubble. He didn't get up after a while.
Kellyn and Ben watched in horror and excited fascination. They had just seen a Ranger in action, and it… was too cool for them to say anything. Kate turned on her heel towards them, and she swung her sword down, breaking Ben's chains. She looked at them with a reassuring smile, and pointed at Basil.
"One of you," she said. "Carry Basil. We're breaking you out of here."
Sven couldn't say much, but he was deeply annoyed. He couldn't find a single thing about data from the "Incredible Machine." It was like none of these idiots walking around had no idea about the thing in the first place. Perhaps this was something only the higher members knew about. Never mind that. Right now, he was stuck in a room with friggin' grunts, and they were doing their best to ignore him.
"Say bro," one of them grinned knowingly. "Who might this be here?"
"What, you can't tell from the outfit?" The other slapped the former playfully on the shoulder. "What we have here is obviously an actor from an action movie."
Actor? Movie? That sounded not so bad. It was true that Sven did look like those lovely heartthrobs from the movies. Too bad he didn't take up that career, he thought to himself. Wait, what was he doing, just standing here? He was supposed to find a way out of this damn room! He looked at the doorknob and noticed a rather complicated electronic lock, reinforced so it couldn't just be smashed by a normal human. Sven gave a rattled sigh. He was never good with computers, so how the hell was he supposed to break this?
"Well, then, bro, can you tell me this?" The grunts continued. "What's an actor doing here?"
"You know, it's one of those things," The answer came. "They're on location. It's a film shoot. There's a camera here somewhere capturing the unfolding scene as we speak."
Sven the noticed that his Luxray was standing outside the door. He gave a small low whistle, and the electric feline looked at the door, aware that its partner was stuck behind that door. He tried to make a few more small sounds, hoping that it could tell Luxray how to zap the lock. Just hopefully, Luxray would understand, or he'd become fried chicken. Sadly, no one would eat it.
"Oh yeah?" The Dim Sun grunts whispered between themselves. "What's the movie? Bro, tell me."
They shrugged with a grin on their faces. "What else could it possibly be? 'Pokemon ranger vs. TDS!'"
"Bingo!" Sven cheered, and the electric lock beeped in response to the overload. The cowboy Ranger than ran to the other end of the room and hid behind a steel crate. This was going to be a loud one.
Right after he dove for shelter, the wall exploded inward, and dust filled the air. Bits of scrap metal were flying across, and went right over the steel container. The Dim Sun grunts coughed and blindly reached for something, when they heard a low growl of a cat. Sven got up from his hiding place, giving Luxray thumbs up before leaping over the crate and rejoining with his partner. The Dim Sun grunts were partially covered in the rubble, and they laughed heartily.
"Say, bro... We lost that match, but we'll be starring in a movie, so it's all good, right?"
"Yeah... If they don't cut our scene."
"Gee," Sven muttered. "They must be on drugs or something. Not that I'm complaining."
Luxray purred in response as they ambled down the corridor, still on the search for those blueprints.
"I'm surprised you two can run," Kate noted to the Ben and Kellyn as they sprinted down the hall. It was surprising, actually. By now, Kate couldn't believed that both Ben and Kellyn couldn't run, let alone walk, but the two seemed perfectly fine. Even Ben, who was carrying Basil on his back, was on par with Kate's running. Kate wondered if he had been strengthened or something.
"We worked really hard," Kellyn grinned. "So we can be just as good as you!"
Kate gave them a quick smile before looking back on her Styler again. She was tracking down Sven's mark, and he was at a dead end. Perhaps he had found the data there. She planned to meet up with him, and they'd be looking for Wailmer all over again. From whatever readings the Styler was saying, the Wailmer was taken to the next floor below. She couldn't leave Sven behind either.
They swerved around a sharp corner and resumed running again. They reached a new set of corridors, but Kate took the door right in front of them. She found herself in a fairly large room with big screens and tracking systems everywhere. The Ranger then decided to explain a few things to the boys.
"I need you guys to do something for me," She spoke to them. "Can you handle it?"
"Of course!" Ben and Kellyn nodded eagerly. Their first mission, and they will not let Kate down!
"Wha-What are you doing?"
Isaac dove behind the nearest fallen bookshelf. He was never the best athletic person in the class, but he was sure he could just escape this room as well as anyone else could, if only this man wasn't roughing him up, and trying to grab his coat. The guy's Luxray was not so far away, either.
"Come on, kid," The man was approaching his hiding place. "Hand me the disc, and you're free to go."
"W-What disc?" Isaac was puzzled, and then remembered. "Oh, that one? Why should I give it to you?"
"Because…" The man was about to say more, but the alarm began abruptly once more, and the door sealed shut. The Ranger swore, and glared at Isaac. Dim Sun grunts were coming this way, shouting unintelligible things, and he was cornered. Damn dead end.
"Hand the disc," the cowboy Ranger said in a menacing tone to the little blonde scientist. "Now."
He then heard surprised shouts, and later, screams. His eyes darted to the metal door, still surprised that the grunts could sound like little girls. It seemed that all of them were knocked out, when a the door fell into pieces. He heard a chirp of a Starly, and indeed, he watched it fly into the room and land on the overturned table. Isaac gaped at the broken metal door. It was metal! What could possibly break it?
"Oi, Sven," A nostalgic voice reached his ears. "You get the blueprints yet?"
Sven grinned at the newcomer. "I found them, but it's with this mushroom boy!"
"Mushroom?" The voice seemed surprised. Isaac took this chance to leap out of his hiding place in the bookshelf and waved frantically. The Ranger looked at him, and he froze in shock. It had been a year and a half since he really saw Kate in person. He had little to say for her hair, but it was too different from the last time he saw her… Nonetheless…
"Hey! Help me, Kate!" He shouted fearfully. "It's me, Isaac! This guy's roughing me up!"
"Oh," Kate said flatly, not really surprised. "I guess you'd be here, too."
"Kate," Sven was puzzled by the mild reunion. "You know this kid?"
"Of course we know each other!" Isaac answered. "Kate and I are fellow graduates of the Academy! Kate became a Ranger, and I became a scientist, but we're alike in working hard."
"Whoa, what's going on here?" Sven was even more confused. "How does an Academy graduate end up working in Dim Sun's hideout?"
"That is a good question," Kate turned around. "We're smack in the middle of their hideout. This is no time to chat, and there's more goons coming this way. The kids managed to fend off most of them, but now they in charge of communications, so we better hurry."
Sven's head began to fill with utter confusion. It was difficult trying to catch what she was saying. What kids? Communications?
A startled voice made them jump, and they turned to the door to see a trepid Dim Sun goon.
"You creepy Rangers!" He shouted with a shaky voice. "You're not getting off lightly!"
He was immediately silence by a blade crashing down on his shoulder, and he was out comepletely. Isaac and Sven stared at the Ranger in awe as she decided to return her sword back to the sheath on her back. She looked at their gaping faces, and gave them a doubtful look.
"It's only the back of the sword," she said plainly. "Really, all he's getting is a bruise."
Isaac then squeaked and hurried along to her side, and Sven sighed and followed after them as they walked down this narrow hallway. Isaac then jumped in surprise. The floor was littered with unconscious Dim Sun grunts, and Kate and Sven passed by them as if it were nothing special. They were Rangers, but shouldn't they say anything about this?
"Hey, Kate," Sven then asked, trying to catch up to her. "What did you mean, 'kids?'"
"You'll know soon, enough," Kate said in a low voice, and kept walking.
"And what about the mushroom kid?" Sven asked. Kate shrugged.
"We'll take Isaac back to the Union for questioning," She said promptly. "Prof. Hastings'll be happy with this catch."
"Hastings?" Isaac become more curious. "They don't mean the world-renowned John Hastings, do they…?"
A small spark of motivation burned in the back of his mind.
"You kids done yet?"
Kate shouted as she entered the control room again, and she was in for a surprise. Kellyn and Ben were busy only shouting off readings, not doing what she had instructed them to do. Instead, someone else was typing in everything, Much to her surprise, Basil was standing up, alive and well, and he was busy muttering things and typing in things on the foreign keyboard.
"Basil!" The Ranger shouted, and the boy stopped his work, and looked at his older sister running to him.
"Big sister!" He shouted. Kate then gave him a light hug, knowing that she'd worsen his injuries if she squeezed him, and then began acting frantic and looking at his wounds, asking if anything hurt really bad, or if he had any injuries she probably didn't know of. Sven and Isaac chuckled at the girl's antics and loss of her cool demeanor, until she shot a glare at them.
"Basil," she looked at her little brother. "Don't do anything like that again."
"But if it's to help Big Sister," Basil grinned. "I will always help."
Kate patted him on the head, and called the other two to come with them. Sven gave her a questioning look and pointed at the keyboard, silently asking what she had asked the kids to do. Kate received his look and stopped to face him.
"I asked them to contact the Union from here," She answered him. "That way, these kids will be picked up and sent to the Union when this is over."
"Good idea," Sven shrugged. "Now, we'll just have to get to the third floor."
The next door exploded, and no one came after them. Strange. Shouldn't there be more people here?
"I guess everyone either evacuated," Sven assumed. "Or we knocked most of them out."
The three young boys gave a grunt of agreement. Kellyn and Ben were faring well on their own, but Basil required the help, and he was leaning on Ben for support. Isaac trailed quietly behind both the Rangers and the kids, making sure that the Rangers led the way, and the kids wouldn't wander off somewhere.
The young scientist's mind was occupied on the strange excitement he felt when he heard that he might meet Professor Hastings, one of the many well respected figures of forensics and technology worldwide. He hid his eagerness to go, since he knew he'd end up being at the Union for just being at the oil field rig when the Rangers came.
He really didn't mind working here under Altru because there were plenty of books and the people were generous to him, including his boss, Kincaid. But the Ranger Union... Its appeal was very strong. If he could lose himself in research, He was willing to go anywhere. Then the thought of leaving his boss behind was daunting, so he hoped to follow these Rangers and find Kincaid so he could say good-bye to Mr. Kincaid. He owed the man that courtesy. Perhaps he should ask…
"Um… Kate?" He only knew Kate, and was too timid to ask anyone else in the group. The said girl turned around, looking at him expectantly. Everyone stopped , too, and were staring at him, expecting him to say something more. He gave a small gulp. It was like giving a speech in front of millions with insufficient clothing.
"I-Is… it all right if," He said slowly. "If I could speak with Mr. Kincaid…?"
He could feel the temperature drop a few degrees, and a small twitch on Kate's face, but the Ranger turned on her heel and kept walking.
"Sure," She said as she took another step. "We were planning to have a nice chat with him before we leave."
"Oh, really?" The blonde brightened. "Thank you so much, Kate!"
The Ranger didn't say anything back, her mind intent on finding that damn madman. Now that Isaac confirmed that he was here, she would definitely get him.
"Sir!" An Admin rushed to a small throne, sweat dripping down his face. He really looked as if he ran a marathon. "The intruders have taken down all our security guards, and they're heading this way soon."
"Is that so?" The man snickered. "Let them come."
"What?" Another of his higher subordinates gasped. "Then what-"
"They will gain little anyways," The leader stroked the sharp end of his sword. "They will be impaled by my justice. And I wanted to meet a certain someone coming this way too."
"And, sir?" The Admin added.
"Yes?"
"We are going to present you the Wailord Mini."
"This way should lead you to Kincaid," Isaac said hesitantly. He had little clue as to why everyone around him felt so… angry. He didn't have anything against his boss, but some reason, everyone else had a reason to hate him, even the three little boys. Sometimes, he was far too daft to get it into his head about the real truth, they all thought.
"Hey!" A voice caught their attention, and they all turned around. A Dim Sun grunt was scampering to them in surprise. She pointed at Kate specifically. "You're that Ranger from before!"
The woman then noticed a familiar blonde man with a mushroom haircut. She gaped in shock.
"But why the professor, too?" She forgot that matter and went on to laughing at them. "Well, the Wailmer should be with our boss by now. You're too late! "
She ran in the other direction, cackling all the way, and Kate looked in confusion. Sven then gave a proper explanation.
"These guys aren't in the right mind."
They entered the door, and they were soon in a long glass tunnel. Ben, Kellyn, and Basil gasped in awe the many Pokemon swimming past them. They all stopped when they heard a low beeping coming from Kate's Styler. She picked up, and noticed that it was an audio only message, from none other than Keith. She let the message play, and it started with really bad static. Could it be from the sandstorm?
"Vicemail! Vicemail!" It began with a strong accent. "It's me, Hea... Keith!"
Everyone caught this mistake and glanced at each other in question. Isaac was amazed if that was really Keith. He hadn't seen him for two years straight, only in newspaper. Since when could Keith develop an accent just like that? Did Fiore have an accent he picked up on?
"Hea?" Basil croaked, a puzzled on his face. "Shouldn't it be Keith?"
"I think he has sand in his mouth," Ben suggested, but Kate said nothing as the message continued.
"I call you about the Yellow Gem! You remember it? Big crystal? Yellow? You are my friend, yes? You take care of it, okay?"
Kate couldn't help but wonder why in the world the redhead would make such a silly message with a bad accent. He wasn't making a joke out of her, right? If he did, she'll hang him by his toenails at the Union's front door when she found him.
"Okay! You see, friend, I remember I have another important mash-up I must do. You come to Haruba Desert now, please! Hurry, hurry, right away!""
"What the hell?" Her anger rose. "He's abandoning his mission? With no excuse?"
"He said "mash-up" instead of Mission...?" Sven scoffed. "Is he joking with us? Is he showing off over becoming Top Ranger?"
"Damn smartass, jerk," Kate gritted her teeth, and started muttering awful profanities that made even Sven wince. Isaac was completely oblivious to what she was saying; he didn't even know it was bad to say those things out loud. Ben and Kellyn blanched at how well she could say those words without hesitating. And yet, Basil couldn't help but laugh weakly.
"Keith really knows how to get under your skin, huh."
"No kidding," She closed her Styler and continued on.
"Can't tell whats going on," Sven added as he caught up to her. "But you better head out to Haruba Desert once this is done."
"Gotcha," The Eleventh Ranger said tersely, and she then stopped a foot away from the door. She looked at the three children, and gave them a sincere smile.
"You three stay here," She told them. "Things will be too dangerous for you from here."
The three boys wanted to protest, but said nothing as the three older people of the party went forth and disappeared as the doors slid closed. Ben set Basil down against the wall and rechecked his wounds. With Basil's help, they managed to send a strong signal to the Union. Hopefully, they'll pick up, and come here soon.
For once, Kincaid was completely enraged. What is the meaning of this exactly? What compelled them to capture a Wailmer? Oh sure, that wasn't so! According to the Dim Sun Marine Unit, this was not a Wailmer, but a Wailord "Mini." The Admins who had just said this were looking at him with begging eyes, hoping he'd take this lie well, but he visibly wasn't.
"The only thing mini here is your brain," He began to rant. "You allowed yourself to be taken in by such a pathetically obvious lie? This is nothing more than a simple Wailmer! You honestly thought that this tiny hint can take the place of our cargo ship?"
"So, they were lying about that Wailord Mini," The Admins muttered. "No wonder I didn't know any pokemon by that name."
Kincaid palmed his face in utter frustration and slouched on his large chair. "I can't even work up the energy to get enraged over this. I've never been lucky with subordinates my entire career. My promise to take you to the HQ with me? Don't expect that to happen now... Hmm? Who's there?"
"Us," A voice rang through the entire room, and the anger left Kincaid's face, replaced with a nasty smile. She had finally come. It was time. Indeed, it was his rival, the young female Ranger with brown hair, and a sword slung across her back. Never mind the other two behind her. His eyes were set on her.
"Ah, Kate Davies," He regained his posture. "How unfortunate for you to see me in this state."
"Likewise," Kate frowned. The Admins gasped and jabbed fingers in her direction.
"Wha- not you again! And professor issac, too? You're going to kidnap Prof. Isaac?"
The blonde scientist laughed sheepishly and waved off their assumptions, where were actually true. "Oh, no, guys, that's not true! Theyre not kidnapping me! They've invited me into the Union! This is Kate, the girl I used to know from school. I told you that, remember?"
The Admins couldn't control their animosity towards the Top Ranger. "Remember? How could we never forget what hat ranger did to our cargo ship!"
"Silence!" Kincaid raised a hand, and everyone did so. His raised hand then descended as he pointed to Sven, and said in an eerie voice. "You, behatted Ranger. That data disc in your hand... That contains our blueprint data. May I ask how you obtained it?"
"Well," Sven said proudly. "Mr. Isaac here, managed to hand it to me on our way here."
The Admins were enraged. "What is the meaning it this? We must take them back by force, both Isaac and the disc!"
Kincaid looked at them with indifference, but nodded as approval. The two Admins than began their advances towards Isaac and Sven. Isaac was suddenly surprised as to why these people were so angry at him. Weren't they his pals at work? They were nice to him. Why were they turning on him?
Meanwhile, Kate was left alone, facing Kincaid, who was grinning down at her from his "throne." He picked up his sword, and took a few steps down to the main floor, his cape billowing. Kate said nothing, and reached for the hilt of her own sword on her back, and she drew it out slowly, letting the light reflect on it with everything it had. Starly understood what was going on, and flew up to perch on the ceiling. It was not allowed to help Kate, because by her own decision, she was to fight this man, one on one.
Sven and Luxray looked at each other and roared as they hurled themselves at the Admin and began to wrestle. Isaac clutched to the data disc, his legs shaking from trepidation. What was Kate doing with such a dangerous blade in her hands? Why was Kincaid not like what he was before? What was going on? He saw that the Admins had sent some Magmar after him, and he squeaked and tried to run for the door but was backed into a corner. But a large gust of wind blew them off course, and they slammed in a wall when a pair of wings bashed their heads. He looked around in fear, and saw Starly landed softly on the carpet floor, chirping. Since when did a Starly like that become so strong?
Kincaid watched as his opponent slowly crouched into a fighting position, ready to strike. He grinned, and waved his own katana as if it were a conductor's baton. He wasn't taking her really seriously, but she didn't let that stop her. With little warning she charged forward, the blade behind her glinting. A small clang echoed in the room, and everyone stopped what they were doing.
Two blades were pressed against each other in a struggle for dominance. The spirited wielder was gritting her teeth, straining against the face of an insane Cheshire smile. He was pleased. Very pleased, with how her talents had changed. She was more refined than the time he last saw her on the cargo ship.
"My, my," He chuckled. "You have improved greatly."
"I am no slug," Kate hissed through her teeth.
"Kufufufu…" Kincaid was amazed of her strengthened backbone. "Then show me. Show me that you are the fine young lady you are!"
Kate growled and stepped forward, shouting with all she could. And she felt that the sword opposite her was loose. She found the shining chance to push forward, and a loud crash was heard through the room. Isaac could only give a small sound, one of fright.
A/N: Whoa, it's actually a long chapter for once! I actually didn't expect myself to write this much, but whoa... Of course, we all know that it's not Keith who was on the Voicemail back there! And where this is going? I think I'll be breaking poor Isaac. And the angst will not end here, of course.
Anyone still remember the last time I made a PR fanfic? I mean, it's elsewhere now, but I reread it again. Still surprised as to how far I've evolved in terms of writing.