A Word from EoT
I hope you all enjoyed that chapter! I was pretty happy with it! Now enjoy this one! DO IT
Also something you should probably do: I changed a BUNCH of information right from the start of the story. I suggest you re-read it all. Won't take you long!
Thanks,
-EoT
Star-Crossed Chapter 25
"Sorrow's my body on the waves…"
"Are we almost there yet?" Olivia groaned. I could tell that her legs were aching, mainly because mine were as well.
"Yep, just a few more turns!" Ad chirped. He had been walking for as long, if not longer, than us, but he seemed to be in perfectly fine shape.
We had been walking for what felt like days, but was more like an hour. On our trek, we had seen some fairly interesting things, like an entire sign that had fallen off its warehouse's wall, a family of Minccino and a large Ariados who I had to defeat due to Ad's paralyzing fear of arachnids.
"Here we are!" Ad said as he stopped suddenly, causing a domino effect of us crashing into each other.
"Thanks for warning us…" Olivia grumbled, clearly annoyed at our new friend. However, her annoyance was soon halted by the vast and incredible sight of Bermuda. This place was nothing like a lot of the other places they had seen on their way here.
It was spotlessly clean, from the pathway leading to it, to the high, marble walls with blue glass columns. The huge entrance seemed to be glass, with oak borders and finishing.
However, the most interesting thing is that it was completely and absolutely empty.
"Hmmm… something about this place seems… off…" Ad murmured, a frown on his face. When he realized both Olivia and I were looking at him, he wiped the frown off his face. "I'm sure it's nothing! Just old prejudices, I guess. Boreal Inc. used to be here, they were Halfcastle's main rival," Ad explained.
Satisfied, we approached the great glass doors. I tried to look through it, but all I could see was my reflection.
"Strange… I can't seem to be able to scan through this material…" Ad muttered, clearly confused.
Olivia's eyes lit up. "Oh! I know this material! It's called Lortex, a special, everything-proof glass created by Bermuda themselves! No wonder neither of you can see through it," she explained.
"Really? I thought Bermuda only created games," I said, surprised.
Ad shook his head. "Nope. Like the companies before it, they produce a huge variety of products, from books to ships to the glass we see here," he explained. I nodded, properly informed.
We stood back, looking at the door in curiosity and confusion. Suddenly, an explosion rocked the building. I looked at Olivia, then Ad. We needed to hurry. Ryan could be in danger.
"So… how are we meant to get through this?" Ad asked, his hands on his hips. I searched around the door, trying to look for any clues. My attention was guided to the four circles of oak wood at the corners of the doors. They seemed to be elevated more than the rest of the frame.
"Hey Olivia, what did Ryan say his lucky numbers were?" I asked her, not taking my eyes off the circles.
"Uhh… I think they were… 3, 8 and… 17!" Olivia told me.
"I think the frame's a puzzle…" I explained. I went to the first circle, and tapped it three times. I repeated the patterns, with the second circle being eight, the third being one and the last being seven.
I stood back and waited, crossing my fingers. "Let's hope this works…" I said, hoping against hope that we would be able to get in.
After what felt like an eternity, the doors finally slid open, accepting the code and granting us passage into the shining white building.
"Yes!" I congratulated myself and fist-bumped Ad, who surprisingly knew what to do. "Alright. Is everyone ready?" I asked, checking my companions.
"Yep! As long as there aren't any spiders" Ad chuckled, readying a Poke Ball.
"I'm good too," Olivia said as she smiled at me, detaching a Poke Ball as well.
"We'll still need to be quiet and carefully, okay? Let's go!" I nodded as I stepped forward into the building, ready for anything.
Apart from spiders.
"Let's go!" Cobalt heard Atti as the boy plow on ahead.
"I'm impressed that you solved it that quickly. Remind me not to doubt you. Again," Cobalt murmured to himself. He seemed to do a lot of murmuring these days, he thought. Oh well, it comes with the job, I suppose.
Checking if there was anyone coming (again), he also crept in, unseen.
We snuck around the complex, being as quiet as possible while also trying to be quick to find Ryan.
Ad tapped me on the shoulder once we reached a medium-sized alcove.
"Watch out, Atti. I can sense two heat signatures in the back of the next floor," he warned me. "I'll go off and search around for anything else."
I nodded. "Stay safe" I replied as he crept off. I sat down next to Olivia who was rubbing her sore legs.
"Do you really think we can trust him? He seems… suspicious" Olivia whispered, concern on her face.
I made eye contact. "He helped us find Ryan. That makes him a trustworthy person for our cause, and currently he's our best shot at still getting Ryan" I replied.
"What he said about the two heat signatures… It got me thinking. It's all well and good if Ryan's here alone, but what if he's in actual danger? Like, he's been kidnapped?" I continued, keeping eye contact with Olivia, worry slowly become more and more prominent in my voice.
Olivia shook her head. "He'd never go down easily like that. I'm sure he's fine. It's probably just his dad or something" Olivia reassured, but I could tell that she wasn't entirely convinced herself.
I heard footsteps as Ad returned.
"I saw that the elevators have been disabled, and haven't been used in a while. Apart from that, that's all I've seen" Ad relayed.
I nodded. "Thanks Ad. Looks like we need to go for the stairs" I agreed, looking at the stairs on the opposite side of the room. "We'll need to make a break for it. There's no one down here, but try to be quiet. There could be someone, or something that Ad couldn't or didn't pick up" I explained, the others nodding.
"Okay… one, two…" I counted down, ready to take off, balancing on the balls of my feet.
"Three!" I said, releasing my power and darting across the room, keeping my body close to the floor.
I arrived at our destination safely, wiping my sweaty palms on my pants. My knees were weak and my arms were-
Olivia barreling into me cut off my dated song reference, sending me directly in front of the stairs, exactly in the line of sight of anyone on the stairs. Luckily for the mission, there wasn't anyone there. I darted back to the relative safety of the nook between the stairs and the wall.
"Ow… sorry Atti! I just slipped on these cursed slippery tiles!" Olivia apologized, rubbing her head.
I groaned. "It's fine. Just… be more careful next time, okay?" I asked rhetorically.
I glanced at our band of misfits. "Sneak up the stairs, okay? Hopefully there'll be somewhere to hide behind. Apparently Ryan and his companion are towards the back of this floor, so be careful" I explained the next plan of battle. My companions nodded, understanding what must be done.
"Okay, let's go" I whispered, as I led the group up the polished stairs, still keeping low to the ground. The others followed me, and we hid behind a desk right next to the top of the stairs once we reached said top of stairs.
I put finger to my lips, indicating total silence. I mimed listening, and we listened intently for anything signifying Ryan's presence.
Suddenly, a gasp of pain.
I looked around. Both Ad and Olivia were frowning. Whether in either concentration or displeasure, I couldn't tell.
That wasn't you guys, was it? I mouthed. Both of them shook their heads.
Another grunt.
They're right there, Ad mouthed. I nodded.
We need to go in now, I silently replied.
I stood up from my crouched position under the desk, the other two copying my actions.
"Pokémon at the ready" I whispered as I started navigating the stalls and crates.
I noticed the other two get out their Poke Balls and follow me.
From a closer vantage point, I saw a horrible sight.
Leaning on a large crate, was Ryan, nursing his arm. In front and above of him was a hovering, cloaked figure holding some sort of cannon. Crates, shelves and stalls flung everywhere, like there had been an impact.
"No way, not him…" Ad gasped. I ignored the fact that Ad clearly knew cloak man. I was too focused on a battle plan.
"That's it. I'm going in," I announced, stepping forward.
Without warning, Olivia grabbed my shirt.
"What do you think you're doing? I need to save Ryan from… that!" I gestured to the levitating figure, clearly irritated.
"What do you think you're doing?" Olivia snapped. "If you go in there, you could be injured! Or worse… anyway, this guy clearly means business. We need to wait to see what he's actually doing to Ryan!" she continued. I stopped, shocked. I had never seen her like this.
Humbled, I stepped back. "You're right. I'm sorry," I replied sheepishly.
Suddenly, a grating sound started emitting from the levitating figure.
It hit me that the sound was laughing. Laughing at the pain he had inflicted on another human.
I shook my head, furious beyond belief. Yet, I did not move. I knew now that to do so would only get myself and Ryan in big trouble.
"Heh, the great Ryan Nowell. How does it feel to be bettered, yet again. First your friend Atti, now me? Why don't you learn? Maybe next time you should bring your precious Pokémon with you!" the figure boomed in its horrible, jarring voice, like needles being stabbed into your eye while nails were scraped on a keyboard.
Ryan gritted his teeth and stood back up. "Atti is my friend! You, however… I don't even know who you are! You just… appeared!" Ryan growled.
The figure shook his head. "My name is feared from where I come from. My name is Alexis," the figure explained, still towering over Ryan.
I turned to Olivia and Ad.
"Okay, first things first: Olivia, you've got a healing Pokémon, right? You go to Ryan. Ad, you distract Alexis. If you know him, you can deal with him for now" I explained, keeping eye contact between them to make sure they understood what they were doing.
"Finally, I'll take down Alexis. I've got an inkling that he might have a weakness I can exploit. Does everyone understand their role?" I asked our mismatched group. They nodded in grim understanding.
Turning back to the "battle", I took a deep breath.
"Go. Good fortune, and godspeed," I said as Ad strode out first, throwing a small, portable music listening device at Alexis.
As he turned towards Ad, I was struck with fear. Now I could see how terrifying he was, I could hardly believe that Ryan was still conscious.
His entire body was half machine. His legs were entirely machine, gray metal with glowing blue patterns. This is how he was staying afloat. The cannon was actually part of his right hand. The hands seemed to be able to attach to any mechanical object. His right eye was simply a rotating mockery of an eye, with a glowing red pupil in the middle with wires coming out of it and wrapping around the right side of his face. His dark grey cloak constrained whatever was on his back, but I could tell this was also some sort of machine. His grey hair covered part of his face, with it sticking up towards the right side.
He was wearing a grey shirt with red triangles on it, but I barely noticed that. This man was more machine than human, and it chilled me to my very bones.
"Hey! Idiot!" Ad called. I suddenly regretted our plan, but there was no turning back now.
"Ohhoho! Looks like Ad is back to fight his old enemy! I welcome the challenge!" Alexis grinned.
I motioned for Olivia to run to Ryan. She quickly rushed along the wall, out of Alexi's line of sight, and tapped Ryan on the shoulder.
Ryan jumped, but was silenced by the sight of Olivia.
"You were never my enemy! But you forced this upon yourself when you allied with End!" Ad cried. The cry brought me back to my senses. I wish I could be facing up against Alexis, or healing Ryan, but I needed to wait for Olivia to finish so I could do my part.
"Well, too bad! I'm going to squash you like your precious idol!" Alexis cackled, firing several laser beams at Ad. Thankfully, Ad was very nimble, and dodged all of them.
"You'll have to try better than that!" Ad mocked, sending Alexis into a fit of rage.
I looked back over to Ryan and Olivia. Olivia's Lucario was using Heal Pulse on Ryan, and it was almost done.
I looked back at Alexis. I had to pray that my hunch was correct. It was almost time for me to shine, so I released my Greninja.
I crouched down to talk to it. "Okay, Greninja. This is going to be a tough battle. Aim for the cannon first, and try to use mainly water type moves. Being made out of metal has its disadvantages" I explained, looking at Alexis with the last sentence.
Ad and Alexis were still dueling. Well, it was more like Alexis attacking, and Ad dodging. However, I could tell that Ad was fading fast, despite his appearances.
"I've got him!" Olivia whispered in my ear. I hadn't even noticed them get back. I looked down at Ryan, resting peacefully now he was free from pain.
"You did fantastically. Now it's my turn." I stood up straight, nodded, and pulled out my aviators.
"Time to enact Phase Two" I muttered, rushing out onto the battlefield.
Cobalt was impressed, not just in Atti, but in the others as well. The girl's tenacity was impressive.
Now all he needed to do was make sure that the foolish boy did not get hurt.
Which, judging by his fighting style, might be harder than Cobalt originally thought.
Due to this chapter ending up around 4k words, I ended up splitting it!
Warning: Cliché Amateur Fantasy Novel ahead.