Shadows of Almia
Chapter 29 – A Bonfire
Keith wandered about the chamber once more. So he was here again. He found the stairs and took his usual stride, where he saw two people he didn't expect to see. Right in front of him, he saw Lavana, a riding crop in her hand. A wicked grin was spread across her face as she brandished her beloved weapon and paced the circle of pillars. He then watched as Lavana turn around and smile sweetly in his direction, achingly fake, of course.
"Oh," she said. "You came at the right time, little brat."
Kate was gasping harshly, struggling to survive, but Keith couldn't move as Lavana advanced towards him. This lady was a psycho, but he couldn't bring himself to fight. She was going to strike him...
"You look beautiful," the Sinis Trio member giggled, babbling in complete nonsense. "Reminds me of something I've seen before... Perhaps the lovely face that used to be that of Her corpse?"
What?
He the unknowingly raised a fist and thrust it forward. The sounds that followed that became the music to his ears. Lavana was not laughing anymore. Her taunts disappeared to thin air. Now this was truly the most beautiful thing he saw: a color of pink splashed with red.
Kate's shoulder gave a painful jolt, sending her twisting forward. Her knees scraped against the sandy floor and her hands fell before her. She looked to her throbbing shoulder to see a profuse amount of blood flowing down her arm in streams.
"What... The..." Before Kate could finish, she heard a distant click of a gun. In panic, she scrambled to her feet and went running in he direction of the large pillar as the shoots flew past her. Heath watched her hide away from the shooter and he laughed as she tried to take in the fact that Keith was attacking her. She pressed her back against the wall, catching her breath.
"What did they do to you?" she muttered her breath.
Kate was still clutching her shoulder. Only a graze. Lucky her. Her breathing was hitched, her other cuts and bruises now searing. Her free hand was still hanging onto to the Yellow Gem. Not yet. She couldn't give it up yet.
"You can't hide," Heath called out to her.
Kate then spun around, seeing the barrel of a pistol at her face. She swung her arm to the gun's handle and pushed it away from herself, letting the bullet fly elsewhere. Heath stood back and laughed in amusement.
"What a joke!" he howled. "You want to hear the story, yes? Well, then, starts like this!"
Kate then heard the click of the gun right behind her head, and she spun around on the floor to sweep her opponent off the ground, but he was already gone. Puzzled, the Ranger gaped at where her attacker should have been standing. Then a blur of red, white and yellow caught her eye and Keith was a foot away from her face.
"First I thinks to myself, 'Get the Yellow Gem myself, I will!'" Heath continued. "But there be a pokemon, Cresselia, being guardian to that rock."
Kate yelped and she backed away from him, and he followed her to the center of the chamber. She could see Keith more closely, and he looked even worse up close. What was most appalling was how the redhead could be so clean with all those signs that he looked like he was supposed to get. His tattered uniform pronounced the impossibility even further, no gashes and dark bruises dotting the gaps that the bloodied cloth did not conceal. Even if he didn't seem beaten, she could not draw her sword on him.
"Then, Long came a Ranger, kind of happy, kind of go lucky. Surprise, surprise! He try to capture that Cresselia! I think to myself, 'Good chance for me! He capturing Pokemon, I getting rock!'"
He obviously seemed out of it, his eyes unfocused all at once. All this, but no signs of treatment. He could never heal so quickly, in three days. And if he really lost quite an amount of blood, how was he standing?
"But that Ranger, Keith, he no good! Failure capturing Cresselia! Irritating to see it make me, but then flash! I have inspiration come to me!"
Keith attempted to pull the trigger again, but nothing came. Kate he saw the shining opportunity to charge for the gun, her hand outstretched, but she watched as the redhead took a sharp dodge right at the last moment before driving a flying kick to her back. She gave a small cry as she slammed into the gravel laden floor of the chamber. She coughed from the dust and attempted to spit out the pebbles that got into her mouth and she looked around when she caught the sound of metal clattering to the ground.
"Rumors I am hearing of a very skillful Ranger named Kate. I think to myself, 'Reel in Kate I will do with friend-o Keith act as bait.' So! I send you fake Vicemail! Gahahaha!"
Keith had tossed the useless weapon away, and was digging into his pockets, taking out two gloves and slipped both of them on his hands. Kate gritted her teeth. Never before had she seen those gloves... The trepidation of not knowing what she was facing kept urging her to run, but her body was rigid in place. She could run, but she needed to get Keith. She couldn't leave him!
"Violence doesn't solve anything, little Mustang," Lavana continued to speak, despite her injuries. Keith kept his gun locked on her, ready to fire at any moment. She was the fast, dodging the bullet the first time he fired. She only came out with a grazed shoulder. She was lucky this time, but the next time, not so.
He watched her round about a thick pillar, possibly to catch her breath before coming out face him. The redhead couldn't wait any longer. Lavana had to die. He made his way to the pillar, the gun still in front of him, and he caught her off guard. The woman was fast, and she kicked him away before returning to the center of the square. She had lost her cool, and was thoroughly startled. Perhaps it was because he was much faster than before.
Keith then tried to shoot, but nothing came. Strange, he thought there were more that that many bullets. Oh well. He guess he shouldn't be afraid to use THAT weapon.
"So, now you understand? The Yellow Gem, you give me now. Of course, I am fair. I trade you somehung for rock. I give you your friend, quite important, and I take Yellow Gem. Fair deal!"
Kate looked at Heath. She managed to catch what he said, but not entirely. But her was giving her a stupid deal, complete with a stupid grim on his flat face. The Ranger grimaced in disgust. How could Heath be so... Casual? Keith was not in good shape, and another human was laughing at her friend's predicament. Was Dim Sun human at all? Why was Keith so intent on beating her up so badly?
"What did you do to him?" Kate shouted at him. She flinched, nearly thinking that Keith was going to pounce on her.
"Not much," Heath shrugged. "He failed his little mission and we caught him off guard. Handed him to Lavana and this is what you get."
"To Lavana?" Kate then realized what they had done to Keith. She remembered the words she had caught at the oil field base. She didn't think it would be Lavana, but now it made so much sense.
"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?"
A lump formed in her throat. Whatever happened to Ben, was happening to Keith. He must have been injected with that Black Water. From what she gathered, she might have to knock him out. Here goes nothing...
"Silly Keith, maybe brave, but smart, not so much," Heath finished. "Yellow gem for blue-faced Keith. You make trade, yes?"
Kate then glared at him, and reached for her sword with her free hand. She drew the blade out slowly and raised it before her.
"Sorry," she said. "I can't do that."
Keith wasn't sure if he was seeing double, but for some reason at these three minutes of waiting, he could see that Lavana's body flickered in existence. Sometimes, it flickered to a person in a Ranger uniform. Even for a ten seconds, Lavana briefly wore the head of his friend, Kate. As the image flickered clear, he could see that in the place of that wicked Sinis Trio member was a shocked Ranger, clutching the item he had been looking for, that Yellow Gem.
"What…?" He asked himself in a low breath. Why was this happening? Was this some sort of an illusion.
… Silly Keith, maybe brave, but smart, not so much," Heath finished. "Yellow gem for blue-faced Keith. You make trade, yes...?
Lavana started grinning at him, but Kate appeared again, a sword in her hand. Keith was even more confused. Who was real, and who wasn't? But whatever was going on, Kate was going to make a choice, to rescue him, or keep the prize. The image flickered away, and Lavana was cackling at him, blood seeping down her sides.
Sorry, Kate's voice echoed in his mind, I can't do that-
"Silly, silly boy," Lavana kept taunting him. "You are nothing…"
It was an illusion! Lavana must be toying with his head. He was only seeing things. She was making something to catch him off guard.
"Nice try," he mumbled. "But you can't fool me."
"Oh," Heath's face turned a bit grim. "I see how it is. Your friend here isn't happy that you'll abandon him."
Kate glanced at Keith, and a strange fear rose in her. The boy raised his fingers and she clutched the Yellow Gem more closely, fearing it would shatter if she was jostled the slightest from her place, but before she could think for a second, he snapped his fingers, and next thing she saw was red and white. A new type of pain soared all over her body. Over the explosions was a definite scream.
The Ranger crashed into a wall with her back, and the air was knocked out of her lungs as she slid down and crashed to the floor like a rag doll. Her arms lost feeling, and the Yellow Gem and her sword fell out of her hands.
"I didn't think a wee Ranger like him could have such fire, literally," Heath laughed. Kate grit her teeth. She couldn't lose!
She pushed herself up and picked up both the Yellow Gem and her sword, and held it in a defensive position. She watched Keith's movements carefully, scrutinizing every twitch of the body for an opening. There had to be a weakness somewhere.
The boy poised himself to snap again, but Kate came forth. She ran forward, her sword glinting as she swung around, her leg up in the air. She kicked away his hand, to drive his aim off balance. She then spun around and landed the blunt of her sword into his side with immense strength, and he gave a small sound. Kate then noticed that he wasn't falling down, only a deep drawling breath. What?
Lavana's image disappeared completely, and he saw Kate's face again. Was she crying? Was this another illusion? She was holding a thin blade in one hand, the Yellow Gem in the other. She was charging right at him, and he felt a dull pain pulse through his body. It felt much harder than he'd thought it be, but the questions still stood. Why was Kate attacking him? Still, was she real?
He still grasped on the believe that Kate was merely buying time on that decision. She looked pained. Was she to leave him here or give up the Yellow Gem for his sake?
He might as well give her any advice he can, when he was still sane.
"Don't… give it to him…" He tried to speak. "Kate, don't… don't do it!"
The sword was still digging at his side, and sure it hurt, but he noticed the bewildered expression on his friend's face. Why did she look like that? He wasn't going to ask. Just as soon as he spoke, Kate disappeared, and Lavana came back again, laughing at his stupidity. She had to die.
"Don't... give it to him... Kate, don't... do it!" a small voice slipped through his lips. She looked at the redhead in surprise. Was he coming to his senses?
She let her guard down too soon. Keith then formed fists with his hands and pummeled her to her head. She gave a small intake of breath before crashing into the floor. She lost hold of the Yellow Gem, and it rolled away from her. Strange enough, it rolled to the feet of the man who was not to have it. Heath picked up the stone and looked very pleased with himself, before looking at her.
"Ah, smart is your deciding!" he said as he turned on his heel. "Okay, you take Keith back. Generous of me, yes?"
Kate wanted shout for him to get back so she could punch him, but she found herself unable to move. She lost the Gem! Damn it! She needed to take action! Where's the strength she had to get up for a last stand against Kincaid? Her still-functional hands clenched in frustration.
Heath rushed to the helicopter, commanding the pilot for take off. As the blades of the plane began, he turned to Keith.
"I'll leave you here," Heath said and he took off. "Have fun!"
Kate could hear the distant whirring of the helicopter fade away as it left through the empty ceiling from high above.
Push! Kate shouted inwardly, and she ignored the pain in her joints to prop herself up. The Top Ranger struggled to get to her feet while her vision was too bright from the flash of light after Keith unleashing that flurry of flame. She attempted to run in a direction away from the helicopter, hoping to head to that Drifblim and find a way to recover, but she heard another snap and she was blown off course. Her unwounded shoulder made contact with another hard wall, followed by her head. The Ranger gasped for air as she collapsed to the floor again.
Footsteps approached her quivering body and she felt a hand pull her up by he scruff of the neck. She was then slammed against a wall, and another hand grabbed for her throat, and she lost all senses of breathing. Her cries resulted in strangled wheezes, and she claws at the hands, while her eyes still only saw white. She could feel a tremble in his fingers. Was he fighting the effects of the shot? Or was it his body giving in to its limits?
With enough strength, her foot flew up and landed on Keith's jaw. For once, he made a slow grunt as he twisted around, his fist leaving her throat as he staggered back into the middle of the chamber. Kate slide down to the floor, her back pressed tightly to the wall, still gasping for air as if he was still choking her. She pushed herself slowly just as Keith stopped his limp stupor and faced her with unfeeling eyes.
"Keith!" She managed to say after so much trouble, but he said nothing.
She approached him, seeing if he had any changes, but he immediately took actions. He then pulled Kate away from the wall and then flung her to the center of the courtyard, blood trailing from her battered body as she slid across the rough floor. Her chest rose rapidly as she finally found time to breath.
Her vision returned in small dots, and she rolled over onto her stomach and heaved herself up, hoping to get up in time before Keith snapped and made those explosions. As soon as she got to her feet, she felt a sole of a shoe make contact with her stomach and she fell onto her back. She gave an empty breath as she hit the ground again.
"P-please..." she moaned. She began to cough as her opponent stood above her with little intent of sympathizing with her. Keith kicked her so she rolled across the ground away from him. He then held out both hands before and snapped simultaneously. He snapped again just as she collided with another wall. He snapped his gloved fingers more times. He was making sure his prey was being tossed around and still alive.
Where was she again? She was beginning to forget... Everything... She wanted to sleep... Stupid pain for making her stay awake... Awake... Fading... Fading... Think... Prop... Er... Ly...
Keith had been striking his enemy for a while. He thought that Lavana wouldn't say anything after he burned her to crisp and punched the lights out of her. She still wanted to poke fun at him? What nerve.
Rage drove him further as he gave the final blow. It was then when she didn't move. Was she dead? If that bitch was, it would be rewarding. The song was ending on a good note.
The smoke finally cleared, and Keith gazed blankly at a charred heap of a broken girl, her limbs bent at wrong angles, and her uniform charred beyond repair. His job was done, and he'd be leaving now. The smoke still hung in the air, and he heard a small scuffle of little feet. He turned around and noticed a blur of fur.
"Bui!"
At the next moment, an orange otter flew at his face and he wavered for a moment before attempting to pry the Pokemon off his face. The otter then performed Whirlpool and launched the water torpedo at him. A Starly came behind the whirlpool and then produced a big gust of wind, increasing its speed, and Keith found himself in a state of no air. He began to wave furiously in the water, but his movements gradually became weaker till he then stopped moving, the state of unconscious. Starly and Buizel looked at each other and allowed him to be released from his aquatic prison.
Keith clattered to the ground, and his body quivered after it hit the floor. Blood began seeping out of his abdomen, and cuts began to retrace themselves amongst his cheeks and arms. His collection of injuries were returning, and Buizel and Starly were afraid that they did him too much harm.
After ten minutes Keith stood upright, gasping for air and clutching his sore throat. His head was feeling nightmarish and he massaged his throbbing forehead, his vision failing to revive itself. Buizel attempted to approach him and lick his face, and his Partner reached up and stroked its fur.
"Buizel..." he moaned. "I'm tired now... I need to sleep…"
"Bui! Bui!" it tugged at his white gloves off, much to Keith's alarm. It scampered away from him, and with renewed vigor, he was determined to chase after it. Buizel shouldn't be running around with his dangerous gloves, forgetting where he was, what was going on.
"Hey!" he got up and then tripped over something soft and he fell on his face. Sand... Since when was he Dim Sub chamber so dirty... Or... Why in the world was it so bright? Memories began flowing into his mind as he tried to remember what had happened. He had been kidnapped, tortured, then some reason, he was able to beat up Lavana to his heart's content….
Starly jumped down on him and began to peck on him. The twelfth Top Ranger growled and tossed the poor bird off of him, wincing as pain shot through his arm.
"Gerr'off!" he grumbled as he got up and looked forward. Instantly, his face turned sheet white, his own mangled body just falling apart.
A wounded girl... Scorch marks on her uniform, bad burns on her skin, her arms broken, her pigtails frayed, pigtails? No, it couldn't be...
"Kate!" he crawled forward to see her face. She was unconscious, and he checked her for breathing. He began to panic that she was dead, but when he felt the small breath from her, he sighed in relief.
His mind wandered to the thought. Who could do this to Kate? She was a strong person, but who in the world could break her so badly? Burn marks… but…
Keith paused and stared at his hands. He had worn the gloves when he woke up... He froze in silence and let the realization sink in. He couldn't have... No... No... He clutched his head in frustration and hunched over Kate's body. A mistake…? Why did he make such a stupid mistake? He then slapped himself. Kate needed more help, and he can't sit here any longer.
He searched frantically for an exit route, when he saw the yellow orb of light at the back of the chamber. He remembered the time Kate told him about the fact that the Guardians of the Tears of Princes left small portals that would return the user to the entrance of where they started. Without delay, he picked up Kate's broken form and with the two Partner Pokemon following, he headed for the portal.
Hastings growled in frustration. Didn't Kate say that she found the Yellow Gem? And where was Keith? Wasn't he fully capable of getting the Gem himself? It was good that Kate found an important asset to the Union's investigations, but the gems were crucial to their counterattack! His fingers tapped restlessly on the came as he braved the calming sandstorm a few hours ago, along with the other Operators and Scientists he brought with him. They were standing just outside the truck they brought.
A gasp from one of the Operators caught his attention as a large shadow emerged from the higher steps of the Haruba Temple. Everyone began to cheer believing that both their Rangers came back but the spirit died as an unexpected thing happened. A Buizel ran down the steps with a flying Starly, looking back at the sight behind them. The big shadow then disappeared and a tumbling mass rolled down the stairs until it reached the sandy ground that Hastings stood upon. Then everyone shrieked in horror. It was no bundle, or their initial impression. It was the bodies of the bloodied Rangers they sent to retrieve the Gems.
Hastings was left speechless as the medically specialized Operators were already running to them before he could finally realize what he was seeing. The old professor looked at the scientists and operators standing around.
"What the hell are you doing standing like that? Get a damn stretcher! No! Two of them!"
He pointed at another set of his idle subordinates.
"You! Prepare the ECG!"
One of the paramedics was coming his way, and he returned with a fierce glare.
"Vitals?"
"The girl has a small fever, but the boy has a seriously high temperature. Both are at dangerously low blood pressure with weak pulses. The boy is suffering anemia..." he took another breath. "Professor... I don't think they'll make it back to-"
"Blasphemy, damnit!" Hastings roared, making all the Operators wince. "I want you to do all that you can so that they're breathing tomorrow!"
A/N: I apologize deeply for being so cruel to our characters, but it's something important for our characters to grow up and all that stuff. I think this scene is pretty important, in my opinion, for different reasons. In fact, this very chapter, or scene, if you will, was one of the first things I thought up of five months back when I felt compelled to continue, rewrite, and finish Shadows of Almia. It's just something popped in my mind, and I started writing, and the rest of the story glued itself together.
Well, now we shall shift to the lovely recovery phase, and more angst on Keith's part. Poor Kate will be on a ten minute retirement, since she will be a temporary vegetable for the next few chapters. Lots of reactions and aftermath stuff until that lovely moment where Dim Sun raids the headquarters, and Operation Brighton begins.
