Chapter 36

Tesla wasted no time, he charged toward the back window and jumped. He crashed through. Glass flied everywhere, the blinds crumple and disintegrate. Tesla tightened his grip on his gun and Hattricks's wallet as he curled into a ball. The old Pikachu hit the ground and rolled to a stop. His eye-goggles managed to protect his eyes. Tesla checked to see if he cut himself, he found no blood or open wounds.

His jaw dropped when he saw the backyard. Instead of privacy fences, a meager one meter tall chain-linked fence bordered the property. Several houses sprang alive. Windows brightened and the blinds pulled back. Tesla rushed toward the side of the house for cover, only to bump into Wotter. Both Pokémon crashed into each other and knocked themselves off-balance. Tesla grabbed his forehead and swore, "What happened!?"

Wotter sat up and gave Tesla an angry look. "I don't f*cking know! They must be on to us from the start!"

"Make sense, since this is Soho!"

Tesla heard cars screech to a halt from the street, their doors opened and closed followed by the distinctive sounds of cocked guns.

One officer screamed, "Police! We have you surrounded!"

Tesla said, "We gotta go! Use lethal force if you have to!"

He then tossed Wotter the wallet, the Discipline Pokémon caught it with one hand. "Hattricks's wallet," cried Tesla. "Keep it safe!"

Wotter tucked the wallet inside his backpack, then he and Tesla got to their feet. They dashed for the backyard and jumped over the fence. Tesla heard several boots scurry on the ground behind him. "They're PRA," an officer screamed. "Shoot on sight!"

Tesla and Wotter dashed around the neighbor's house as bullets started flying overhead. Wotter spun around spat out a column of water, he sweep it across both backyard as he jogged backwards. The gunfire ceased, Tesla and Wotter sprinted around the neighbor's house.

"They're not far," cried the cop. "Call the chopper and flag them!"

Both Pokémon crossed the street and ran into another back yard. They both jumped the fences, then turned left and started jumping through yards. Tesla panted heavily. His heart was pumping toward the red zone, adrenaline rushing through his rusty veins. "You're hanging in there, Tesla," Wotter asked.

"Barely," said Tesla. "Just keep going!"

They hopped the last yard and came across another street. The houses went from standard homes to city suburb apartments. Tesla's ears perked, he heard the familiar buzzing of rotatory blades. Chopper, not good.

Tesla did a quick scan for cover, he spot a dumpster tucked in the corner at one of the apartment buildings. The Mouse Pokémon tapped Wotter on the shoulder to get his attention, then sprinted across the street for the dumpster. The Discipline Pokémon reacted fast, he followed Tesla and they both made it to the dumpster. Tesla jumped on the lid and helped Wotter up, then pulled the plastic lid open. He found what looked like cans, lots and lots of cans. Soda cans, beer cans, all in various crushed and crumpled forms. Tesla and Wotter jumped in, the lid closing on top of them.

They crashed into the cans. Tesla got hit by the smell of stale beer and backwashed soda. Good thing he hadn't eaten dinner, cause it would have come out all at once. Wotter laid down against the cans and took a deep breath. "This is just ridiculous."

Tesla shrugged. "Tell me about it."

There was a brief pause, then Wotter said, "Funny, I hadn't smelled stale beer in days. I forgotten what it smelled like."

"You're used to it?" Tesla asked.

"Along with stale farts and molding food, yeah."

Tesla pressed his back against the wall of the dumpster. The helicopter flew by. The dumpster raddled as a flash of light flickered through the cracks and holes of the dumpster. After a moment, it was gone, moved on to the next subdivision.

Tesla said, "We can't stay here, Wotter."

"Sure we can," said Wotter. "I'd done it before. I've waited for three days in a dumpster like this, living off of nothing but garbage and beer."

"How did you go undetected for so long?"

"I bury myself in the garbage when someone comes by. Oddly enough, garbage feels quite hot, even in winter."

"That's because the bacteria in the garbage is generating heat from breaking down fiber and molecules, it can get so hot that it might as well catch fire."

There was a moment of silence.

"How did you know that?" Wotter asked.

"I've lived off of garbage for forty non-consecutive years, I know every chemical, every molecule, every sort of organic and inorganic compound that is collected in trash. You know them all by smell and taste, I have a name for them from extensive research." Then Tesla said, "I practically had all the time in the world in human captivity."

Wotter snorted, "At least you handled it well."

"Wotter," said Tesla. "Your trainer may had beaten you and turned against you. Scarred you for life. Whatever damage I received for most of my time in human captivity, I had done to myself. My captives gave me food, I refused. They tried to comfort me, I hissed at them. You should have seen me before, I was fit to rot."

Wotter said nothing. Both he and Tesla sat in silence for another few minutes. The sound of police sirens rose and fell constantly. Crown Vics sped by from both directions. Soho was filled with nothing but lights, sirens, and distant radio chatter. After twenty minutes, gunfire erupted. They must have found something to shoot at, Tesla thought. Maybe some hapless Pokémon wandered out of their protective home at the wrong moment and was shot and killed by nearby police. Marshall Law, at its worst. Tesla turned to Wotter, the Discipline Pokémon had curled himself in the fetal position and was ready to sleep off the night. The Mouse Pokémon nudged him with his foot.

The Dewott held up his head. "What?" he grunted.

"Do you ever get tired of spending the night like this?"

"In dumpsters?"

"No, living in rotten sh*t?"

"Yes, I do."

Tesla said, "Tell me, Wotter. Why did you assault Bubbles?"

That drew up a hostile glare, the worst Tesla had ever seen. The old Pikachu wasn't fazed, he himself had given such a glare before.

"Answer the question, Wotter. If it makes you feel better, I had myself assaulted a Pokémon before."

Wotter said nothing.

"It was around my seventies, I was angry at my trainer. I was angry at my friends. I was angry at humanity as a whole. I had just lost contact with my mate, Polly. She was trapped in the breeding program, forced to be used as a Pokémon factory. I didn't know where she went, nobody would tell me. Irvin failed to find out. I had lost all faith in him."

Wotter said nothing.

"I was ill for weeks. I didn't eat, I barely slept. I reverted back into a state of depression I hadn't felt since losing my family. The relapse was so bad that I gave Nobark a pretty bad shock, Irvin said I had him knocked out for an hour."

Wotter said nothing.

"I eventually recovered enough to return to business as usual, but I was still far from okay. All that depression shifted to anger. I didn't speak to any of my friends or Irvin. One day, Irvin convinced me to take on my aggression in a Pokémon battle. I wasn't in the mood to hear a hundred human voices, but I tagged along. I needed something to take my mind off of things," Tesla closed his eyes and breathed. "I stood there on that arena floor, some cocky teenager pulled out a Poké ball. He tossed it, and guess what came out?"

Wotter stared at Tesla for a moment, "Polly?"

"No, close. It was another female Pikachu."

"What happened?" Wotter asked.

Tesla grunted. "I never felt so angry at Irvin before or since that day. I was so pissed at him that when the match began, I unleashed almost all the electricity I had and blast the Pikachu to Agartha. The crowd loved it. Irvin laughed. But I was raging madly."

"Was she cute?"

Tesla frowned, "Stupid question, all Pikachus are cute. She was young and full of life, she didn't know what to expect. The Thunderbolt I gave her knocked her out cold. That was the shortest match I ever had in my entire life. But I wasn't done. Before her trainer could call her back, I ran up to her and scooped her off, then carried her out of the gym. The crowd couldn't stop laughing. Neither could Irvin. I think her trainer was laughing as well. Honestly, a part of me was laughing. The anger was dulled for a moment, but I still wasn't thinking straight."

Wotter then asked, "What did you do to her?"

"I took her to a janitor's closet and got into position. All that stress and anger was gone in seconds. When I realized what I had done, I was grief-stricken. A bit shamed and such. I left the Pikachu in the closet and left the Westinghouse Gym, I needed some time alone. What happened after that was a whole other story."

Wotter looked away and sighed. Tesla watched him carefully. He could feel most of the heat from the Dewott had cooled off, but still kept his guard. The Discipline Pokémon had a lot on his mind before, and tonight was not helping. Both Pokémon sat in silence for another five minutes, Tesla shut his eyes and dozed off for a few seconds. He was on the verge of shutting down, the thought of being shot at kept him alert but he was breaking down. Old age was dulling his senses, his mind couldn't handle the stress as it used to. Tesla forced himself upright and glanced at Wotter, finally the Discipline Pokémon said, "I didn't like the look of her face."

Tesla raised an eyebrow. "Come again?"

"She was fragile, irresponsible, and most of all, clueless. I didn't like her, period."

"How could you tell she was clueless?" Tesla asked.

"The way she smiles, the way she look at a Pokémon. I know that look well, a lot of Pokémon made the same expression as hers. She had no idea what the world was like, so I showed her." Wotter grunted, then said, "Who put you up to this? Was it that sh*tdick? Or was it Smugleaf?"

"A little bit of everybody," said Tesla. "Nobark said he was worried about you."

"Did he now?"

"Why would he not? He's your close friend."

"Course he is."

Wotter wasn't budging, nor was he complying. Tesla wondered how far he could push him. The last thing he needed was to be shot by an ally. The Mouse Pokémon wasn't sure if Wotter would stay an ally once Nobark goes mad. If Nobark gave such an order to turn on him, Tesla had no doubt Wotter would gladly obey. The Discipline Pokémon can be reasoned with though. So far Wotter hadn't shown much hostility toward him, maybe that was because the Dewott saw something in Tesla that struck up something in common.

A light bulb went off in Tesla's head. "I see why you assaulted her," he said. "You were just like her once."

That drew an immediate response, Wotter sat up and glared at him, getting ready to pounce.

"I remember when we first met. You had a smile on your face, care-free, happy to see everyone including your trainer. You raped Bubbles because you saw yourself through a mirror, it reminded you of your life before. You couldn't stand looking through that mirror so you broke it and smashed each individual piece until you couldn't see yourself anymore. Face it, because you don't want to."

Wotter leaped up and tried to strangle Tesla with his bare hands, Tesla dodged him and clamp his hand on his neck. The Discipline Pokémon's body went limp as Tesla disrupt his central nervous system. Wotter yelped and gasped a breathless scream. The old Pikachu pressed his faced against the side of the dumpster, screaming into his ear, "I know you don't like living like this, you're here because you have no other choice to make. Joining Nobark's PRA was the only opportunity you had. Well I'm giving you a much better opportunity. Faraday Island will support your lifestyle. You'll have access to all sorts of weaponry and have plenty of elbow room in its forests. The PRA can relocate there, start fresh. The place needs a new generation and new Pokémon leaders, because the leaders it has are too old and too deep in their problems."

Tesla twisted Wotter's head so his eyes faced his. The Dewott's expression was muted horror, filled with mercy. "Even if Nobark orders you to assassinate me. Just know this, even if I'm dead after this f*cked up situation, my invitation will still stand. You don't need to suffer any more than you have to, Wotter. I've been through this longer than you've been alive."

Tesla tossed Wotter aside, he plowed into the cans and thrashed his arms and legs. Eventually he went still, catching his breath. Tesla watched as he sat up and grabbed his MP5 but made no attempt to swing it around. Instead Wotter placed his forehead over the chambering system and let out a mournful groan. Both Pokémon were silent for the next thirty minutes. The sirens were far from cooling down. The flashing lights becoming more frequent. Tesla got up and shook Wotter's arm, then said, "We still need to get out of here, Wotter."

"I know," Wotter hissed. "Just give me a minute."

A full minute went by. Wotter got up to his feet and cracked open the dumpster lid, then peaked out.

"What do you see?" Tesla asked.

"Nothing," said Wotter. "But it's fool's gold. They might already know where we are, they're just waiting for us to pop out so they can gun us down."

"You sure?" Tesla asked.

"Happened to several PRA conscripts who took shelter in dumpsters like this one. They would climb out when the coast is clear, then they are shot and killed instantly."

"Well, we weren't really quiet to begin with."

Wotter closed the lid and turned to Tesla. "Doesn't matter, they still know regardless."

"So what's your strategy?"

"Waiting them out won't do. If we're going to get out of Soho alive, we'll need to stir up shock and awe."

"How exactly?"

Wotter simply shrugged. "I have no idea."

"Then why mention it?"

"Cause you might have an idea."

Tesla thought for a moment. "I could knock out the power grid for a major distraction, or even create an EMP. But I'm having doubts on this."

"Why?" Wotter asked.

"Soho has been kicked around for far too long. The Soho PD would ask for Unova troopers to come in, maybe Interpol."

"The International Police only comes in if a crime is connected to two regions."

"Soho owns a port, and that port has a lot of federal interests running through it. Interpol would surely come in if it needs to. So no blackouts or EMPs."

Wotter grumbled under his breath, but said nothing.

Tesla thought long and hard. The sirens outside became more desperate. Several Crown Vics zipped by, their tires squealing as they made sharp turns. The Mouse Pokémon came to a conclusion that Soho was in chaos, and that he and Wotter could slip out through the confusion. Tesla saw no other option that didn't involve damage to infrastructure and harm to innocent bystanders. He simply got up and bashed the lid open with his head, then climbed over and out of the dumpster.

"Where you going?" Wotter asked.

"To look for a manhole," he said. "You're welcome to join me if you want."

Wotter climbed out of the dumpster and jumped down. "I'm not spending the night in a recycling bin."

"Then do you know of any more escape routes underground?"

"Yeah, plenty. But first we need to go under."

Tesla got on all fours and dashed down the alleyway. Wotter followed behind, staying close. Both Pokémon ran into a small maintenance road through the apartment suburb, it looked seldom used. They quickly found a suitable manhole. At first it looked like it hadn't been tampered with. Tesla rushed up to it and tried to pull the manhole cover open. The cover wouldn't budge. Wotter gave it a try, but gave up quickly. "It's welded shut," said Wotter.

Tesla pushed Wotter aside, "Get back, son."

The old Pikachu struck the manhole cover with a Thunderbolt. The flash knocked Wotter back into a cinderblock wall. Tesla fought through the spots in his vision and checked his handiwork. The manhole cover melted through, the rim glowing red-hot.

Wotter quickly recovered, he knew what to do. He shot the manhole with Hydro Pump. Steam and warm mist sprayed everywhere. The Discipline Pokémon relieved his Hydro Pump, the manhole rim was bone cold.

"Nice," said Tesla.

Wotter barked, "How is this nice!? You just gave away our position!"

"Then we better get moving."

Tesla went down into the manhole first, he climbed down the ladder and dropped to the bottom. Wotter came down quick. He skimmed down the ladder, then jumped down. He hit the sewer floor and rolled on his back, then sprang back onto his feet. "Which way?" Tesla asked.

An explosion echoed down the far tunnel, Tesla felt the shockwave rushed past him like a dragon's breath. The explosion was followed by voices, boots, and radio chatter.

"Not that way," said Wotter.

Tesla and Wotter darted the opposite direction. The Mouse Pokémon had no particular route in mind, he was simply following Wotter. The Discipline Pokémon apparently had no idea where he was going either, Tesla wondered if Wotter had a plan for dealing with cops in the sewers. More explosions ripped through the sewers, along with more shouting cops. They must be using satchel charges to blow open the manholes. The Soho PD was getting desperate. Had the police found their dead chief? Since the Soho PD had already shot at them. Tesla must assume they had identified him and were not open for negotiation. Rex won't be there to bail Tesla out, and neither would Ash or Mark. Tesla was on his own with his only ally, whom may be his only hope in not getting buried alive.

Tesla realize that since he was in a sewer that was not the case. He heard a valve twist and groan. Tesla perked his ears, it was so faint that he could barely hear it through the mad echos of stomping boots. He looked down and notice water was trickling down the small canal of the sewer. Tesla's eyes bulged. He had always dread lakes, rivers, oceans, and swimming pools. He had nearly drowned a few times in deep water, but never had he experienced being underwater while underground. This is worse than my worst nightmare, Tesla thought. I am so f*cked!"

"They're trying to flood us out!?" Wotter hollered over the foot stomps.

Tesla shot a look at him, "Why are you worried, you're a water-type for Arceus's sake!"

"Yeah, but I still need to breathe air, Tesla! I'm a mammal, not a fish!"

When the two reached a three-way tunnel, flashlights glistened off the walls. Tesla and Wotter slapped their backs against the wall, clenching tight to their guns. A squad of SWAT officers approached the freeway. Tesla couldn't make out their faces, just the black outline of their riot uniforms. Interestingly enough, Tesla could see they were also armed with MP5s, albeit unsilenced. The stream grew into a small torrent. Tesla watched the torrent rose a centimeter. It began to spill over the sewer canal and treading over the walkways. Tesla scooted his feet as far away from the water as possible. His pulse skyrocketed. He didn't know what was worse. Being shot at in a bottleneck with no cover, or being drowned in darkness.

The SWAT officers shined their lights down each tunnel. Tesla and Wotter slid onto their bellies. The old Pikachu ducked behind Wotter's rear and under his tail, trying his best to cover his yellow fur. The Discipline Pokémon's feet twitched, Tesla sensed that Wotter wasn't pleased in being touched. Both Pokémon watched the soldier-like cops scanned the darkness while planning their next move. One of them, probably a supervisor, pulled up a radio mic clipped onto his shoulder and shouted into it, "What's going on, why are the sewers flooding?"

Tesla could make out what was said on the radio over the torrent. He felt water trickle across his belly. The Discipline Pokémon started kicking him with his heel. At first Tesla wondered why he was kicking him until he looked down, he had his hand clamped tight against his tail, as if he was strangling it. One of the cops shined their gun flashlight over their heads. The Discipline Pokémon stopped kicking and went still. Tesla held his breath and prayed that the water wasn't sewage.

After listening to the radio for a few seconds, the supervisor looked up and said, "Alright boys, we better clear! We're going to flood the sewers and wash them out!"

A shot of fear ripped down his spine. The whole world flashed purple plasma. The mildew mold air was quickly replaced with ozone and rust. Tesla's mouth tasted coppery, the whole world was a blur. He thought he heard gunshots and screams. All sorts of lights flashed in the sewers, then the world smelled like burnt rubber.

Tesla regained lucidity and found himself lying on his back. He sat up, blinked, and saw what happened. The SWAT officers were lying on the ground, moaning in pain. All of their flashlights were dead, not a single one was shining.

Tesla looked up and saw Wotter clinging tightly to a pipe, the Dewott looked down at him and spat, "Could you warn me next time!?"

"What happened?" Tesla asked.

"You jumped up and started sparking electricity, I barely had enough time to get out of the water when they started firing at you."

"They were shooting at me?"

"Yeah, just how exactly did you manage to deflect their bullets with electricity?"

"Countershield, I think. Even stops grenade shrapnel."

Wotter let go of the pipe and jumped down. He took Tesla's hand and pulled him up. "Come on, we gotta go. We don't have time-"

Wotter was interrupted by a massive hissing roar echoing down the tunnels. Tesla's heart sank, his worst nightmare was coming true. He didn't bother screaming at Wotter to run, he just bolted. The Discipline Pokémon got the message and caught up with Tesla. Both Pokémon kicked against the rising torrent. Tesla had trouble staying on his feet, the torrent threatened to carry him away. The old Pikachu was surprised when Wotter scooped him up off his feet and carried him in his arms. Before he could protest, Wotter said, "Hold your breath, Tes. Things are about to get rough!"

The SWAT officers slowly regained consciousness and started kicking and screaming. Wotter plowed through them as fast as he could. The cops didn't noticed, they were too focused on dashing toward the nearest manhole. Tesla scanned them for weapons. They either had dropped their submachine guns or had them slung on their backs. Whatever the case was, it was clear their objectives had changed.

Tesla's ears perked. He felt the air rushed passed him in breakneck speed. The old Pikachu held his breath. Wotter pulled him close to his chest and jumped.

The massive wave shot them down the sewers like a thunderbolt. Tesla's eye-goggles quickly flooded with water. He couldn't see where he was going or hear what was going on. All he knew was Wotter seemed to be steering them through the flooded sewers on a steady course. As they buffered through the floodwaters, several memories flashed in Tesla's mind. He remembered nearly drowning in the river when he was a Pichu and his mother resuscitated him. He remembered nearly drowning in a lake on a camping trip with Irvin and his trainer resuscitated him. Several moments about Tesla getting nausea when riding on boats, both big and small. Everything about being in water, especially deep water, resurfaced to combat his latest water horror.

Tesla's lungs burned. He craned his neck where he thought was up and struggled to get some air. Wotter sensed this and held Tesla's head up to the surface. Tesla breathed in a lungful of fresh air. Either be it methane or carbon dioxide, Tesla didn't care. It stopped his lungs from burning, that's for sure. Wotter pulled him back down and resumed course.

Eventually Wotter stopped at a manhole cover. He pressed Tesla against the bars, Tesla instinctively grabbed on and started climbing. When he emerged out of the heavy torrent, his ears were filled with noise. He tried calling for Wotter, but his voice was drowned out by the sound. Tesla kept climbing the ladder until his head struck the manhole cover. The old Pikachu used all his strength to push the cover off, then climbed through.

Tesla was soon greeted with silence. He cleared his ears from water as he climbed back onto the surface. Tesla clenched his hands on the ground. He felt gravel, medium-size quartz rocks designed for serious punishment. Tesla collapsed on the ground and panted. He was hypothermic and almost out of energy. His body was done, but his mind was not finished yet.

The old Pikachu felt Wotter took his hand and helped him back to his feet. Tesla opened his eyes. He found himself in the side of the street, far away from the city center. Tesla turned around, his jaw dropped.

The rail yard loomed before him. He could make out the building where he first took cover from the police, and where Rex helped brought him to safety. Tesla shook his head, he was wondering if he was repeating day one.

"You okay, Tesla?" Wotter asked.

Tesla turned to Wotter. Past the temperament, the old Pikachu could see worry in the Dewott's face. Wotter worrying for someone? That was new. Tesla simply sat down, then said, "I need to recharge, get me to a light pole."

Wotter scooped Tesla up and carried him to the nearest outdoor lamp. Tesla shivered in his skin, he could barely keep his eyes open. During his Pichu days his family would go in hibernation during the winter. He remembered stuffing himself to put on weight, then huddle with his parents and siblings in a tight ball. Tesla would always wake up after each four month period groggy, hungry, and confused, unable to remember the days before hibernation. He remembered his first winter with Irvin. Tesla found himself hungry as usual, and he ate as he could. But when winter came he couldn't force himself to sleep. The reason being was he was sheltered in a warm house, with plenty of food, with no predators. Irvin noted his weight gain, consulted with a Pokémon doctor, and took measures in helping him to adapt. Tesla's metabolism was thrown into disarray. He had periods where he don't feel hungry for days. Tesla would be extra crabby in the mornings, often wanting to sleep longer. One time he chewed Irvin's ear out on a Saturday, his trainer hadn't bugged him for the rest of the day. Eventually Tesla made it through the winter alive, and had no problems with the following winters for the next seventyish years.

Wotter placed him next to an outdoor lamp. Tesla touched the pole, it was unusually warm, ripe with voltage. He could feel the power inside. "You need to break open the panel and cut the wires out."

The Dewott frowned. "What do I look like, an electrician!?"

"No, a plumber."

Tesla grinned, but Wotter was not amused. He grabbed his scalchop and whipped out a plasma blade. He slashed the panel's lock and bust it open. He then dug the tip of his blade into the pole and ripped out a few wires. The light above flickered and died. Wotter stepped back and scanned the train yard for guards. "Hurry up, we don't have all night."

Tesla crawled up to the panel and saw black insulated wires sticking out, their coppery insides exposed, like disemboweled intestines. He reached up with both hands and grabbed the wires. Raw electricity shot through his system almost immediately. The whole world flashed white. Tesla felt his strength returning, he pulled out the wires further and pressed them against his red cheeks. The old Pikachu felt good, really good. His hypothermia was forgotten, replaced with a warm fuzzy feeling. The air around him started smelling ripe with ozone. The normally fowl air smelled fresh to him. Ozone was technically a higher potent form of oxygen, formed either by the sun's rays or by electrical activity. If the sewers had salmonella or E. Coli, Tesla didn't have to worry about it. The ozone would kill any pathogen clinging to his fur.

The flow of electricity suddenly stopped. Tesla blinked, he found his eye-goggles had fogged up. He dropped the wires and wiped the dew off the lens, then flexed his muscles. "Feeling better?" Wotter asked.

"I feel young again," said Tesla. "I can go on now."

"Good, because you knocked out power in the entire city and the police are on their way."

Tesla turned and found the other outdoor lamps were dark. The lights at the nearby street were off, the nearby traffic lights were also dead. All the air conditioners were off, and anything that hum and groan were also silent. Soho was in a blackout, just like Springfield.

"It must be a transformer," said Tesla. "There's no telling how far the damage had gone."

"It's always a transformer, or you could have melted the wires."

"Copper has a high melting point, but the insulation might catch fire though."

Wotter shot a look at him, but said nothing.

A Crown Victoria suddenly appeared on the street, its lights flashing yet its siren was silent. Tesla and Wotter scrambled from the light pole and crawled underneath a train car. The old Pikachu pulled out his gun, the MP5 was soaking wet from being submerged in the floodwater. So was Wotter's gun, he pulled out the magazine and emptied out all the water before sliding it back in. "Good thing I brought a cleaning kit with me," said Wotter. "Oh I wish I had the time to fix this gun."

"Not much we could do about it now," said Tesla. "Just hope that it would still fire."

The Crown Vic pulled off the street and cruised into the train yard. The tires crunched against the gravel as it approached the light pole. Tesla and Wotter scooted back, then waited.

The squad car shifted into park and four officers came out. They were armed with riot guns with adjustable stocks. The driver approached the light pole while the other three stood guard, scanning for potential threats. Wotter took aim with his gun, but Tesla placed his hand over it and shook his head no, then held up his palm. Wotter nodded, then stood down.

The driver didn't touch the wires even though they were no longer live. Instead he looked at the panel, then radioed into his mike. "Light pole number three zero five nine is confirmed. Repeat, anomaly is confirmed. Someone ripped out the wires and sent a shock through the electrical grid. No doubt it was Pokémon."

Tesla whispered into Wotter's ear, "You still got that shank?"

Wotter shrugged. "It could have been swept away by the flood."

Tesla opened up Wotter's backpack and dug around. The contents were drenched, so was Hattricks's wallet. The ammunition box was mushed and deformed, the bullets spilling out. The old Pikachu pushed aside the extra magazines and found the shank. He pulled it out, then whispered, "Don't fire unless I'm discovered, I'm going to pick these guys off one by one."

Wotter gave him a nod. The driver returned to the cruiser and sat back down in the driver's seat and filled out a clipboard. Tesla crawled out of the other side of the train car and silently crawled along the track. He reached down and scooped up some stones and hugged them, then climbed up the train car's ladder and went prone. Tesla peaked out over the edge of the train car and took note of each cop's position. They were spread out in a triangle. One officer was in the far back facing away from him. The other two were facing opposite directions. One cop was almost over Wotter, the other was a little far out from the back of the Crown Vic. Tesla had no interest in ambushing each one. He preferred chaos. Besides, the PRA was not known for strategy, the cops were in for a big surprise.

Tesla tossed one of the stones in a semi-secluded area away from the light pole. The stone arched through the air and rejoined the gravel below, clattering loudly. The driver looked up while the others made a paranoid glance toward the direction of the clattering. The cop in the far back held up his riot gun and said, "I'll check it out, stay alert."

"Do be careful, Charlie," said the driver. "We already lost one tonight."

"Sh*t," said a cop in the far back. "I can't believe it was Hattricks, though he was an asshole he got the entire force's sh*t together."

The cop named Charlie stepped out of sight, Tesla waited for Wotter's response. He wasn't sure which cop he would shoot first. The one closest to him was an obvious choice. All the cop had to do was look down and Wotter would be spotted. The cop near the trunk yawned while the one closest to Wotter constantly shifted on his feet. They were borderline paranoid and calm. Trained obviously, but lacking experience. Wotter had to choose carefully. If he and Tesla get the sequence wrong, then they could get hurt. And gunshot wounds were no joke, Tesla was still hurting from the 9mm bullet he received in Faraday Island not too long ago.

The Crown Vic's windshield burst white with cracks, the driver fell out and tumbled out of the ground. All eyes turned to the squad car. Tesla went fast, he aimed his gun toward the cop closest to Wotter and fired a bead into the back of his head. The cop didn't scream or flinch. He simply dropped, his gun clattering onto the ground. The cop at the far corner spun toward his fallen comrade. A bullet hole appeared at the bridge of his nose, his head shot back and he slumped to the ground. Officer Charlie came around the corner, running back into the scene with the barrel of his shotgun leading the way. Tesla fired a round and struck him in the ear. The bullet exploded out the back of Charlie's neck and he went down like a ton of bricks.

Tesla left his pile of rocks on the train car and climbed down. He crawled underneath the train car and came out of the other side. He found Wotter pulling the dead cops service pistol and stuffing it into his backpack. Tesla ignored him and rushed up to the body of the driver. Wotter got him in the jaw, the bullet ripped through his face and out of his neck, severing an artery. The cop already had a pool of blood underneath him. He wasn't moving, not even twitching. The clipboard he was writing on was on the floor of the Crown Vic. Tesla leaped up and knocked the cooling corpse out of the car, then picked up the clipboard. It was a simple checklist, filled with all sorts of code numbers and code names. Hattricks had simplified field reporting, the Soho Police Department knew their stuff. Tesla tossed the clipboard on the passenger seat, and laid his eyes on the radio. Dispatch and other officers were chatting constantly, the radio was ready to clog with multiple transmissions.

Wotter came around and salvage the driver's service pistol and stashed it in his backpack. He then looked up and asked, "Ready to get out of here?"

"One more thing," said Tesla. "I'm going to jam the radio by taping down the call button. Once that button is depressed, we say not a single word until this squad car is out of sight. Okay?"

Wotter nodded, "Smart of you."

Tesla turned off the squad car's headlights and killed the flashing lights. The world went dark save for the Crown Vic's internal lights. Tesla opened up the glove compartment and found an extra pistol and magazine. He grabbed that and tossed it to Wotter, then closed it up. "No tape," he said.

"It's probably in the back."

Tesla popped the trunk and climbed out, he ran around the squad car and jumped up on the bumper. The trunk was loaded with black gear cases of various sizes. An AR-15 was strapped to the bottom of the trunk, loaded and ready to go. Tesla found a tool box and opened it up, he pulled off the tray and found a roll of duct tape, seldom used. Tesla grabbed it and put everything back. Before he left, he located the squad car's computer and purged its circuit boards with Thundershock. He didn't want the police find the footage and reveal their identities.

Tesla jumped up on the lid of the trunk and slammed it shut, then got down dashed back to the cab. "Hurry, Tes," said Wotter.

Tesla ripped the keys out of the ignition and tossed them onto the gravel, then picked up the radio's receiver. He first turned the volume as high as it go, then pealed out a sliver of duct tape and depressed the buttom. The radio hissed and squealed like a rodent being prodded with a stick. Tesla set the receiver back on its clip and climbed out of the squad car and shut the door. He then picked up the keys and double-tapped the lock button. The Crown Vic beeped twice, Tesla tossed the keys underneath the squad car and turned to Wotter. He gave him a nod and the Discipline Pokémon gave one in return. Before they left Wotter picked up two of the dropped riot guns and tossed one to Tesla. He tossed Wotter the duct tape in return. Wotter grabbed it and slipped it up his arm. The two Pokémon then ran down the rail lines, slipping into the night.

TO BE CONTINUED…