Chapter 36: Prison Break
Grovyle moaned weakly. He slowly opened his eyes and moaned again when he realized how blurry everything looked. He kept seeing dark spots dancing across his vision… and he frowned when a few minutes passed and the darkness didn't go away. Then he internally cringed when he realized why.
"Oh, yeah… I'm back in the dark future…"
Grovyle shifted, trying to determine what state he was in. He could feel the bonds chafing at his wrists, but, surprisingly, the muzzle had been removed from his mouth. He sat up and looked around, inspecting the prison cell he had been placed in, and he scowled when he couldn't discern any weaknesses in the structure that would allow him to escape.
"I can't believe this!" he mentally groaned. "All that hard work… for nothing! What am I going to do now?! I don't even know where Laura is!"
He shook his head and sighed before deciding that he may as well make himself as comfortable as possible and stretching out his legs. When he felt his foot touch something, he paused and sat back up. He looked around once more and saw that scraps of rope had been scattered on the floor of his prison cell. With great dexterity he used his feet to pull the closest scrap closer and then he bent over to examine it. With surprise, he realized that it was the muzzle he had been wearing earlier when he had been forced through the dimensional hole. What's more, it looked like it had been cut… but the cut… it shared the same qualities as cuts that he made with his own claws. So did the other scraps on the floor… But… he was tied up. There was no way that he could have cut them.
He frowned in confusion, and then he jolted when he heard a soft sob coming from the hallway. It sounded very familiar… He blinked when the reason came to him, and he immediately looked down at his bonds. He shifted around a bit and confirmed his suspicions: someone had untied him, used his claws to cut up the old ropes and the muzzle, and then re-tied him using new ropes. And, thanks to the sob, he had a pretty good idea of who that "someone" was…
"Dos," he called softly, giving a brief, amused grin when he heard the sableye give a startled, "Eep!" in surprise.
"Dos, what are you doing?" Grovyle asked, turning to face the bars just in time to see Dos slowly shuffle into view. He frowned when he noticed the tear tracks on the sableye's face.
"Wheh heh heh… I'm, uh… I'm guarding you! S-so you don't, you know… escape," he said, finishing rather lamely.
"Oh really?" Grovyle asked, raising a brow. "Well if you don't want me to escape, then why did you take the risk of untying me?"
Dos jolted before looking away evasively and nervously saying, "I-I don't know what you're talking about! You're the one who broke free and attacked me! See?" He thrust out an arm, and Grovyle saw several gashes which did, in fact, look like they had been caused by his claws. But he had been unconscious this whole time! There was no way he could have…
His thoughts trailed off when he saw the pleading look in Dos' eyes and he sighed, deciding, for now, at least, to play along with the charade that Dos had obviously created.
"Okay, fine. So I attacked you. Is that why you're crying?" he asked.
"Wheh heh heh?! No! I'm not so weak that I'd cry at a small scratch like that!" Dos exclaimed in indignation.
"So then why are you crying?"
Dos opened his mouth to make an excuse, but upon seeing Grovyle's look he closed it and sighed, deciding to tell the truth. "I'm… I'm worried about Laura," he quietly admitted.
Grovyle bit his lip and sighed. "What are you worrying about? She's strong. She can take care of herself," he offered, displaying false confidence.
"I-I know that, but…" he sighed. "I'm worried that she's going to hate us forever…"
"You mean after you execute me?" Grovyle asked in a deadpan voice, causing Dos to wince and guiltily nod his head.
"That's… that's part of it," he quietly admitted.
Grovyle rolled his eyes and then, without really knowing why he was doing it, tried to comfort Dos by saying, "Well… I'm sure that she'll be upset, but I doubt that she'll hate you… she has been through worse…"
"Yeah, but she can't remember any of that, wheh heh heh…" Dos mumbled so quietly that Grovyle almost didn't catch it. But he did catch it, and the implications terrified him.
"…What do you mean?" he demanded.
Dos jolted and looked away. "N-nothing!"
"Dos…" Grovyle growled angrily.
"Wheh heh heh! No! I didn't mean anything!" Dos said, frantically waving his arms.
Grovyle glared at him suspiciously, but then he turned away, sighed, and decided to change subjects. "You know… there is a way to avoid upsetting her," he hinted.
"R-really?" Dos asked eagerly.
"Yes," Grovyle nodded. "You could let me go so that I can finish our mission."
Dos' face fell. "Oh… I… I can't do that…"
"Why not?" Grovyle demanded. "I know that you don't like this world. So why are you clinging so hard to it? There's no future for you here."
Dos looked down sadly, mumbling, "I… I know that, but, wheh heh heh… I don't want to lose Laura. And M-Master Dialga is sure that if the past gets changed, something bad will happen to her…"
Grovyle sighed. "I don't want her to disappear either," he agreed, "but—"
Dos shook his head. "Wheh heh heh… No, if that's all it was, then I wouldn't have any reason to worry."
The admittance stopped Grovyle short. "…What do you mean?" he asked slowly.
Dos blinked in surprise. "She didn't tell you?" he asked.
"Tell me what?"
Dos frowned, seeming to ponder something, before shaking his head. "Sorry," he apologized, "but if she didn't tell you, then I don't think she wants you to know. And I can kind of understand her reasons..."
Grovyle groaned in annoyance and glared angrily at him. "Well if you're so keen on respecting her wishes, then why don't you also respect her wish to change the world?" he demanded. "Forget about whatever it is that's worrying Dialga; if you're truly her friend, then you should be helping her, not trying to drag her back into life as a prisoner!"
Dos surprised Grovyle by looking him straight in the eyes and declaring in a serious tone, "I know. That's what I'm trying to do."
Grovyle blinked. "Beg pardon?" he asked in confusion.
Dos glanced around before turning his back on Grovyle and assuming the proper guard position.
"Listen," he whispered urgently, "The ropes we always use to tie prisoners to the stakes… they're nothing special. Our sharp claws can easily cut through them."
Grovyle was confused by Dos' willingness to expose trade secrets, but he wasn't about to let the words go to waste. He leaned forward, eager to hear what Dos had to say.
"It's really a dumb idea when you think about it, wheh heh heh," Dos continued, "because our claws are the preferred method around here. We always use Fury Swipes during an execution, and since we're putting as much power into them as possible, our attacks don't always hit their targets…"
"…Okay, I get what you're saying," Grovyle nodded. "But even if I tried to use that as an avenue for escape, you'd still have me boxed in. And you'd still be able to see me…"
Dos shrugged. "So make yourself some room and create a distraction."
"With what? A Luminous Orb?" Grovyle scoffed. "You guys took away my treasure bag after you captured me at Crystal Cave."
Dos shifted nervously. "Um…"
Grovyle blinked, and his eyes widened when he was hit with a sudden thought. He shifted around again and, sure enough, he could feel his treasure bag pressed against his chest, its location easily accessible.
"But… how…?" he murmured in awe.
"Seis might be the best actor… but I'm the best at stealth," Dos explained in a proud tone of voice.
Grovyle gave a sharp intake of breath when the pieces fell into place. The cut ropes… the gashes on Dos' arm… suddenly the charade made sense. Grovyle looked at Dos with new eyes.
"…Thank you," he said, using the most sincere voice he was capable of.
Dos spared him a small glance and grin before turning back around and loudly proclaiming, "I don't know why you're thanking me, wheh heh heh… Is it because I didn't put a muzzle back on you? Well I would have if they'd given me more rope…"
Grovyle turned his back on Dos, grinning widely and playing along. "No," he said. "I'm thanking Arceus for your bad luck in not having enough rope."
"It's not my bad luck, wheh heh heh… It's Un's selfishness and lack of proper planning!"
Grovyle gave a small chuckle and shook his head in amusement. But then he became silent when Dos suddenly addressed him with a nervous whisper once again.
"Oh, and one more thing… If you do manage to escape, can you please take Team Rainbow with you?"
Grovyle turned back around to look at him and frowned. "Team Rainbow? From the past? What are they doing here?"
He was surprised by Dos' rather condescending look and mutter of, "Huh. I thought you were more observant than that. You never realized that the treecko was actually—"
But whatever Dos was about to say was cut off by a loud "CLANG!" as a door further down the hall opened and Cinq scurried into view.
"Dos! It's time!" he said.
"Wheh heh heh… Already?" Dos asked in surprise. "I didn't think the medication would wear off that quickly…"
Cinq shrugged. "Neither did I, but it doesn't matter. It's time to—what happened to your arm? And why isn't Grovyle muzzled anymore?!" he fearfully demanded upon catching sight of the non-muzzled Grovyle.
"Uh… um…" Dos nervously stammered. Grovyle wasn't sure if it was real or faked, but, either way, he decided not to risk it.
"The gashes are because I broke free and attacked him," he said smugly. "As for the muzzle… well, you should really have a talk with Un about his selfishness regarding supplies."
Cinq rolled his eyes and grumbled something along the lines of, "I should have known," before going to open the cell.
Grovyle didn't even bother trying to escape, knowing that an attempt when he was trussed up would be useless, but when Dos went behind him to tie on the blindfold, he hurriedly murmured, quietly enough that only Dos would be able to hear, "I'll try my best regarding Team Rainbow... but if they won't cooperate, then there's nothing I can do."
Grovyle caught Dos' slight nod before he was blinded, and then he thought he heard a whispered, "Thanks."
As he was forced to walk to the stockades, Grovyle thought to himself, "No, thank you Dos. And for much more than just this chance at freedom. This dark world is a prison on its own... so, by helping me here, you're also helping everyone with that 'prison break'…"