Chapter thirty-six: Beneath Celadon City
Climbing down a ladder and ending up in a sewer was not what Cy and Km had wanted to start the day off doing. Once they appear at the bottom, Cy holds his flashlight and moves it around to get a good glimpse of the area. It's dark, and their light source is steadily fading, which further complicates things, not to mention the fact that the authorities are hot on their trail. The duo climbs down several steps and end up looking at three dark passageways: One in front of them, one to the right, and one to the left. Cy and Km would have to climb up steps to open a door in order to proceed into one of the next areas available to them. The passageway in front of them appears to be chained up. Cy looks to his right and nods, "Okay, I think we just need to head down there and we'll be by Celadon River within a few minutes." He says.
Km, however, shakes her head rapidly, "We have to go back." Km says, "We have to go back to the apartment."
Cy looks up at her and raises an eyebrow in confusion, "We are almost to the river, Km…" Cy explains.
"They'll be waiting for us at the exit there and anywhere nearby…but maybe not as much near Michael's apartment complex." Km retorts.
"Km, we just went through hell getting here." Cy says in anger.
"Just trust me."
Cy makes her let go of him before he spreads his arms out in opposition, "What if you're wrong? What if we head back and they're still in Michael's apartment? Then what?"
"Then we're screwed." Km says softly, "I think it's too risky to go down that way." She points slightly to the right passageway, "If we get to Michael, maybe he can get us to the river some other way."
Cy thinks about it as Km becomes impatient, remembering that the authorities are just above them, "Cy, make up your mind, fast." Km looks up at the ladder and then to Cy several times as she waits for him to make a decision.
Cy shakes his head and sighs in retaliation. He then shrugs, "Well then, how far do we have to go back from down here?" Cy asks.
"…I don't know…" Km says as Cy closes his eyes and turns his head away, holding his temple with a hand in frustration, "Look, we have to improvise, okay? Otherwise, we're done for…" Km looks at him with strength of mind, and gestures him to follow.
Knowing he won't change Km's mind and that he won't make it to the river all by himself, Cy goes toward her and she begins to carry him toward the left passageway.
"We have no way to tell which street or alleyway we'll end up." Cy retorts as Km sighs, "Well, we'll have to be smart about this then." She retorts back.
The fugitives begin by going up a small flight of stairs to get to a cage-like door. Km reaches for the door and opens it; both end up at one side of a wide sewer tunnel.
"I hope you're right about this, Km." Cy says softly.
Km closes the door while Cy leans on a rusty handrail for a brief moment to look down before Km joins him. Several feet down, they can see trash, loose items, and, unfortunately for their noses, human waste. All of the waste that they see is being carried by dark, green, and murky, water, which flows quickly down the path opposite from where they are heading. Water, along with everything else it carries, eventually goes into a pipe by the entrance where they are, which explains why they didn't see any water when they first entered.
The duo covers their noses in disgust before resuming their escape. As Km carries Cy, he looks around with the flickering flashlight while being escorted by his partner. They head down the tunnel, which eventually curves right. A short time passes by before the fugitives, still on the left side, see another ladder leading to the surface. The sound of something turning water repeatedly can be heard to the right of where they are. They approach the ladder and look up. It seems as though they've found their exit out of the sewer.
"If we get out this way, it'll only be a short trek back to the apartment." Km suggests before Cy folds his arms, obviously still reluctant to head back to Michael. She lets go of him and starts climbing the ladder to check it out. Soon after, Cy turns toward the dark path which they had been traveling through and narrows his eyes slightly. Then, they widen suddenly when he begins to hear faint robotic sounds in the distance, the sounds native to police Needlebots!
"Oh no." Cy says quietly. Knowing that he won't be fast enough to climb out with Km in time, Cy gestures Km to come down quickly, "Km!" he whispers loudly for her to hear.
Upon hearing Cy and the robotic army behind them, she slides down the ladder and quickly grabs him. He shines his light to the right and both of them see a metallic watermill close to them from which to climb on. If they climb it, they'll be able to quickly get to the door above the watermill to escape. In a rush to avoid being seen by the machines, Km leads Cy to the turning wheel and within seconds they arrive. Cy goes first: he climbs the wheel and it takes him to the platform above. The second he reaches the platform, he jumps off with his good leg but then trips and falls flat on his stomach. Km now grabs on and is carried to the platform as well. She hops off and, with considerable haste, helps Cy up from the floor. Once they reach the steel door, Km manages to open it, and they enter inside just before the needlebots appear by the ladder.
Now in a new location altogether, they take this time to take deep breaths in peace. Cy then shines his light toward the pitch black darkness in front of him and then looks back to the door, "We'll…now we can't go back." Cy says in frustration after looking directly at Km, expecting a response from her…she does not respond.
"Damn Needlebots, they're probably searching the entire sewer by now…it's only a matter of ti-" Cy is interrupted as Km begins taking him down the passageway, continuing their journey below the capital of Kanto.
Screech!
Km stops Cy in response and holds him in place. They both look above them and see a pipe running along the ceiling toward the door they had just entered. Strange metallic screeching can be heard inside the pipe and it's moving. Then, it stops suddenly.
"What the hell…" Km says softly as Cy shines his light at the pipe.
Then, purple slime hits Cy's shoulder before he looks at it. He immediately tries to get rid of it but it sticks to his hand until he shakes it off repeatedly. He and Km look up to find more slime seeping out of the pipe until it begins to hit the floor right next to them.
Crack!
The pipe breaks.
Km quickly moves Cy away as a large amount of purple and dark purple slime crash into the ground. Both look cover their noses in disgust before their backs shiver in fear: the slime begins to take form of a creature.
"Km!"
"Right!" Km responds to Cy, taking her Poké ball out of her belt.
By now, a face can be seen with the slime and it's smiling at the duo. A smell far worse than the one they had experienced before enters their nostrils.
"Grimer!" It shouts with a slurred voice.
It suddenly launches at them and tries to tackle the fugitives but Km releases fire from her hand toward it. The small fireball repels the Grimer, throwing it towards the ground. Cy takes this time to release Diglett. The brown-colored Pokémon makes a hole and temporarily disappears.
"What exactly is a Grimer?" Cy asks.
"Dunno, never seen a Pokémon like that…"
"Is it even a Pokémon?" He asks before the monster recovers, its face remains unchanged. Without them knowing, the creature spits out a small amount of sludge at Km, who falls on her back in pain, dropping her Poké Ball near Cy in the process.
"Km!"
The coat which she is wearing begins to dissolve slowly. She stands up and takes it off in a hurry before releasing fire at the creature in a fit of rage. The 'Grimer' appears to be weaker and is finished when Diglett appears from underneath the ground and strikes it with its head. The creature melts into tiny slimy remnants soon after.
Cy shines his light at Km, "Are you-Look out!" Cy shouts before Km turns around and dodges a second sludge-creature that tries to attack. Cy drops down on the floor, much to his pain, and grabs Km's ball and releases Growlithe which growls at the foe. The creature, like the other one…smiles.
"Use Ember on that thing!" Km shouts before releasing fire once again in synch with her Pokémon. Both of their attacks strike the advancing monster, but yet another one appears behind them. Cy momentarily looks back at Km with his flashlight and discovers the advancing foe.
Diglett emerges from the ground next to Cy, which quickly gets him to point to the third Grimer, "Use Dig!" It disappears inside the hole.
It's very dark inside the tunnel, but Km's flaming hands allow some artificial light to spread out around her and Growlithe, but it's still hard to see five feet from where they are without the flashlight. With no flashlight on the second Grimer, it retaliates by releasing a dark cloud of gas toward the female and her dog. They both begin to cough in pain. In the darkness of the cloud, Km is struck in the back by the third Grimer. She yells and falls flat on her stomach near the second Grimer, which prepares to attack again. The third Grimer is suddenly struck by Diglett, which emerges from the ground, and this results in the creature melting away far easier than the first…an idea forms in Cy's head.
"They're weak to ground-types!" He shouts as he shines his light at the second Grimer, "Diglett, use Dig again!" He directs his Pokémon before it disappears yet again.
Km tries to stand up but looks up to find the Grimer preparing to release sludge from its mouth. She looks in horror and is about to accept her fate; however, Growlithe jumps above her and slams into the monster, taking damage itself as a result of using Take Down. The second Grimer, which had taken damage from other moves previously, melts away just like the other two. A fourth one seeps into the ground from the same pipe and lands exactly where the second Grimer was. As a result, Diglett emerges from the ground and strikes it, causing it to melt too.
Km stands up, her pain slowly subsiding, and picks Cy up from the ground. Cy then calls back Diglett into his Poké ball. Soon after, the pair hears more of them inside the pipes nearby and they silently curse because of it. Km turns toward her Growlithe and commands him to defend them as they make their way to the exit.
As Km and Cy are almost to the exit, they hear sounds of Grimers approaching behind them from the darkness!
"Let's pray there's a door at the end of the tunnel!" Cy shouts before Km leads him down the dark tunnel. As the company moves, the pipe above them begins to burst like the one at the entrance. Then, more Grimer show up to attack. Growlithe turns around, narrows its eyes as it growls at the monsters, and begins to release fire to force the army to remain stationary. As it does so, it takes steps backwards to slowly make its way to the exit.
"Hold on!" Km shouts as Cy responds, "I don't need you to tell me that, I'm hanging on like a sloth!"
"I was talking to my Growlithe for a second there! You think I doubt your ability to keep up with me!?"
Unfortunately for them, the army of purple creatures is slowly gaining numbers as the chase continues. Growlithe continues to provide cover before Cy and Km reach another steel door and she quickly lets go of her partner. She opens it and leads him into another area before Km lets him go, turns around, and sees her Pokémon still inside. Growlithe's constant fire barrage soon dies down to a small flame which comes out of the dog's mouth. No longer able to use Ember, Growlithe is at the mercy of the horde of Grimer. Fortunately for his trainer, she's nearby, but can barely see him in the dark. She quickly takes out her Poké ball and aims. About twenty Grimer jump in the air to tackle the poor dog, they all seem to form a purple tsunami in the process. Km presses the button and Growlithe's color suddenly changes to red before it travels inside Km's ball, sparing the pup from a crushing fate. She then slams the door shut, which causes the screams made by the Grimers to go dead silent. The sounds of the steel door echo throughout the large room Cy and Km are in now. Above them, the colors of red and orange in the morning sky have just begun to appear as the fog, it turns out, is quickly dissipating. Light snow falls from the tall ceiling above the duo. The ceiling itself, although it is allowing some light in, is sealed off by iron bars.
Km moves toward the center of the area and investigates. It turns out that they can head through one out of four different directions: they're in an area resembling a four-way street, each leading toward a steel door. The center of the room has a small circular pond where sewer water arrives from three of the four locations, since there was no water running from where the Grimers were. The pond appears to have a whirlpool at the center where the water goes into a supposedly lower level of the sewer.
Km proceeds to go to the door opposite from the one they had just come in from. She nudges the door handle slightly but it does not open: it's chained up.
"Great…" She mumbles to herself.
Km, afterwards, tries the door to her right and again it presents the same problem as the first. There's only one more door left she can try in this place…
She begins her journey across the area to get to the door on the opposite side, which does not take long. Cy limps to her and sighs softly to himself. Km checks the door and is relieved to find that it has no chain on the handle. With no more chains to fuel her present bitterness, Km slowly opens the only door they can go through to continue their trip back to Michael. Once opened, all they see is blackness…that is until Cy shines his flashlight toward the door.
Screeech!
Km takes a small step back as numerous Golbats emerge from inside and begin flying around them.
"Km!" Cy shouts as the loud noise the bats make echoes the area.
Km is struck by one such bat and hits the floor again on her back. Cy, around the time this happens, responds by unleashing Fearow from its ball, which has now been fully healed since its failure in the Team Rocket Base against the Pikachu known as Orion.
"First it was climbing down ladders and now it's me falling down on my back all the time!" Km curses angrily. She stands up quickly and tries to ignite her hands, but surprisingly, all that comes out of them is a wisp of smoke. Confused, she blinks twice before looking down to see for herself, "What's going on!?" She then looks in front of her and gasps before dodging an incoming Golbat.
Meanwhile, Cy orders his bird to unleash Double-Edge upon two Golbats, which appear to be circling Cy repeatedly. The area surrounding Fearow's body begins to shine a yellowish-color before it maneuvers itself directly in the path of the Golbats, striking both of them with each of its hardened wings. This causes both to faint afterwards.
Km decides to release Pidgeotto from its prison and instructs it to release a gust of wind at the remaining bats. With the Golbats now stunned in the air, Km grabs Cy and takes him to the door as the gale-force winds hit them as well. Cy looks back and calls his Fearow into his Poké ball before Km does the same for Pidgeotto. By the time the Golbats regain control of their flight Km and Cy have made it to the door and enter before closing it tightly.
After a moment of rest, Km leads Cy down the small hallway before they end up at a small cliff.
"Dead end." Cy says softly as his flashlight begins to flicker a lot more than before. He points the flashlight down and both see something of interest below them.
"Not quite." Km points to a broken watermill they can jump on to climb down from the high ground.
"I can see that." Cy retorts, "But look…"
Upon closer inspection, they can see that this part of the sewer is severely flooded, with the water being waist-deep at least. Both don't bother to ask why. Instead they look at each other with worried expressions.
"The water is cold." Cy is first to say.
"It's obvious." Km retorts, looking away and shaking her head in frustration as she brings a hand to her face, "And we can't go back the way we came."
"What do you wanna do?" Cy looks down at the watermill as he asks.
"Hopefully something that doesn't cost us a trip to the ER." Km answers.
Cy shines his light above him and then searches the wall to the right, "What about those pipes up there." Cy points to the wall before Km looks up at it. She nods in response, "We can certainly try."
"Getting our shoes wet is better than jumping in that freezing tub below us."
"I'd take frostbite over hypothermia any day." Km finishes before she helps Cy to the corner next to the pipe, "I'll go first, I'll see if there's a door at the end of the tunnel."
"I'm sure there is." Cy says softly.
Km grabs on to the pipe, which actually descends into the deeper part of the tunnel. She guides herself carefully across, making sure not to slip and fall, but it's hard since the light coming off from Cy's flashlight begins to fade as she moves farther away from him. Then, she cries out in shock as the cold water strikes her boots, wetting them almost instantly before the water reaches her shin as she travels down. Thankfully, the pipe has leveled itself, and she's almost to the door…the bad news is… she has to jump down to try and open it. Before she does, however, she looks back and calls out to Cy, "Start making your way across, chief." She yells out before Cy's voice echoes from the other end of the tunnel, "On it!"
"You're not going to like this, but we're going to get wet either way from this…" She shouts.
Cy does not respond.
Km prepares herself. She looks up to the heavens as if to pray for consolation. She takes one deep breath before throwing herself down into the cold water by the door. Km gasps in surprise again once the cold water strikes her abdomen. Km, now shivering uncontrollably and now hyperventilating, tries to control her breathing as she grabs the door handle and messes with it to get it open; however, she then hears something inside the water near her and Cy. She looks back in worry.
"Cc…Cy?" She asks into the darkness of the tunnel nervously.
Suddenly, she hears the sound of his voice, "It's very hard to hang on to a pipe…and…shine a flashlight at the…same time."
"Hhhere, pass it…it to me." She gestures to him before he does. Catching the flashlight, she shines the light toward the water and narrows her eyes.
Km could have sworn she saw a red light shine from underwater but then brushes off the possibility. She turns to the door to try and get it open. Unbeknownst to her, something emerges from the water and watches her and Cy before submerging silently again. Cy, almost to the door, feels something take hold of his foot. It's as though a dark tentacle has wrapped itself around it.
Ah!
Km quickly turns around as a loud splash is heard.
"Cy!" Km shouts as she moves closer to him. He is flailing his arms helplessly as he tries to keep his head out of the water. Km moves closer to him and is shocked to find that a Tentacool, a water Pokémon, has its tentacles wrapped around Cy.
"K…Km…my belt! The…baton!" Cy shouts. The red crystals on the Tentacool's head light up his face and anything nearby in the process. Km rushes next to him, yet the Tentacool pays no attention to her as it almost manages to completely submerge Cy. She places her hand underwater and reaches for his belt, soon finding what she is looking for. Although she's partially submerged as well, she places the baton over her head and flicks it, opening it up. Then, she yells as she brings down the baton and strikes one of the Tentacool's red crystals with as much force as she can gather. The result: it cracks, causing the creature to shake violently before letting the boy go. Now in pain, it retreats back into the murky water where it is not seen again. Not wasting any time, she grabs Cy and carries him to the door where she opens it. Water gushes in slightly which raises the water level by a few inches.
Despite this, she leads the barely conscious Cy into a very large room, which is in fact the main sewer room in this part of the city. The water in this area is very loud and seems to be rushing in from a broken pipe. Above them is an industrial catwalk, which leads to the other side of the room. Km closes the door behind her and begins to worry since she doesn't know exactly how deep the water in front of her actually is, but she then looks to her right and sees a slightly submerged metal stairway. She carefully moves Cy slightly deeper into the water to get there and once they do arrive, she leads him up the stairs and out of the cold water. Upon reaching the catwalk, Km sets him down against a wall and lies down next to him. She almost panics when she sees that he had momentarily passed out. She checks his breathing…and then sighs softly: he's fine.
Then, Km embraces Cy tightly without any hesitation.
Km doesn't typically hug people except for her own brother and her closest friends, but hugging for more than twenty seconds was an experience she wasn't used to doing, Michael being the exception. Although she was doing this mostly to keep both of them warm, hugging Cy this time made her want to never let go of him. She wanted to make sure he would be alright, the same way he did for her back in Viridian Forest. She knew deep in her heart…she couldn't lose him.
They've been good friends and partners for years, helping each other out through bad times, but she never knew just how much he would sacrifice himself to save her…up until the moment she saw him again in Outpost 3C 273.
She had feelings for him…
Of course, these feelings were present before this all started, but she saw them as a part of a non-serious relationship she had with Cy, something she didn't think would grow into something much deeper…they never really took their friendship further…until the Beedrill incident happened…but she never got to tell Cy how she felt about him…
Km snaps out of her trance when Cy stirs and soon turns toward Km, saying softly, "Km?"
"Warm yet?" She asks.
"Yea…let's keep moving…" He says softly. He points toward the middle of the large room, where the catwalk, lit up by several industrial floor lamps, leads to the other side toward the exit.
"Not a good idea-"
SCREEEECH
The loud cry was heard beneath them, frightening them to the point where they both stand up to run.
"Now it's a good idea." Km responds, quickly grabbing Cy, "How's your leg?"
"Just go." Cy retorts, his tone of voice sounded as though he wanted her to leave him.
"I'm not leaving you!" Km says in protest.
Cy's confused expression is followed by a shake of his head.
"No…I mean-"
His expression suddenly changes to that of a frightened one.
"-run!" Cy shouts.
Km looks behind her and gasps when she sees a large tentacle about to strike them. She immediately pushes Cy aside and jumps away. The tentacle comes crashing down on the catwalk, causing the side of where Km is to slowly collapse into the watery depths below.
"Km!" Cy shouts before grabbing on to the rail. He quickly stands himself up on his own soon afterwards.
Km recovers quickly and her fight-or-flight response kicks in. Km makes her way to the edge before jumping off and grabbing the edge of the catwalk that Cy is on. He limps to her and finds the young woman hanging for dear life. His eyes momentarily catch the sight of something emerging from the cold contaminated water nearby. Cy is horrified to see the spectacle taking place before his eyes. A much larger and more aggressive looking Tentacool slowly emerges from the middle of the main sewer room; however, this one has many more tentacles protruding from its lower body and has a beak-like appendage as a mouth. It's a Tentacruel and this one towers at least twenty feet.
Km turns her head to see the emerging Tentacruel and gasps loudly.
Cy, on the other hand, releases Fearow and Meowth. The cat jumps and rests on the rail next to Cy while Fearow begins to fly around the room.
"Meowth, Pay-Day!"
"Fearow, Drill Peck!"
Meowth places its paws together. The gold coin on its head and paws begin to shine brightly. It then moves them apart, causing multiple balls of light to come out of its head and paws. The energy balls head straight for Tentacruel.
Fearow stops circling the room, makes a half loop maneuver, and then dive bombs at accelerating speeds toward the sea monster. Its beak begins to spin at a rapid pace before it drills into one of Tentacruel's red crystals, causing it to crack slightly. Meanwhile, Meowth's Pay-Day strikes the side of Tentacruel's head. Both attacks cause it to cry out in pain before swinging several tentacles in several directions. One of the tentacles hits Fearow hard, causing it to fall from the sky.
While this is all happening, Cy painfully crouches down to help Km, "Grab my hand!"
"I don't suppose you have a bigger baton on you at the moment?" Km asks half-jokingly.
Cy ignores her remark momentarily since he is losing his grip. Km responds by quickly useing one of her hands to release Growlithe. The dog appears next to Cy and immediately grabs Km's clothes with its teeth. Cy looks down at Km's dog, "Ready?" It nods before he shouts, "Pull!" They both move backwards as Km is slowly dragged onto the catwalk. "Come on!" Cy shouts as they continue to pull. Thankfully, one last yank brings in Km completely and the male Ex-Grunt falls on his back afterwards. Growlithe goes to lick his master before Km stands up.
Cy hears the cry of his bird Pokémon and looks up to see it falling towards the water below. It tries to flap its wings to try and regain flight but it is failing. Fearow is then suddenly grabbed in midair by one of Tentacruel's tentacles. The jellyfish monster roars as Meowth retaliates to save its friend by using another set of Pay-Day. Cy grabs his Poké ball and passes it to Km, who then aims it at Fearow and saves it before Tentacruel is able to crush it with its tentacle.
Cy stands himself up again on the rail and gestures Km toward another part of the catwalk and shouts, "We have to cross that bridge to get to the other side of the room!"
Km grabs Cy and begins leading him to their destination. Growlithe follows behind closely, turning around several times to make sure they're not in imminent danger.
Meanwhile, Tentacruel's middle crystal begins to shine bright red before a laser suddenly comes out of it and strikes Meowth in the torso. The sheer impact throws the cat into a wall hard fainting it instantly.
Growlithe and the others look back to see what had just happened. Km whistles to her dog and gestures a finger toward the unconscious Meowth, "Hurry up and bring him back!" Km instructs as she helps Cy get down a ladder in order to escape. As they step down the ladder, both humans feel their shins hit water.
Growlithe narrows its eyes as it sees the Tentacruel submerge like a submarine. It quickly begins making its way across the catwalk to get to the other side. Once it reaches Meowth, it slides its head underneath the cat's body and places it on its back. The canine then looks up to see a tentacle in the air about to hit them. It leaps and begins running back to Cy and Km. Tentacruel, still underwater, strikes the catwalk numerous times to get its prey. Tentacle after tentacle causes the sections behind the dog and cat Pokémon to collapse into the water. Growlithe growls as it reaches the edge where the ladder is located. Suddently, a tentacle crashes into the catwalk in front of them, but Growlithe's quick reflexes allow it to jump across the tentacle over the edge and onto the platform below.
By now the human duo is near a steel door. Km looks behind her and sees Growlithe, with the cat on its back, making its way towards them.
Km looks back toward the door and opens it before water rushes in the room, "I have no idea where this leads but hopefully it's somewhere safe and out of this damn sewer!" Km says to Cy.
She ushers the young grunt inside before Growlithe arrives. Km turns around and takes the unconscious Meowth in her hands and then ushers her dog to go inside, "Up the stairs, follow Ansel!"
Then, she hears a roar as the Tentacruel resurfaces and begins to shake the platform with two tentacles. Km does not waste time closing the door and rushes up the stairs to meet with her partner and Pokémon. Unseen by the group, the jellyfish Pokémon destroys the platform and proceeded to slam into the wall. Cy and Km hang on to a railing as the stairs shake. They look behind them to see the section below them has collapsed. A heap of rubble now exists from where they had entered moments ago. A soft, agonizing, cry can be heard beneath them.
They continue their trek up the stairs until they reach an area with a platform. From what both can see, there is a ladder that leads to the surface. They call back their Pokémon before both look at each other and nod.
Soon after, Cy and Km climb out of the sewer and end up in an abandoned basement. Km closes the entrance and begins to lead Cy up rotten footsteps to the exit.
They eventually make their way out of the condemned building and find themselves being pummeled by a heavy snowstorm. They look around before Km shouts, "This is 72nd, the apartment…it's not far!"
…
Michael rests on his couch and is reading a book as soft classical music plays on the radio. A police officer remains idle against the wall near him. Suddenly, loud knocking can be heard from the door before Michael stands up to answer. The police officer stops him and goes to open the door himself. Once he does, two figures shamble into the room and then collapse onto the carpet below. Both the strangers are covered in large amounts of snow and are shaking furiously from the cold. The cop kneels down next to them, "You got blankets!?" He asks before Michael nods and goes into another room.
"What happened with you two?" The cop examines their faces and then immediately stands up in disbelief. From behind him, Michael, while holding several blankets, aims a tranquilizer gun and shoots the man before he collapses onto the floor.
"Damn it, you two!" He shouts before he drops the gun and goes to cover the duo in numerous blankets.
"M…mi…micha…el" Km says softly…
"Try not to move too much and I mean it." Michael retorts before standing up again, "You guys smell like shit."
…
Sometime later, Cy and Km are now wearing different wardrobe. The duo sit on the couch before Michael offers them drinks and sits down near them, "If we knew how we were going to escape town, we could assemble a better plan that could work." He says to them.
"The river…that's our best bet." Km responds.
"That river is probably frozen solid by now." Michael shakes his head in opposition.
"Cool, that means crossing it will be much easier now." Cy retorts.
"It won't be if the ice beneath you cracks." Michael retorts back at Cy.
"Frozen or not, we're going to need supplies…more specifically, a raft…just in case." Km says, "I'm glad we came back because had we reached that river instead…we would have had no way to cross it."
"And where do we get a raft?" Cy asks.
"Obviously an outdoor's outlet in town, which could be closed due to the weather." Michael retorts.
"Not if the outlet is in a mall…" Km gestures toward Michael, "The sporting and outdoors outlet in Celadon Mall is open 364 days a year, even during bad weather…right?"
Michael turns his head toward the unconscious cop, who had been placed on the couch upright and tied with duct tape. Michael places his hand on the unconscious cop's head, "See our friend here? There's hundreds of Mr. sleepy here outside, looking for you both…and not to mention that it's hell out there. And, thanks to you guys, now I gotta start running too!" Michael stands up, "They searched my apartment and left. When this guy's buddies come back to find him…we're screwed!"
"The bad weather should give us some cover." Cy says softly, "Nobody else knows about this cop and you yet…I say we use that to our advantage. Let's leave now, head to the mall, get our supplies, get out and head for the river…"
"The mall should open soon too, so you'll be one of the first people there Michael." Km adds.
Michael sets his drink down on the coffee table and crosses his arms and then sighs, "This isn't much of a plan." He picks up his drink and gulps it down before looking at them and saying, "Let's go." Cy and Km stand up before Michael takes out a small item and speaks into it, "Holo, meet me by the parking garage and stay hidden until then."
Michael goes into his bedroom to get his coat and he goes to the entrance of the apartment. He then gathers important personal items. Finally, he puts the coat on and then holsters his tranquilizer gun, "I solidly regret every motion we take from here on out."
Cy and Km are led out before Michael looks back at his apartment one final time before closing the door.
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Hey guys, I'm sorry if this chapter was a long wait, but school and work has been killer these past few months and I have been writing my first professional play. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and I look forward to writing more in the future.
Edit: Thanks guys for 40,000 views!
Side-note: The Tentacruel is the second "boss" in the story, after Rk.