TY for reading! More... eventually, y'know. Sometime or another. Stay safe. cx

Gate's Open Y'all - Part 2 of 2

Mystery Dungeon Town! There's more to this busy village than pretty houses and friendly streets. It's out on the west side of the town map, away from the fields, where there's some deep, craggy hills leading out toward the mountain range, sort of place local kids dare each other 'bout for how little the older folks go there no more. Ain't hospitable this far out. This part of town—this is the wild.

Here in the slopes of these foothills, there's a mine. Just the one entrance. But that mine goes deep, it goes far, and it goes down them splitting sorts of paths, more and more forks in the tunnels the farther folks venture. No, ain't hospitable that deep down.

"That's the sort of reputation this place had back when the town was founded, anyway," Yon says. "But a couple of decades' work got all the tunnels mapped out great. Now we've got a mining operation going down there—lot of heavy metals in these hills, turns out! They're an important export for our economy."

Classic ensemble pose right in front of that mine's entrance, Death Yon taking the center with a smile on his face and his paws on his hips. Call Me Maybe stands to Yon's left, crossing his arms and his brow both, and Sex Machine stands to Yon's right, still carrying their suitcase and smiling right along. Legend Has It is still back at base doing paperwork, administration, he said, and A Pearl—she's hitched a ride on Yon's shoulder the whole way over, too, but she's more peeking over toward Sexy than the maw of this mine.

Well, that's about Yon's little explanation done, so Maybe looks up to him and says, "So it's not really that dangerous, and people don't really get lost in there anymore. That's what you're saying?"

Yon laughs. "Some people still get lost! They get the urge to do some personal exploring and don't bring a map. Usually a miner helps them back out, but miners doesn't always find them very fast."

"And so that's the case we face on our rescue mission today?"

"Looks like it!"

"And may I ask one more question at this juncture, before we begin?"

"Please do!"

"How did our rescue client get a letter to us…?"

Yon don't answer immediately.

So Sexy pipes in, leaning around Yon and giggling, "Um, Pelipper? You saw how!"

And so Maybe elaborates, "How did our client, trapped in a mine, get that letter out to us?"

It's a sight to be sure, Yon frowning here. Sighing, not laughing. He don't look so self-assured now as Sexy still do.

"I'll be very honest, Call Me," he says, "I've been thinking over the same thing, and… it's a little suspicious."

"Okay well—it's just Maybe."

Oh, Yon brightens right back up at that, diverts his full attention. "Really? I think Cally might be cutest! What do you think?"

"Okay listen—what's our plan going in? Are we gonna—you and Pearl are the experts, do you already have a system here, already have a plan how to handle this, a formation to take?"

Yon snaps with his thumb-toe and index toe and he grins, gets it back together. "Ah, strategy! I like that kind of talk, too. Pearl, you want a chance to explain this one?"

Takes a second for response, but that li'l spider glances back quick enough, says, "Hm? Oh! Yes, okay."

She turns toward the boys and clears her throat, shakes out her jitters and whatnot, slaps a couple tiny legs over her cheeks. Little clearer now, determined, she says, "Okay, all right. Informed by past experience, I'd say this is our best option: we go in there, we get our client out, there is no other part of the strategy that's it."

Maybe gives her a long ole look, don't suggest nothing better. But Sexy says, "Succinct!"

"Right?" Pearl says, turning quick back to her. "It's practically our motto: 'Keep it simple for the people who don't follow along very well to longer courses of action, please.'"

"No, for real, I'll say it like this: is it actually possible we may be walking into some kind of trap here?" Maybe says. "Like, the letter is a ploy, and we're walking into something? Do we have a contingency plan for that?"

Yon grins. "Don't worry, Maybe, we are the contingency plan!"

"Okay well that's not—"

And Yon slaps his paws back on his hips real sudden, startling his littler teammate up a second, and he takes two steps forward, swivels on one heel back toward everybody. Puffs his chest out, and he says, "Whatever's going on, we've got all we need to face it: our team, and our plan. Let's get in there!"

Sexy pulls a hand from the suitcase and balls it into a raised fist, cheering, "Yeah!"

Pearl pumps just one tiny li'l leg the same, cheering, "Yeah, what she—yeah-h-h…!"

Maybe says, "Okay."

And so the adventure begins!

Them first few steps inside the mine, as Yon takes the lead, it's not too dark or dreary just yet. The tunnel's not so generous for how wide it could be, a little claustrophobic instead, but wire-caged lights are strung along wooden scaffolding on the one side, following a trail of minecart tracks deeper down. Just the right mood for such a mysterious place, where every little step stirs up some subtle dusty echo into the depths.

One odd thing most the party notices pretty quick, however, dawning in the looks of their perked ears as they keep watch and listen close: even as they descend, there's no other sounds echoing up from the tunnels.

No miners coming in sight, no sounds of 'em either. Not a single sharp crack of some pickaxe. And they should be at work this time of day.

Sexy brings up the rear of the group, following Maybe trodding in the middle, and she guides herself with her free hand traced from scaffold to scaffold as she goes. As quiet as she can muster, she calls, "Hey… is it okay to talk in here…?"

Yon don't glance back to answer, keeping his eyes peeled ahead, but he says not nearly that quiet, "Oh, whatever's going on in here, it can't be that dangerous. Talk your heart out!"

Quick and deep, Sexy lets that held breath go. But she don't louden herself too much.

"Okay, um—about what Maybe was saying, about walking into a trap: has that ever happened to you before?"

Yon don't stop moving, but he thinks it over a second, brings a toe to his chin.

"Yeah, once or twice."

Maybe don't worry 'bout his volume too much either as he says, "What?"

"Well, you're always going to have some bored folks in town looking to stir up trouble now and then, right? And who else are they going to antagonize but the local rescue team? But it always turns out all right—"

Everybody stops.

Some echo breaks through the mine's eerie quiet after all, some heavy thwud deeper in, like a body smacking against solid rock. Or something less grisly, hope.

The team keeps their steps paused a moment listening to it. Waiting for more such sounds, but none come.

Pearl squeaks real cool, "That's probably fine."

Yon grins and lifts his paw flat up before her, and Pearl smacks him a high five for high spirits. Maybe? He don't say nothing else. Sexy? Just ain't smiling so easy no more, looks like.

Team keeps moving, anyway, not much point in staying still so long. They follow the minecart tracks—now and then them tracks splits off just like the tunnels do, winding down who knows which other dark passages, so Yon just leads everybody down the right-side path of the tracks whenever they do split.

"Just something you learn growing up around here, since it's mostly kids who come exploring here without a map," he says. "Our client probably took this route. Or hopefully!"

It's something else wandering eyes notice, too, pretty soon. Deeper they go, more of these lights on the scaffolding keep flickering, like even these jokers get something's going on. It's Maybe and Sexy noticing it pretty quick, glancing up whenever them bulbs wax and wane.

But them lights ain't the real problem for long.

That thwud's back. And more a constant lower thumping with it.

Closer this time, closer and closer and closer now. Less like something grisly and more like a rattling in the earth, and by the rhythm it's thudding at, most like footsteps pounding slowly closer. Even Yon puts his guard up now while Pearl perches for attack on his shoulder, and Maybe and Sexy ready what stances they know, too, but none of these brave adventurers got any idea what they're in for.

Just ahead of them, there's two more bends in the tunnel, one with the track and one without, and too little room down either to maneuver proper. And whatever's doing that thumping sounds like it's right about just beyond one of them.

Maybe crouches his knees extra, ready to spring. Ain't gon' get caught out here, not an option. That sort of feeling in his gut. Sexy's too, and she's not smiling no more. They're ready to fight.

And with two more heaviest footsteps yet, the cause of 'em stomps right around that bend with the tracks and without caution—and, uh, just like that, Maybe's not the only wide-eyed teammember got to lift his suddenly sweat-drippin' chin just to take a look at this behemoth.

Seven feet of pure Aggron towers before the team now from around the corner, shoulders wide as an eighteen-wheeler, talkin' a big momma, big ole, either drooling-down-your-lip hot or pissing-your-pants scary sorts of big, eyes dark like the reaper's, body of pure metal and muscle like built for god-slayin' bearing down on this tiny rescue team like—like—

Like she don't even notice them as she smacks her horned face right into the wall of the tunnel, bouncing harmless off, stumbling, not noticing too much either she just hit an obstacle, not too bothered.

Well—all right, Yon raises both paws peaceably anyway, asks her, "Hello…! Did you, uh, call for rescue, miss?"

This tall-ass lady reacts real quick to that, turns around a little too fast and loses her step, bonks the side of her head back against the wall. But that uprights her well enough another second, and she stays on her feet, eyes a little more like… not right? Ain't right. Little woozy.

"Ress-cue…?" she drawls, tasting that word like a foreign flavor as it rolls off her tongue.

Yon smiles real careful, moves his paws real, real slow like he don't want no trouble. Ain't Pearl or Maybe or Sexy try taking charge from him, this one's all Yon.

"Ress-cue," he repeats. "Sound familiar? That you?"

This Aggron thinks it over just as good, though it could be most that attention of hers is spent on keeping upright. But she lifts an arm, and Yon at least resists flinching, and this lady points—'bout two directions, that pointed finger sort of drifting in a circle either toward back the way she came or back the way they came.

"She said—that way…."

All righty then, Yon smiles a little better at that. One more careful step closer regardless, and gingerly, he pats another high five up over this lady's mostly-fist.

"Well, thank you! Buy you a drink sometime, yeah, friend? But we've—we're still on the clock, so we're going to keep moving right now, all right? Just—moving around you here, okay?"

It's a cautious process as Yon really tiptoes it around this lady, not much of a berth he can give her in here as he ducks under her arm while she's keeping up that pointing, whichever direction her giant finger goes. Pearl swings around from on top Yon and waves to the others with wide eyes and tight lips. And with much more a sense of urgency, real quick, like real quick now, Maybe and Sexy hunch underneath that arm too, scrape around the dust and loose little stones, get a move on.

"Is she going to… should we help her anyway?" Sexy whispers 'round the bend, not raising her voice just too much yet.

And Pearl whispers back real casual, like that weren't no big, big deal, really, "She'll be fi-i-i-ne."

Ain't more than a minute longer before that lady's thumping fades back to echoes, anyway, and even while Yon's keeping just as alert for whatever else, his steps are getting cheerier already. One glance back to spare, and he says towards Maybe or Sexy, either one of 'em, "So what made you want to join up with us, anyway? Looking for a… career, or waiting for a better job opportunity to come along?"

Just that minute longer, though, Maybe still looks back down the tunnel quick, and says much quieter, "We are definitely walking into a trap somewhere down here, is now the best time for talking about our hopes and dreams? Which, I mean, most of the time I'll do that whether you want me to or not, but like—"

"We're not in the trap yet, so best time or not, we've still got some!" Yon says.

Maybe sighs, and he looks up toward Sexy to see whether she's willing to step in—nope, that's right, she's smiling and bowing a hand back toward him, like you first, all yours.

Not that it takes much trouble squirming at least some bit of a grin out from Maybe's strained little frown, revving up for whispering all about it.

"I guess you didn't hear our spiel about it…? Right, this is what Sexy and me have always wanted. Rescue team, rescue missions! This was always it. We kind of, uh, expected it to go different, but—"

Some faltering of that squirmy grin as he says it, keeping it in.

"—it's still pretty cool so far I guess."

Something between a chuckle and a sad little coo Yon makes, leading the team toward another bend in the tunnel.

"Aww, sorry to hear part of that. Thirty or forty years ago, I'd say, that'd have been your time! That was when Mystery Dungeon Town really earned its wider-spread reputation, and that time has extremely ended. Now we're just a really nice town to raise your kids in—for most people—which I think is great!"

But as he takes that first step 'round the corner, just following the tracks again, not stepping so light as mayhap he should—them cage lights blink off completely.

Who knows how many meters it is they're underground now, surrounded by that much solid rock, and now closed in on all sides by darkness too.

Less than a second it takes for Sexy to pipe back up, more awestruck than anxious. "A bad guy! Is it a bad guy?"

But that's the same time it takes for Yon's tone to turn strangely firmer, hard as steel, and he says clearer, "Nobody move. One thing at a time. We're going to join paws, okay? Slowly and carefully. We don't want to get separated."

But within this darkness, too, there's a chuckle.

Maybe's.

Yon might be 'bout to say something to that, repeat himself, but Maybe says quicker, "Looks like it's my time—to shine. Check this."

Sharp little sparks shoot instant off from his zigzag tail, quick and hot and bright enough that Sexy and Yon both dart a step clear from him, Pearl flinching with 'em. Ain't much—but now that he's going, he just keeps it up, sparking up into a hazardous little flickering lightbulb all himself, bright enough to snap some moment-to-moment color back into this dim tunnel.

Or dim room, more like. His flashes illuminate real quick that they've all just made it into some great natural cavern within the mine, tall and wide and most of that still a dark mystery.

But it surely is a good smug grin on his strobe-lit face again as Maybe says, "That's the kind of rescue training we got, bay-bee."

Except just beyond their closest vicinity, his sparklight's bright enough to reveal one more thing out in the greater darkness of the room—a catlike gleam in the eyes of a sleek figure perched above them.

"Hmhmhmhm…."

Through them cascading sparks it's now revealed there's some flat-topped boulder dead ahead within the cavern, too, and it's some dark figure lain proper picturesque on all fours atop it, slim eyes glinting through every spark.

"It is a bad guy!" Sexy says.

Maybe stances right back up, ready for action, tail still going off—but Yon hangs on a second, just scratches his chin looking at that boulder. Pearl does her own thing now, leaping back onto the nearest shoulder can support her, Sexy's, who catches her just fine.

And their mysterious adversary just chortles one more time.

"Fools! the figure cries, her entire voice a lustrous thing. "You fell for my ploy so easily, like—I don't know many similes, I won't embarrass myself—but really, you should be the ones embarrassed! This was even easier than I thought it would—"

Just now Yon surges forward in a single bound, fist first, and he collides the entire force of his body into that boulder in one single punch and splinters the whole damn rock into a baker's dozen, sending that figure up top it into a shrieking flailing tumble off the side.

"Wait wait wait I'm not done monologuing what the hell wait— ow! Jeezus!"

The figure stumbles back to her feet quick and clumsy from down on the cavern floor now, fast as she can to stand all imposing again for how good that works. Rubs the dark outline of her knocked head a second even as she yells, "Have you no etiquette? You're already surrounded, dammit, quit fighting me before I've even explained what a threat I am to you, you assholes!"

"Surrounded?" Yon says, glancing around but staying put again. "So you brought a whole crew after all, huh?"

The figure harrumphs. "Cherry Bomb, flip the lights!"

Them cage lights flash back on, and the team blinks a second for the sudden change before they get a good look at just who they're facing—a Glaceon, with a snarl to her lips and crouch to her knees, but lithe and groomed and sort of grimy now for all that cavern-floor dirt smattered on her hindside. But all around her and the team both—here's them miners, lot of 'em, and every one of 'em in the same daze as that Aggron back up the tunnel, barely keeping upright for them who have any feet to keep balanced on. None of 'em in some entrapping circle or nothing. They're either staring at a rock wall next to some forgotten pickaxe or else wandering in their own little circles, nothing doing.

Maybe cuts the sparks on his tail, no point wasting energy, and he whips his eyes left and right like looking for the next threat, real big brotherly right ahead of Sexy.

And up atop Sexy, Pearl just blinks a couple more times, still adjusting to this proper light as she glances around too. "This doesn't seem like we're surrounded."

"Pah!" the Glaceon spits back, that snarl loosening back up into a finely-tuned smirk. "You think I meant these rubes? Forget about them! They're meant only to stay out of our way."

And Yon, now that he can see her fine, eases right back up, all that tension in his muscles just letting go. He lowers one paw over his hip and cocks it left, says, "I've… seen you around town before, right? A couple of times, I think, but we've never met, just passed by on the street. I'm—"

"Oh, I know all about you, Death Yon," the Glaceon says right over him, that glowering in her eyes the same in her tone. "And you, A Pearl. Hmhmhm… and I know all about your new allies here, too. That's why I took this mission, after all…."

Smirking just like that, she braces all four paws wide and lifts her chin high and proud, do declares, "Make Me Feel—that's who I am, pissants, remember the name! But not Remember The Name, it's Make Me Feel. I'm Make Me Feel. Simultaneously the most dangerous and ravishing of anyone in Rescue Team Beethoven's Evil Twin!"

Over back with Maybe and Sexy, 'bout every muscle in the little fella's face stays put just a second.

"…Of anyone in what?"

"Beethoven's—really?" Make Me says. "You didn't hear about us yet? We're the other team. The second team. Rescue Team Beethoven's Evil Twin, the other one. No one told—? Dullard."

Sexy thinks it over a longer second, not as sure yet what kind of feeling she's feeling.

"The other rescue team… is the bad guys?"

Maybe don't take so long to holler back toward Yon, "The bored folks antagonizing the local rescue team is the other local rescue team?"

Yon looks back with an easy shrug, can't do nothing 'bout it now. Just how it is. No helping it!

At least Pearl says from behind him now, just that little distracted in general by glancing so often at Make Me, "Um—yeah. We never get into anything serious, but all their members who we've met before don't get along with us, for some reason. We didn't do anything to them!"

Make Me barks the prettiest laugh can be barked, says, "Ha! It's simple: in order for one team to reign the superior, the other must lose—whatever the others are after, that's my own prerogative! And so today, you shall lose."

Sexy cocks her head. "But… why does one team have to be superior?"

"Because I wanna win something!"

Besides them, Yon's got his focus on the rest of the folks in here now. Still eased up, but he glances this way and that at the rest of these pokemons in sight. Not too quiet not to be overheard, he says back toward his teammates, "That Cherry Bomb guy is probably disguised as one of these miners. I bet he was the one to confuse them, too. Watch out for a sneak attack."

Make Me gives him back a good chortle, nice and villainous, not charging at nobody still. She says, "Cherry Bomb isn't the magnificent threat in front of you right now, fool, don't lose your focus! Don't worry, you won't have to fight them or the miners to get to me…."

Now she glances at Sexy a second, looks her up and down. Licks her lips left to right, nice and slow.

"—But you will have to fight someone to get to me."

Sexy looks right back at her, and she only gasps. Realizes it too late, but she cries out that vital warning—

"Watch out! She's a queer-coded bad guy!"

"And I hear you're a lesbian!" Make Me snickers, and she rears back before even Yon can do something about it. "Now fall victim to my Attract, fool!"

Too fast to counter, Make Me stretches two opposite legs far and lithe, curls another up to her chest like some magazine model—she vogues hard. Pinkish-purple rings emit fast and wobbly from her body right toward Sexy, throbbing a sort of wuh-wuh-wuh-wuh through the cavern as they splash into a critical hit over Sexy's sharp red thematic heart-thing, staggering her in an instant.

Sexy barely catches herself before she falls, dropping her and Maybe's suitcase with a clatter over the cavern floor, but that sudden stagger is enough to careen Pearl right off her shoulder with a precious li'l terrified squeak—before catching a quicker-reflexed grip on Sexy's hand down below, eight legs clinging tight to three out of three big ole fingers.

With some more genuine alarm, looking back up toward her, Maybe says, "You—you good, li'l sis? Talk it out, you all right? What's up?"

Looking closer, though—no, don't look like she's all right at all. As Sexy lifts her gaze again, there's something mighty different about it. From where Maybe stands, that ain't no look in her eyes he's ever used to seeing. It's something like… no, he's never seen that look before. Pearl stares up at it just the same, and she—well….

Sexy, at least, just mutters, "I don't… think… I resisted it, big brother…."

And from over where she stands tall and proud again, Make Me barks another fine feline cackle. "Too easy! And now that you're under my spell, you're forced to obey me completely! Attack them, my beautiful mindslave, and win me the day!"

Now at this point, here's the thing: Sexy do not do that.

What Sexy does do is stagger closer toward Make Me, and that strange look in her eye grows sharper and slimmer—and for this kind of look slinking over Sexy's face, from how Pearl peeks up at it from below the whole way, still clinging on to her hand, would make anybody think spiders can really blush. They can't, but right now, damn, girl.

"Nice," the littlest rescuer whispers up.

And Sexy just purrs over toward where she keeps staggering, "You said it was Make Me Feel, right…?"

Make Me kind of shuts up a second here, freezes mid-cackle. That wide-eyed sort of pause. "Eh? Yes, now—what are you doing? Why aren't you—?"

This much closer, passing by Yon where he's just sort of watched real placid this whole time—it's real quick now that Sexy slinks up over this befuddled Glaceon, kneeling and pulling her close, tracing ticklish lines down fuzzy blue ears with the hand that a panting little spider clings to the back of. Directly into her aggressor's ear, ju-u-u-st like that, Sexy whispers, "You know that's not how Attract works, right…?"

Anybody watching can tell them automatic little trembles down Make Me's skin ain't quite what she was after.

"Eh?"

Pearl barely holds back from breathing too heavy, now.

"Just like in my doujins…."

And Sexy takes her stroking of Make Me's sensitive ear very, very gentle. Don't want to make her uncomfortable, no. Just that tad softer, Sexy says, "Will you answer me a more important question? Something… more serious?"

"Will I—what? Eh? What?"

"Just how into girls are you, Make Me Feel…?"

"My heart isn't ready!"

Make Me shoves a paw over Sexy's cheek in another wild flailing, falling over as she thrashes not so good against her victim's suave caress, yelling back toward her fully conscious audience, "Save me! I'm not ready! You're on a rescue mission and I'm the one who called for it, so save me! Help! I'm not in love with her, we're not married, this isn't right!"

Maybe ain't really move from his spot since before, and now he's kind of just watching all that, too? And Yon ain't moving, he's fine where he is. Maybe, anyway—he scratches under the front corner of his red bandana, just sort of… well, he does totter up closer to Yon like that. And up beside him, Maybe squeaks as gravelly as he do, "So… neither of them are really consenting now?"

At his deeper natural pitch, Yon says, "I don't… think so? I don't think so, no."

And Maybe says, "I feel bad, but we gotta… we have to break it up, right?"

"Do something already!" Make Me screams, both forepaws mashed right against Sexy's smooth, unabashed cheek. "She's kind of hot and somehow I'm not as strong as he-e-e-r!"

Yon frowns. Nods.

"Looks like we have no choice."

He puts back up a firmer expression, fiercer, and crouches like ready for combat.

"Okay, Sex Machine, that's enough. Step away from the overconfident lesbian!"

Sexy whips a glare back over at Yon, pulls Make Me closer against her as she says, "You're already married! You can't have her!"

"What? You can have her, I don't—well, no, you can't have her either—just let her go!"

"Just let them kiss first!" Pearl cries, clinging to Sexy like it's her life she's hanging on for. "Just let them kiss one time, I'll burn it into my memory, I won't ever need it again!"

Yon looks quick back down to Maybe, says quieter, "You're her brother, and I've never seriously faced a Gardevoir before—where should I target to incapacitate her while doing the least possible damage?"

Maybe frowns too, crosses his little arms.

"I have a pretty good idea."

"Yeah?"

"Her heart."

"Huh?"

Not waiting for Yon none, Maybe yells, "You got rejected, Sexy! Again. The girl said no, and she's probably straight anyway. She didn't know you'd take her flirting seriously! Queer-coded? You already know you're just hoping beyond hope. And just look at her. This one's way out of your league anyway, you already know it! You fell for a straight girl again, Sexy. Your gaydar's busted. Give it up and try again in a week when you've quit moping over her."

Sexy pauses. Real hard.

From the pile on the ground she and Make Me have mostly wrestled themselves into, she breaks though Make Me's flailed defenses and pushes a hand right over her cheek, takes it, leans their faces real close together. Sexy stares her down eye to eye and just an inch away from lips to lips, and Make Me don't even breathe for how frozen she's just got, that single bead of sweat dripping down her cheek and over Sexy's fingers. Pearl holds her breath from just as close up, refusing to blink.

And just as sudden, Sexy slumps right over Make Me's ribcage like a ragdoll, no gentle caressin' with it. Like her muscles give out all at once. Except her arms, which don't let go of tugging her quarry tighter and tighter into a sort of sad teddy bear hug.

"She's totally straight…" Sexy whispers to the wind. "I can feel it now…. I'm still useless…."

And from him and Maybe's safe distance from that, Yon sort of mutters, "That didn't sound like the least possible damage."

Well—Pearl sighs like that too, quits holding so hard over Sexy's hand and skitters instead up her arm, up over her cheek, and strokes that tiny and slow herself, says just about at Sexy's ear, "It's okay, it's okay. You were so close, okay…? I still ship you."

And Make Me struggles about completely in vain against Sexy's otherwise limp body weight, no escaping from this deadass pity party floor cuddle. Resists it best she can, sure, and she angles a glare back at the two boys as she hisses, "F-fools! All according to—I a-anticipated this! Obviously. You r-really think I'd come here and arrange all this without a foolproof backup plan? Of course I didn't!"

Yon don't look much convinced of such, crossing his arms. And Maybe's back to just smirking right beside and below him already.

"Listen, it's over," Yon says. "Now are you going to wait with these miners to make sure they recover safely, or are you going to leave that to us, too?"

While her knees teeter trying to shove herself out from this real, real sad hug, Make Me clenches her fangs and yells, "Cherry Bomb—T-minus sixty seconds! Blow this place to hell!"

Maybe and Yon share about the same face to that, darting them glances right toward each other. Pearl perks out of her consoling business just the same, and with some lack of any squeak she's the one saying, "Wait what?"

And right now, loud enough for everybody to hear it just fine, there begins somewhere in this cavern a real sharp tick, tick, tick, tick. That nasty, insistent kind of ticking down to something even worse.

Maybe gasps, like he gets it just now.

"Voltorb!" he yells. "Right? Never mind the miners, they're a Voltorb, c'mon, that's totally who we're looking for! Or an Electrode! I figured it out!"

"That's what you—? It's useless, you'll never find them in time!" Make Me hisses, straining herself some saying it. "You now—nrrghhh—have under one minute to escape! You see? You're surrounded by the—hff, nnnngh—cave itself! Run away, or perish under its rubble!"

Yon, though, he pays nobody any mind a second here—perks up one fuzzy ear instead, listens. And he takes a few slow steps around, repositioning, just listening. Then both his ears perk up all the way, and he shoves a declaratory toe toward the farther end of the cavern, and he truly declare, "It's coming from over there! Behind that—oh, didn't notice that before—that other, tinier boulder!"

"Okay maybe you will find them in time—but it's still useless! Flee while we're—h-h-h-how is she so strong when she's so skinny—feeling charitable enough to allow it!"

Never minding Make Me, Yon and Maybe and Pearl all take each their own sort of dash up to that much smaller boulder hiding nearly right against the far wall, and with each of their heads poking around it one over the other over the other, here they find their new problem.

Hiding behind the boulder is a shiny—not that kind—little Magnemite, chrome plating bright and clear under the nearest caged bulbs, one of which is already wound up in a tiny copper wire coiled down around the Magnemite's left magnet. Little pokemon's hovering up and down barely over the ground, staring back up at the team with a real friendly look in their bright round eye. Staticky and stuttery, kind of weirdly deep, they chirp, "Hello – I'm – Cher-ree Bo-o-mb!"

Maybe mutters first, "Okay, fine, whatever."

Loud ole kitchen timer's set up right next to 'em, too, the kind it just takes a bonk on top to get started, and it's ticking down from about forty-five seconds left. There's the trick to their shenanigans.

Except besides that timer, there's one more copper wire strung up from Cherry Bomb's right magnet to a whole stack of dynamite, as in pure T.N.T.

Don't Yon nor Maybe nor Pearl actually proper greet this magnet back.

"Oh my god, those are real!" Yon hollers. "Get away from that, you'll die too, this isn't a joke anymore!"

Same as before, Cherry Bomb chirps back up to him, "I'm Your – Hell- – Bo-o-mb!"

Make Me cackles one more time, kind of broken up by little wheezes between as her whole body's pulled up real vulnerably tight now against Sexy's drooped self.

"That's right! If you don't flee immediately, or if you even think about going for the wires, they'll bring down this entire… stupid… cave… right on you, and on all these innocent laborers! Just admit it's your loss and—mhhhhshe'sactuallyreallywarm—run away, and Cherry Bomb will spare you all!"

Poor villain gives one final weak shove, nothing with it to leverage, before she's collapsed fully and truly into being poor Sexy's excuse for a teddy bear.

"—And take her—hff—with you, dammit!"

Yon don't respond none to that either, just stares down this Magnemite. Not getting too close now, he comes around the rock real plain and bends down to rest his paws on his knees, says real friendly, "You wouldn't, right? You're not really going to blow those up. Right? Come on. I'll buy you some ice cream, I know a great place. Let's go there now. Okay?"

Cherry Bomb blinks now and then, but they do not appear to take him up on that. But ole Yon don't give up.

"Come on. Please? Because you wouldn't. Right?"

Cherry Bomb just blinks. That timer ticks on down to twenty-five, about now.

But Pearl, at least, don't smile so kindly in this situation. She glares.

She comes right on out from peeking around the rock, marches on eight legs on up to Cherry Bomb, not the wires—and slaps them across the cheek hard enough they spin just that inch, blink again real sudden.

Got their full attention now, surely, so Pearl hisses right to their face, "I'm not getting intimidated by another mascot-looking asshole that easily. You're bluffing. I know a little punk like you isn't gonna do jack all with those. You don't have it in you. So either you shimmy those wires off your magnets, or I'll rip them off. Don't try me."

Cherry Bomb matches her gaze wide-eyed, just possibly thinking their options over real careful.

Then that one eye narrows real slim.

"Ya – Dead – Little Fool."

Pearl whips her own wide eyes back toward her teammate and yells, "I was bluffing, Yon, do something!"

Yon's grin got more a nervous look to it now, some bead of sweat dripping down his brow as he—well, as he glances toward his right, actually, toward something past that wire and bomb.

Cherry Bomb sees that glance, and they whirl around for a look-see themself—to find Maybe already snuck around the other side of the little boulder, planting his little yellow tail smack-dab against that copper wire creeping from the dynamite. He don't cut it. He just holds real still.

And ignoring Cherry Bomb, he looks right back up to Yon, plain as day, and there ain't a single care in the tone of his voice as he says, "I'm a lightning rod. Go for it, buddy."

Cherry Bomb's eye widens back up real quick, panicky and thin, and it don't take an instant for their whole body to spark up with current and lash a hot dose of volts down that wire, zapping only into a sharp yellow tail as they cry out just as deep and stuttery, "Ya – Fool! – I'm – Cher-ree Bo-o—!"

Yon boinks their lights out with a karate chop, and the little metal pokemon thunks to the ground with a tiny harmless bounce.

And then Maybe turns 'round and blows on his poor tail, clearing them puffs of gray smoke away before getting to business and grabbing that wire next, taking a sweet few seconds yanking the damn thing loose.

Now that's the day saved professionally!

Well, while Maybe and Pearl are puffing their chests out real proud about now, whether one or either earned it, Yon diverts his feet toward marching right on around this boulder back over to Make Me and Sexy, the former of which don't look too glad to see the look on his face now as she tries smiling real sheepish up at him.

"They were actually going to blow that dynamite!" he yells down at her, smacking both his paws over his hips. "That was completely uncalled for! Why would you even plan something like that?"

"We were only bluffing!" Make Me cries now, pretty literally. One of her hind leg's tangled up under Sexy's, too, at this point. "Cherry Bomb isn't stupid, they weren't really planning to blow it, and we just wanted to win, okay, and I bruise easily—don't hurt me!"

"We literally saw them spark the line—they tried to kill us all!"

"Well you called their bluff, and they're very prideful, obviously they'd react badly! That's your fault! Please just let me go, I'm sorry!"

Yon just about glares a hole through her sweat-streaked skull. But he says calmer now, collecting himself, "After the danger you put all these people under, do you really think we'll just let you walk out of here freely? Or with just some little anime bonk on the head? Nuh-uh. Not this time."

Make Me's quit struggling against her victim by now, and she don't find the strength just yet for more than watching in horror that stern face bearing down on her—and with Maybe and Pearl coming over to help pry the seductress free, not that Sexy resists too hard no more either, in a minute more Yon's the one free to punish their villain exactly as she's earned.

He hoists her on up over his shoulder completely, despite her finding the strength after all for some renewed yelping and flailing, and with a glance around at all these miners, getting their bearings back about now, naturally, Yon turns back toward the exit with Make Me in tow. Not so seductive now as she knocks her forepaws over his back and yells, "No, stop! I don't deserve this! What are you going to do to me?"

"We're getting your rescued butt out of here and hitting the tavern for a job well done," Yon huffs. "And you're paying."

"No, that's not fair! I only drink mineral water, they won't even have anything to serve me! Let me go-o-o-o!"

He don't. Miners are gon' be fine now, everybody sees that, so Yon just leads the way right on out of here in that kind of fashion.

Right behind him, Sexy's climbed back to her feet with Maybe's help, mostly, and Pearl just hitches a ride on the spurned lover's slumped shoulder again as Maybe holds her hand and guides her moping self back out the cavern in turn. Got to hunch pretty far over to hold his paw, but Sexy follows without any sort of complaint, holding tight to him too. She just sniffs as they leave already.

"I didn't even get to help with our first rescue, did I…."

Maybe scoffs and squeezes her hand, swings it back and forth some as they go.

"Naw, what? You immobilized the main bad guy, you did great. Totally won us the day, li'l sis."

Few more steps he leads her on, and then he adds, "Sorry 'bout your broken heart."

Sexy looks away, wipes her eyes with the soft crook of her knuckles while Make Me flails and screams in her peripheral vision.

"I don't think I'm over her yet…."

As they pass, at least, she absently scoops up their suitcase she dropped earlier, not gon' leave that behind.

And that's that for the rescue.

As for what else in here? Well, them miners are getting back to work already, not much questioning what stopped 'em. Got plenty work left to do! And they take care of that dynamite, don't worry about that. Put that right back somewhere safe. Take care of Cherry Bomb, too, presumably. That one's just going to need a good ice pack to keep their swelling down, poor little magnet.

And besides that, after making the twists and turns back up the tunnel following them minecart tracks, it don't take no more proper adventuring for the team to find their way back outside. From this far out in the hills, it's still a trek back into town, and there's quite some rowdy conversation most the whole way, but it's been a long day—by the time they make it back to that same watering hole Maybe, at least, was wondering if they were heading to, it's already about dark out.

Few more folks out on the streets tonight as they pass. Even in this evening light, lit up some by what spills out from windows and shop doors, all sorts of neighborly strangers are enjoying themselves just fine out now.

Hitting open those old-timey swinging tavern doors, though, with Yon leading everybody inside through some true hustle and bustle in here, first thing even Maybe pays the most notice to is some gentlemanly voice calling out clear, "Ah, my gorgeous husband and his team finally made it back? You kept me waiting."

Most the tables in here are already taken, but up by the bar, there's Legend grinning and waving the team over to some empty stools he's saved for who knows how long.

"You look thirsty. Come tell me all about what happened!"

Well, Yon's the one smiling now, and he sets a quieted Make Me on one of them stools just the same, leans over the counter to let the tavernkeep know who's obliging their tab tonight. Maybe's the one helping Sexy into her own stool on the other end, and so Sexy's the one folding her arms over the counter and dumping her face into 'em.

And Maybe—

Well, he clambers up his own stool, too, and takes a look back at the rest of this place.

Yeah, really is a kind of alive tonight, not so dusty and barren no more. Got that lively sort of feel to it. Some rosy-cheeked Sneasel and Psyduck are arm wrestling at the far corner of the bar, and some honest-to-god Texas hold 'em is going on over two round tables shoved awkward next to each other in the middle of the floor, and that Pelliper messenger's one of the players, gulping back a tall one. It's all sorts in here, to be sure.

But after a day like this, after he's got his little sister sorted out as best she can be right now, after the action's faded and his adrenaline's had a chance to take it easy—well, Maybe don't feel so lively.

He just sits and thinks, mostly.

That was what they do now? Their dream? All that—was that really all that?

Made a joke or two, sure, but is this really that sparkling new life he and his little sister were dreaming about for years? Really dreaming about. Laying back in bed at night and staring at the ceiling for, grinning, couldn't sleep.

Maybe shifts real slow back toward looking across the counter, and that human woman tavernkeep, same one as he's met before, is already setting her hands on the counter right across from him. She looks him in the eye no matter that dull look on the rest of his face, and he don't grin back up at her this time, no such energy left in him.

Lips set thin and long, tone flat as a rag, he just says, "Do you have beer."

Tavernkeep don't much seem to notice his tone. She says, "Yup."

Maybe says, "Can I have a beer."

Tavernkeep pushes off from the counter and says, "Yup."

So Maybe rests himself here after all, just about takes the same posture as Sexy. He spies her not having moved an inch, and Pearl's still with her, patting her shoulder and there-there-ing all she needs for now. And closer to him, Make Me's figured out how to cross both her forelegs well enough into her own big sulk on her stool, pouting and all, not ordering nothing. And Yon—he and Legend are having a grand ole time already, leaning in and whispering and laughing and drinking.

And wherever else Maybe glances more idly now, there's only more folks of all sorts being way too obnoxious and drunk for how barely the day's crawled into night just yet.

But it's kind of like there's really a small town in here after all, nobody sipping their drink in the corner all by their lonesome. Feels like a community, at least. Folks gathering to share a good time.

Anyway, it don't take a minute for the tavernkeep to fill Maybe up a stein and thunk it down dripping over the side in front of him. She don't expect no thanks, and this time, at least, Maybe don't bother offering none. He just pulls both his tiny paws 'round that huge stein, drags it a little closer. Takes a second. Then takes a sip.

That was a rescue, technically. Rescued some folks.

Joined a rescue team. Met some bad guys. Had a real fight, really did save some folks. Got his heart pumping, and that's no lie.

Flirted with a lady, too. She could come around.

It's just the tiny little bit, and nobody prolly notices it too much anyway, but… Maybe smiles again. Not a smirk. And just to himself.

Just a li'l.

Then he takes a gulp.