Chapter 80: Boxed In

The wheels of the truck rolled and occasionally bumped on the hard and cracked asphalt. The five Smasher's were anxious to see what awaits them at this apparent military base. Will they have no problems and be accepted? Would the military attempt to blow them sky high before they recognize what's even happening. Are the two Newcomers in this place at all? Only time will tell.

"Have you used that thing before, Brawler?" Shulk asked as the fist-fighter, observed the heavy-duty sniper rifle in his grasp.

"I told you before, I know how to handle guns." Brawler grunted, doing one last check at the weapons trigger. "You can have my shotgun if you don't want to keep pissing your pants so much. It was a miracle we managed to find not only some shells but also rounds for the rifle."

Shulk gave it a momentary thought but ultimately shot the idea down (no pun intended) "I think it's best if I stick to my sword."

"Sure… whatever suits your boat." The Mii turned his head to Greninja, staring out into the gray and cold landscape by the side of the road. "You seem awfully calm for the death trap we're heading into. Yet again, you look like the kind of guy that wouldn't be scared if someone held your balls in a vise."

Greninja didn't know whether to interpret that as an insult or compliment. Maybe it's a combination of both. "I can be scared, Brawler. But I have better control over my emotions than most people. Control over oneself is needed before improvement."

"Now those are words to live by… not that we're in any danger of dying permanently right?" Shulk attempted to propel the conversation forward but it fell flat. He cleared his throat and went on to a different topic. "So… what do you think will be at the base?"

"The Newcomers, obviously. Unless… are you having doubts about your vision?" Questioned Brawler.

"I'm confident, no need for the sour attitude. I'm talking about the place itself. This is a military base that the people fled to when the mall got overrunned-"

Brawler interrupted Shulk. "True, but that place could have also gotten devoured by those antlered freaks, you know how persistent those monsters are."

"There's always the chance they could be alive. The mall is one thing but the base is going to be supplied and guarded with all kinds of weapons. They have a larger fighting chance in surviving then we do."

"Weren't there many of those deermen in the base in your vision?" Wrote Greninja.

Shulk lowered his head in thought. "Yes… yes it was."

"Look let's not overthink things and just focus on getting there." Brawler slid the window to the driver and passenger seat of the truck. "Hey Fit, how far are we?"

The truck was going over a large hill when Wii Fit answered. "Just give me a minute… I… Ah, that's the place."

"You see it?" Brawler asked.

"A little over to the right. Look!" Wii Fit pointed. Brawler, Greninja and Shulk followed her instruction and saw the base they've been driving to all this time. Two metal gates sandwiching a large concrete barrier in between, the structure itself must be at four or five stories tall. Little tower outposts and spotlights were affixed on the very top of the wall, adding to the security very well.

Other than that, they couldn't get a good view from here but they did see several large smooth metallic hangers on the separate end. If only they knew of this place before heading to the mall; it looked so secure.

Greninja visible frown as he leaned against the frame of the truck bed. Shulk noticed and tapped the frog on the shoulder. "Something up?"

"There's no one guarding."

Shulk blinked several times before taking in the view himself. He narrowed his eyes but didn't see a single living soul on the ground nor the towers. "You're right, there's no one."

"So this pipe dream of seeing other people is dead in the water. Shame, but at this point I'm not surprised."

"Wait! Maybe they're still inside!" Declared Shulk.

Brawler gritted his teeth in frustration. "You're still on about that? The place looking like a ghost town ain't enough-"

"The smoke! Over there." Shulk directed his group's attention to a small and noticeable stream of smoke coming over the wall. By the position of the smoke it appeared it was coming from deep within the camp.

"It looks too black for it to be a simple campfire." Greninja observed.

"Yeah, sure does." Brawler tapped on the glass of the window. "Wii Fit! Park the car by the front but keep the noise level nonexistent. I have a bad feeling about this."

"Yeah." Replied Wii Fit. "You know… I feel the same way too."


The truck slowly drove to the front of one of the towers before coming to a complete stop. Wii Fit pushed the stick into park and cut the engine. "I'll keep the keys with me. I don't feel safe leaving it here."

The four Smashers exited the vehicle and walked closer to the large barrier blocking their entry into the base. Brawler spotted a metal door with a window leading to the inside. The fist-fighter gripped his hand on the door - pulling and pushing - to only find it locked.

"Appears that the normal way won't cut it." Greninja wrote. "Can you see through the other side, Brawler?"

Brawler pressed his face against the lone square-shaped window. He saw trucks, crates and a couple of outhouses but no people. "I see a bunch of military stuff here but that's it."

"No people?" Shulk questioned.

"Far as I can tell. Which means a simple knock will be useless. Unless..." Brawler stepped a couple of paces from the door, pulling back his right shoulder before the Hom grabbed his arm.

"What are you doing?" He whispered.

"Opening the door, what does it look like?" Brawler answered with furrowed eyebrows.

"We're coming into their place without their consent or knowledge, I don't think they'll take kindly to breaking their door down."

Brawler scoffed. "These people could potentially be in trouble and you're worried about a damn door? Brawler whispered "That last thing I need is another Swordfighter." He pulled his arm from Shulk and continued. "Look, things are obviously very wrong here. The fact that there's no one pointing their guns at is a red flag. So how about we stop the pleasantries just this once and do our job. Besides, I don't think they'd just open the door themselves right now."

Shulk turned to Greninja, giving the impression he wanted to hear his thoughts. "Hate to say it, but he does have a point. This whole situation feels… off putting."

Shulk sighed and stepped out of Brawler's way. "Thank you." The fist-fighter said as he winded up his arm and landed a mighty punch into the door. To their disappointment the door still didn't open. There was a sizable dent but nothing else. Brawler punched the door three more times just as Wii Fit interrupted his endeavor.

"Let me try." Wii Fit extended her arms up high. A ball of solar energy formed in front of her chest before she propelled it to the door. The metal glowed red hot but it was still in one piece. "What? That should've worked."

Shulk took a couple of steps forward and inspected the door. "This is heavy-duty military steel. We won't be able to pass through with brute force at the rate we're going. We're pressing for time as it is."

The fitness trainer spoke. "Well what if we use that brute strength on the wall itself then? Brawler-"

"No, the wall is even thicker than the door, I doubt it'll be successful. We might even draw attention to ourselves if we try that." Shulk cringed, their group was smaller than before. If a horde of them descended on them right now…

"Well, does anyone have any other ideas?" Wii Fit asked.

"I do." Brawler tested the strength of the wire portion of the fence and gave a sly smile. "The barrier is tall but not by much. I say we just forget the door and just climb over."

"That's a lot of climbing, Brawler." Shulk Responded "Assuming we have the muscle to climb up that high there's still the barbed wire to deal with." The Hom heard a cough behind him. He turned to see Greninja already writing on his clipboard. Speaking the words as his pen does magic.

"I'll go. My species are naturally adapted to maneuver against obstacles like this."

"If you think you can overcome the wall, go ahead. But the rest of us still need to get over it as well."

"Perhaps this will be more simple than we thought, I'll come back when I find a way in for you." Greninja inserted the clipboard into his backpack, upon zipping it shut he grabbed the square openings of the gate. The frog tested the firmness of the metal, then proceeded to press his feet against the fence and climbed upward.

Contact with the metal was initially painful due to the metal being cold as ice, no doubt a result from the weather. Most people would have cringed at the sensations and let go before their fingers and toes go numb. But Greninja was a Smasher, which means his form allows for the reduction and sometimes even complete nullification of pain. Another unique ability they can add with the rest of force fields, double jumps and immortality.

"Wow… look at him go, he's like a ninja." Shulk commented.

"He has the word in his name for a reason. The fact that he wields swords and uses his tongue like a scarf really makes it obvious" Brawler answered. "Are all of Greninja's species like that?"

"I'm not a Pokemon researcher so I can't say." Admitted Wii Fit. "I wouldn't be surprised though, the species of that world were beyond unique. I don't think any other universe or dimension has even something remotely close to it."

"Well let's be glad that Greninja has the skills to pay the bills." Shulk added. "He's almost at the top."

Greninja was drawing near the razor-sharp barbed wire that was affixed to the top portion wall. He stopped mere inches away from the blades as he examined any open spaces for him to slip by.

"What's he doing now?" Brawler asked.

Greninja hung his head low, bending his knees close to his waist. After an intake of cold frigid breath he used his feet to push himself backwards off the wall.

"He jumped?!" Exclaimed Wii Fit. The fitness trainer, the precog and the fist-fighter thought for sure that Greninja was going to plummet. However, Greninja closed his eyes and pressed his hands together in a firm grip, then he was propelled over the wire from a thick stream of water coming from his feet.

Drops of water fell on the crowd of three. Brawler and Wii Fit generated their force fields to prevent themselves from getting wet. Shulk simply walked back a foot while shielding his eyes. He has still yet to master the technique of the energy shields.

Wii Fit and Brawler dropped their shields. Shulk walked in between them and stared up at the area that Greninja was at previously. "I have never seen him do that trick before; shot off like a bottle rocket."

Wii Fit ear twitched, she stayed silent and shushed the other members of her team to get better hearing. "Is that… is that creaking?" Attention was drawn to the door Brawler had failed to break and was slowly being pulled in by the ever-formidable Greninja.

"Gree."

Shulk went up to the frog; smiled a mile wide. "Way to go, Greninja! Now we can get inside!" Shulk paused when he noticed that the amphibian wasn't smiling with him "Uh… Greninja."

Greninja showed the clipboard to the Hom, the note was written before he opened the door. "The key was by the door, without it I wouldn't be able to open the door… but that's part of the problem."

Brawler was baffled by Greninja's cryptic statement. He wanted to demand a direct answer but then his nostrils were assaulted. "Why do I smell blood?" Brawler questioned the frog.

Greninja turned his head left. Brawler had enough and simply slid past his teammate. He saw the problem.

Large deep claw marks were on the concrete wall, followed by a red stain that was splattered on the wall. The stain was dripping onto the snow and several torn fabric with the operational camouflage pattern on them

Shulk and Wii Fit walked out of the doorway and stared at the red. Shulk was horrified at the aftermath so was Wii Fit but to a lesser extent. She hates to admit it, but she was *somewhat* getting used to the brutality of the land. But that's what's making her shiver. Not from the cold, but the fact that these experiences will stay for the rest of her life.

"No… their security failed." Shulk said with a soft voice.

'There goes our notion of survivors fine and dandy in this hellhole.' Brawler almost mouthed those words in his head, but for once considered that his… unique perspective on things wouldn't settle well for this venture. "It's wet, this was recent."

"This is why they weren't here on the gate… my god." Wii Fit pulled her fingers through her hair. She hated those things, if this was hell on earth then those were the demons roaming the land. Not caring who they were hurting - only that they were satisfying their bellies.

"They could be still alive." Shulk said. "There's still a chance."

"Shulk..." Brawler replied.

"There is still a chance, Brawler. Don't give me that." Shulk firmly said. "The smoke… that couldn't happen by itself right? Things look down now but we don't know the full scope. These people have powerful weapons, they had a chance to fight back. We need to investigate at least."

"We could follow the trail, see where it leads to." Greninja, upon finishing with his clipboard gestured a hand to the streaks of blood and monstrous footprints pressed into the ice, leading further into the base.

"This base is very large; would be a good starting point if we went." Wii Fit suggested. "Shulk?"

Shulk crouched over the large bloodstain on the ground and used his eyes to follow the trail to the living sections of the base. "We're going on the path, be careful. Those monsters will tear you apart if they could. Keep noise as minimal as possible."


They keep close to the trail. None of them felt relief during the entire duration of the walk. Unknown territory comes with unknown dangers. Unknown whether they'll find the Newcomers at all. Unknown if there are people left here. Unknown if they turn the corner they'll be greeted with antler and rabid teeth.

What was known… is that the trail finally ended; no indications of the route or where'd they've gone.

"It stops here. No more prints or blood." Shulk stated.

"How could it just end like that? Did… that thing actually covered its tracks?" Wii Fit asked.

"Those things don't have anything racking in their brains. They're lethal but also very dumb and angry. The snow must have covered the trail, or maybe the corpse ran out of blood. Either way we're lost in this frigid place." Reflected Brawler. "So what's the plan now, Shulk. Good, any good ideas you care to share with the rest of us?"

Shulk rubbed his chin while tapping on his at the same time; a minor fidget. He then snapped his fingers, as if the sound alone would give him validation of the change of directive, and turned to his team. "We'll search the cabins and hangers around, That should give us a good start."

Greninja gave his question. "I assume you mean these cabins?" On both sides apart from them were rows of small wooden cabins; three in each column and both sides. These were probably used to shelter the soldiers here for training and their living corridors. The structure even looked worse than the farm they once stayed on, corrosion took its course here long ago.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I mean." Shulk said.

"You think the Newcomers are staying in one of those things?" Brawler pressed.

"Well maybe not just the Newcomers… there could be gear or supplies we can use for the mall."

The fist-fighter frowned and walked in a counter-clockwise motion to the precog. "What do you think this is? A trip to the mall? We're here to find the Newcomers nothing else. We can't treat this mission without urgency. Night will soon come, and didn't you say that a horde may or may not be on its way here? Time's a-ticking so let's get our asses in gear- of f*ck!" Brawler was taken off guard when he suddenly tripped over something hard and small. He used his favorite curse word, then got an inconvenience in the shape of his face in the snow.

Wii Fit covered her mouth, she wasn't expecting that out of all things to happen today - she almost laughed but realized the context and situation would make her chuckles… eh… inappropriate.

Brawler caught Wii Fit's mistake and nearly spit fire at her. "Yeah, laugh. I'll be sure to have my funny bone tickled when I shove my foot up your ass."

"Sorry. Didn't mean it like that." Wii Fit apologized.

"Oh sure you didn't. How about I… what the hell is this thing?" Brawler was looking at the object he tripped on. An irregular pile of snow. A pile of snow wouldn't be that hard on its own… right?

"Uh… Brawler?" Shulk said to the Mii.

Curious, he went on a knee and dusted the snow off with his hand. A small metallic hatch was sticking out of the ground. Brawler raised his head up and looked at the eye's of his crew. "This is a military bunker."

"There could be people inside. Can you open it?" Greninja questioned.

Brawler tapped on the metal hatch, waiting for a response from down under. The last thing he'd wanted was a deerman popping out of the whole like a demonic game of Whack-A-Mole. When nothing happened he checked the twist-ability of the value. He kept rotating right until a loud click was found.

Brawler took off his shotgun and gave it to Wii Fit. She raised an eyebrow but he whispered to her. "Two heads are better than one." Then tossed the rest of the shells to the trainer.

The fist-fighter took the rifle slung on his shoulder and aimed the barrel at the hatch. Shulk left the hatch and shined his flashlight down the hole.

The room underground wasn't as nerve-racking as they thought. The contents were basic: Bed, toilet, sink and even a rug. The bunker was so small that almost swore they could see all four walls from above.

"Such a small room. I find it hard to visualize how someone could live here long term without going mad."

"Or claustrophobic." Wii Fit remarked, lowering the shotgun from her shoulder "Maybe we should move on, Shulk's vision said that they were at the tanks so we should go there instead."

Shulk squinted his eyes as his eyes were affixed to the hole. "Wait, I think I see… papers under the bed."

"Papers?" Replied Brawler.

"I see a seal on the folder… they must be official military documents! Hold on, I'll be right back." Shulk slid down the ladder to the objection of the Mii. It wasn't even a minute when he climbed right back to ground level. "Guys, this top secret. This may be what we need to understand what's going on."

"What are you waiting for? Read it." Wii Fit encouraged.

"Yes, I'm also interested in what the military has to say about this." Greninja agreed.

"I'm not against the reading but can we at least walk to our destination as we do so?" Brawler suggested.

"Good idea. Hope we'll learn something from this." Shulk began to walk, his fellow Newcomers went after him. He lifted the top of the folder and scanned the texts on the papers.

"What's the document about?" Wrote Greninja.

"Hold on..." Shulk traced his finger between his lines. "This is the one we've been looking for. This talks about the creatures that've been running amok across the landscape!"

"Read it then! I'd like to know for myself what hell these things are." Prompted Brawler.

Shulk cleared his throat as he memorized the data from the folder. "There's a lot of technical jargon… I need to rephrase it." Shulk looked from the notes to check their surroundings for enemies. When it was clear he repeated the words to himself. "Instances are humanoid entities… have genetic markers that of Cervus canadensis, but also possess those of the human geno..." The Hom paused, then widened his eyes in horror. "My god, we've been fighting against innocent people all along!"

Wii Fit gasped. "Wait, are you telling me that the deermen I've killed were… actual humans?!"

Shulk hovered the file to Wii Fit's face. "It says right here: It is unknown of the exact mechanism of the infection, but it's been accepted by large consensus that starvation induces stage 2 infection [DATA EXPUNGED]... At stage 3 the host becomes an instance of the Wendigo Virus."

"Wendigo Virus? A viral disease is the cause of this catastrophe?" Greninja thought back to the farm, the corpses in the houses. "The kids… they had horns and sharp teeth, just like the deerman."

Brawler stiffened and lowered his sniper rifle from his torso. "Yeah… they did. You don't think we're infected, do you?" They hadn't been really careful when fighting the horned monsters that dare to challenge them. They got a handful of slobber and blood on them during their fight at the barn. Even Shulk and Gunner made physical contact with them. "If this virus is infectious-"

"It's not, at least to us." Shulk answered. He handed Brawler the file. "It says that it's infectious, but the symptoms of being bitten and scratched are metabolism acceleration and heightened aggression. I'd been chomping on the arm and I didn't feel so much as a fever."

"Must be a perk of us being Trophies." Said Greninja.

"That's a godsend, but not by much." Brawler muttered, it was his turn to read the contents aloud dryly. "These abominations are solely carnivores and primarily consume human flesh but can eat other animals. Sharp teeth. Sharp claws. Brute strength… Ain't this interesting."

Shulk walked behind Brawler to look at the section he was reading, "What's interesting?"

"The first sighting of these freaks resided in the mining grounds of an old cave, names "Old Cave." - I see the residents were very clever with the names - Then a rash of murders happened that baffled authorities… they tried to act but the virus already spread like wildfire. Judging by how barren this base is I'd say they already failed quarantine."

"Old Cave… It's on the tip of my tongue." Wii Fit pondered the name, then quickly remembered the newspapers. "The papers at the farm! They said the miners died suspiciously. Shock the whole nation."

"This cave must be the origin of the virus. Where it all started. How far is "Old Cave from the mall?"

"You actually want to go to ground zero?" Brawler questioned in bewilderment. "Do you have a death wish?"

"You guys have been transported to this apocalyptic land for a reason. If we go there and investigate… well I don't know what we'll be there but it has to be important. We got no other leads. Greninja where's the cave?"

The Pokemon unfolded the map from his backpack and tapped his round finger against the image two times. "It's six miles South from the mall, we can ride the highway to get there faster."

"Assuming if we have the gas to get back and forth." Brawler leered.

"Will you stop being so pessimistic, dude?" Wii Fit snapped, having enough of the Mii's attitude. "Can you stop speaking gloom and doom for five minutes. Honesty, It's getting us nowher-" A hand pressed hard against her mouth, covering her lips entirely.

She struggled and saw that the hand belonged to Shulk. The Hom put a finger up to his lip and distressingly shushed her. The trainer wanted to pull the appendage away but the sounds of crunching and tearing made her body freeze. She rotated her head ever so slightly, using her left eye to scan the source of the noise.

And she did indeed spot the source of the noise; hundreds of corpses twitching on the ground as countless deermen feasted on flesh and blood.