Chapter 81: Don't Look Down

For the second time, in a long time Brawler felt… dread. Absolute dread. They walked into the lion's den, they knew it, and he knew it. There were so many monsters feasting on the remnants of mankind. Wendigos? These are demons with unending appetites - locus with horns. Do they even realize that if they eat everyone, there will be no one left.

Brawler saw a smaller figure on the ground, it was too small to be an adult. An abomination was on top of it. A kid wearing a yellow raincoat. His chest was straining and puffing, eyes watering, teeth grinding. He subconsciously grabbed the grip of his rifle when the frog pulled him away from view.

"Why were you standing in the open? You could have been seen!" Silently hissed Shulk. The redness from his vision faded away but not completely, the cold air must have brought him back. He clenched his teeth.

"They're all dead. Those f*ckers got them all."

"How did they get in?" Wii Fit solemnly asked. "The doors were locked."

Shulk peered his head from the corner of the building they were hiding behind, doing his best to ignore the feelings of shock, horror and disgust bubbling inside. On the far end of the feeding, right up at the wall was a large hole. "I see it… They made an opening through all that concrete, big enough for a platoon to cross through. How strong are these things?"

"This must have been their civilian settlement center. It's hard to tell through this carnage." Greninja wrote. "This was very recent."

Wii Fit turned her head to the amphibian in curiosity. "How can you be sure?"

"The bodies are fresh and I can still smell gunpowder and oil in the air. Look at those large houses over there." He pointed. "That's the source of the smoke. Do you think it ignited on it's own?"

"We could've saved these people if we got here sooner." Seethed Brawler as he kneeled on the floor. "Now we have to watch those freaks enjoy their cannibal buffet."

"I agree with you. Oh god, do I agree with you." Shulk crouched to Brawler's level and held out a hand. When he didn't he continued. "But we can't let this get to us. We had a bad deck of cards in hand and we made the most of it. You can't blame-"

"I don't blame myself. This whole… tragedy fest is f*cking unfair. It never ends."

"Then what's next? Wallow and cry for hours on end? The Brawler I know would have extended his middle finger up high for the world to see and carry on." The Hom gestured to his hand again. "There are still two lives we can still save."

Shulk couldn't tell what Brawler was feeling at this point. He had a talent for controlling his expressions. But the Hom knew he did something right when Brawler took Shulk's hand and propped himself up. He didn't say thank you, only lean against the building and stared at the deer with pure contempt.

"Brawler?' Asked Shulk.

The fist-fighter squinted his eyes and breathed in slowly. Two other figures were on the other side, they weren't deer nor survivors. He held his breath. "They're here."

"Who's here? The Newcomers?" Greninja questioned as he went to the same relative spot as the Mii and followed his line of sight. Two people were treading carefully through the hole in the barrier, wielding their choice of sword close to their guard. "I see them. A man and a woman… like in the vision."

Shulk took out a pair of binoculars from his pack and looked through the eyepieces. "Those are the ones I remembered! So that's how they've entered the base. Hm? They don't… they don't appear to be alarmed. I don't think they can see the… creatures from here."

"The houses must be in the way." Guessed Wii Fit. "What are they doing now?"

The man and woman, unaware of the massacre, walked in a straight line to the right until they came across a large metal hanger. They stopped, examined the structure from afar, then strolled right inside.

"No… they walked into one of the hangers. They don't know the danger. We got to warn them." Shulk hastily inserted his sight-seeing tool back and turned to his teammates. "We got to get to the hangar before those things discover them. It's far away, we can't cross straight through the deer without the horde descending on us. Any ideas?"

"We can go around." Brawler gestured his arm to the path they were walking on previously. "The road here curves around the main square. We can reach the hanger this way."

"That way is too long though, the Newcomers might leave the hangar before we get there." Greninja pondered and scanned the square for any possible routes they could take. "There's a large clearing of trees just on the left of the square. If we cut through it we can reach there quicker."

Shulk eyed the clearing of trees from the corner of the building and frowned. "Those trees are very close to the deermen. We will be easily seen."

"Not if we stay up on the branches and leap from tree to tree." Wii Fit argued. "We can use flexibility and athletics to cross that way."

"Not all of us have bones that are made of jello, Wii. Brawler doesn't have the skills to make it and I'm certain I'm in the camp too. If we sprint we won't take that long… I think."

"We don't know what is happening at the hanger, there could be a nest of deermen right now. We can't sit here and whine about this." The trainer argued.

"You know what? Screw it!" Brawler grumbled to the fitness trainer and frog. "How about we split. You already made your minds and you two are competent in your abilities. You just leap from the trees like a damn monkey and Shulk and I will take the 'longer' route. Sound fair?"

Greninja paused. "We would cover more ground..."

"Good, then get a move on. I better now have to pry those things off of your statue." Brawler said sternly as he jogged down the path.

"Brawler wa-" Shulk sighed. "Just don't slip." He said as he went after the Mii.

Wiit Fit and Greninja climbed the drain pipe attached to the house they were using as cover. On the roof, they have much easier access to the thickness of the trees. "The branches look sturdy enough, but it'll be ideal to stick to the main body." Wii Fit performed some momentary leg exercises and asked her partner. "Ready when you are."

Greninja pumped his knees and took a leap from the very edge of the roof tiling. His skills of the ninja arts were more than enough to grasp and stay in contact with the branch. The trainer followed in the relative path by jumping off. The frog was amused by the colorful hoops going around the woman's waist before disappearing as she gained footing on the branch. He will never understand how being a fitness coach in a previous life translates to flying through the air by hula-hooping.

But now's not the time to get distracted, lest they fall down and attract the horde. Greninja led the way, making calculated landings and jumps within the span of a minute. Only waiting in place for the trainer to catch up.

As the Pokemon continued, he wondered what these trees were still fresh and lively compared to the rest of the plant-life outside of the base. He pressed his hand against the bark more firmly

Ah… fake. The trees they traveled through all along were not real. Must have been a decoration or something, he heard of fake grass and fake Christmas trees but this was taking the cake. He looked closer at the woods to see that some portions of the "bark" were cracked. The metal bars that the fake material was coated on were rusted.

Rust? How much of these trees have been exposed to the natural elements? How many of the branches had become weakened… oh no.

"Look, we're almost halfway there." Wii Fit commented, then landed on the tree across from him. Greninja couldn't warn her in time as she rested her weight against a thoroughly rusted branch, not without raising his voice louder than the buzzing of a fly.

Wii Fit looked at Greninja with absolute dread when the metallic branch finally broke off. The woman almost yelped from the sensation of falling down but the fear of attracting those deer froze her vocal cords to near silence.

She landed on her stomach, no percentage of course, but it hurt nonetheless. Greninja's head immediately snapped to the buffet. Two deermen closest to the forest heard the noise and drew away from their meal to investigate.

Greninja turned back to Wii Fit, who was trying to get back up on her feet. He gave a soft "gree" and waved his arm to gained her attention. She regained her senses, and saw the shadow of antlers coming closer.

"Shit!" Fit whispered, sprint away from the tree she fell from and hid behind another close by. The deermen came and sniffed the area, it didn't matter if they've had a full meal. Meat. They crave it. They need it. If they didn't have a plethora of bodies to chew upon, they would have eaten each other whole.

Greninja witnessed the two monsters creeping along to the spot WiI Fit had fallen on. He hoped they would lose interest and go away but they only kept investigating - approaching the hiding spot of the trainer.

The frog searched for anything that he could use against the deer and found an imitation of a plastic apple attached to the underside of the branch above him. He pulled on the fake fruit. It took some strength out of him but he popped it out of the socket.

He threw the object far away from the deer. They heard and turned to the sound. One left to check but the other persisted.

Wii Fit shivered when raspy breathing and loud stomping came from around the tree. She did see the round object being thrown away from her position, to which she knew Greninja was responsible. If it worked out for him, maybe she can do the same. The trainer silently prayed then materialized a green soccer ball above her head.

She headbutted the ball. The green bouncy sphere was launched further into the darkness. The deerman beside her produced a bloodthirsty snarl and chased after the colorful projectile.

The Newcomer left her hiding spot when it was safe. Another "gree" came from above. She raised her chin and saw Greninja hanging from a large sturdy branch with his legs alone, extending both of his hands far down as he could possibly reach, gesturing her to grab on.

Wii Fit gulped, walked back and got a head start. She did a jump… another jump… got out the hoops and held onto the frog's arms by the wrists. Greninja threw the trainer up onto the metal branch, the woman slightly panicked as she hastily wrapped her arms around the thick piece she was on. Greninja pulled himself back up by his feet and tapped the pale Newcomer on the shoulder.

She raised her chin. She was still trying to understand the Pokemon's language but she understood that his eyes told her all that she needed."

"I'm fine… I'm fine. Thanks for the lift."

Greninja gave a soft "gree", then pointed back down to the floor. The deer monsters were beginning to leave the trees and back to their feast. Wii Fit would have been joyful but then noticed that one of the monster's gripped a shotgun within its paw. He seemed to be carrying around as a tool or toy of some sort.

Wii Fit suddenly realized the load on her back was lighter than usual. She twisted her head behind her back. "Crap, I lost my shotgun. That thing has it." She whispered.

Greninja tapped on her shoulder and silently repeated the words that were on the clipboard. He wrote it while she was regaining her breath. "We can't worry about that… The Newcomers-"

"Yes, they come first." Replied Wii Fit. Brawler was not going to be happy when he found out. "We're almost there… I'll lead this time. I'll try not to fall flat on my ass again."


Sneakily sprinting across behind some more houses, Wii Fit and Greninja accomplished their task of reaching the hanger. A door was opened ajar, giving them the opening they needed.

"Are they still inside?" Wii Fit asked

"I didn't see them leave." Replied the frog. "Unless there is an underground tunnel in there, they should still be inside." Greninja carefully opened the door wider and allowed the trainer to go in first. "Appear friendly, we want these people to think we're not out to cause harm."

Inside the hanger were several crates, and technological do-hickeys attached to the wall. The light bulbs weren't working so the only source of illumination came from the windows. Spotting the two Newcomers was not a problem, they were inspecting a tank placed in the middle of the hanger; touching it, kicking it which opened the hatch.

Their curiosity turned into alertness and surprise when the white haired man caught sight of them. He jumped from the top of the tank and stood in front of the blue haired woman wielding the sword, whispering something too quiet the frog couldn't quite pick up. He did hear him mutter: What in the blazes are these creatures? Is this another dream?"

"They see us." Wii Fit remarked to her partner. "They look happy to see us."

"They're only tensed up. We need to communicate in a calm and orderly manner if we have to get through with them. You'll have to be the speaker, I'll use my clipboard but I don't know how successful that will be."

"Not to mention keeping it silent as a library." Wii Fit gave a quick glance to the door leading to outside. She'd hoped those two wouldn't have much trouble. "Ok, here it goes." She whispered. She and the Pokemon walked closer to the pair in the most non-threatening manner possible.

Wii Fit cleared her throat. "Hi there, I know you have many question-"

"It can speak?" The blue-haired woman whispered to the white-haired man, then repeated the question to the strangers. "You can speak. I have never seen such… unique beings in my entire life. Who are you?"

"My name is Wii Fit and his is Greninja." The trainer jabbed a thumb in the frog's direction; Greninja simply let out a 'ree'. "We would tell you more about ourselves but we're running out of time. We can't let those things notice us."

"Those things?" Spoke white hair, he lowered his sword - crackling with electricity to his thigh. "Are you referring to soldiers?"

"If these soldiers had antlers growing out of their heads and dined on the flesh of the living… then I would say yes."

Understandably, the two warriors were perturbed by her response. After some convincing, the most recent Newcomers followed the two rescuers to a lone alleyway between two buildings - hidden behind a large dumpster.

"This is the thing you're rescuing us from?!" Hushed white hair. "There are so many… I have never seen such beasts before."

"Are they eating… human flesh?" Gagged blue hair.

"The inhabitants of this base." Wii Fit answered. "If you wondered why this place has no people here it is. Don't look at it. You don't want to get scarred for life."

"Robin, this isn't Yisse or Valm, I don't recognize the landscape at all. I think we're on a different continent."

"I think you're right, Lucina. But these things… no this place is too bizarre to foreign… The machines we've found, they were advanced. This is no island in the middle of nowhere." Replied Robin.

"Robin and Lucina, right?" Wii Fit chimed in. "Sorry but we need to leave this place as soon as possible. This place is swarming with these things. I promise we'll explain everything on what's going on."

Robin turned to gaze in Lucina's eyes, to which she gazed back. He spoke softly. "You want us to leave right now? You have a hideout?"

"It's a large mall, it's abandoned but it is safe as much as we can tell." Wii Fit answered.

Robin blinked several times in confusion. "Mall?"

Greninja stepped in and wrote a short sentence on the clipboard. "Large building that sells goods. Think of it as a massive indoor market."

"Yes, but we can't leave right now. There are still two people in our group that have yet to meet with us but they should be coming to our location. Once we all meet up, we'll escort you to our car outside. Well, we might also need to scourge some gas before we book it-"

A loud bang ranged through the frosty terrain of the old military base. The creatures ceased their feast and snapped their heads in unison, an additional smoke cloud rising in the distance beside the other cloud. Many howls assaulted the Smasher's eardrums just before they ran off to the source of the smoke.

When the tension dissipated, Robin knelt behind Wii Fit and congratulated her. "A distraction like that will give us all the time we need to escape. That's a good strategy."

"That's not part of the plan."

"What?"

Wii Fit turned very slowly, terrified beyond hell when she realized that the explosion came from the area that Brawler and Shulk were traveling too.


Hey Guys, I'm planning on making a second story around the next time I post another chapter of Resurgence. It's unrelated to this project and It's solely takes place in the Pokemon universe. Just to let you know. Till next time.