Chapter 56
Eye of the Storm
"It's just over this ridge" Lana explained as everyone followed behind her.
Soon enough the 4 explorers arrived on the ridge, and sure enough on the horizon was Mount Spire.
"Long climb, fun" Blaze scoffed sarcastically when looking at the mountain.
Tesla laughed and said, "where's your joy for adventure?"
Blaze gave Tesla an annoyed look and replied "adventure or not we've been trekking up here for three days, I'm not exactly optimistic about pushing on, why don't we make camp soon"
"I'm with Blaze, whoever is gonna be here, they're powerful, we should rest up so we're ready for a fight" Alex added.
Two hours later the group had set up a campfire, they were nestled in between several small hills, so the chilling wind in this area was luckily a non-factor. Now that they had finished dinner, they were just waiting until it was time to go to bed.
As the four were sitting around the fire, Alexx sighed and said "thanks for allowing me and Blaze to come with you, this is just something I need to do personally"
Tesla cocked his head and asked the former human "Why is that?"
"My instincts have always served me well, at least after Ivan betrayed us...I just have a feeling there are answers on that mountain" Alex explained.
Lana gave a concerned look and asked "answers to what?"
Alex shook his head and replied "Once I learned Temporal Tower didn't break apart by itself, it got me thinking about how I first came to this world"
"What do you mean? Nigel explained everything the night we got back from the future. When you and he were coming back here you got separated in the passage of time, and you became a pokemon because of getting violently thrown out of the tunnel" Blaze reminded him.
"But why did I get thrown from the passage? The three of us came back even closer to Temporal Tower's destruction and we didn't get separated, so it's clearly not because of how time was getting out of whack! WHY doesn't the threat of Lupin and his master SCARE YOU!" Alex questioned.
"I'm sorry, I didn't realize how much this scares you" Blaze apologized as his head hung at his partner snapping, despite most fully evolved Pokémon getting their emotions boosted to maturity automatically, Blaze hadn't completely shaken his timidness, especially against this rare anger form his partner.
Alex gave a shocked look at the infernape and said "hey...don't do that! I'm sorry! I'm not mad at you, I just...just have a lot going through my head"
There was a long silence as both Alex and Blaze were unsure of what to say next before Tesla spoke up with "don't worry you two, friends just fight sometimes, but you're sorry aren't you?"
"yes...I'm sorry," Alex said somberly.
Blaze gave a smile and replied "it's ok, we just can't afford to lose our heads"
Lana pulled out her orb and activated the holographic map, then zoomed in to the North of the Water Continent and sat it down behind her.
The Mawile pointed her hand at a glowing dot on the map saying "we're here, and the mountain is about 5 miles away. We picked a good spot to camp, as from here all the wind flows down from Mount Spire, it's not climbed for a reason. The targets are most likely hiding within the mountain, there are a few caves around the foot of the mountain, and some higher up, so we'll start our search there"
Alex perked up and said "oh that reminds me"
The Fraxure pulled out his expedition orb and said "solo call expedition orb 0022"
A smaller hologram of Paul appeared around the orb, however, the Charizard's image was blue and staticky rather than colored and clear as he held his wing in front of him. He was clearly fighting some intense winds and snow.
Paul looked at his hand in the hologram and asked "Alex...can…..hear...me"
"Yea, we're five miles from Mount Spire, where are you?" Alex asked his fellow former human.
Paul's image was getting even more glitchy as he said "we…...50 miles…. rendezvous…..at frosty forest"
The Charizard's image vanished, it was clear that the conditions were too extreme for a signal to get through.
Alex groaned and said "I'll try again tomorrow, we need to keep track of each other and attack at the same time, we can't risk one site warning the other"
"How could they warn someone halfway across the world?" Blaze questioned.
"Psychic messages, teleporting, may even have something like expedition orbs, it's very likely" Tesla commented.
Alex thought for a moment then realized "wait, I thought Go-Getters and ACT headed their together"
Lana deactivated her orb and mentioned "Paul has some history with a legendary Pokémon in Frosty Forest, probably checking on them to see if they know anything since it's on the way to mount freeze"
"Well, I say we all turn in for the night, wake up at 7 sharp?" Blaze proposed.
Everyone nodded and headed to their tents, Blaze closed his eyes as his flaming mane shrunk, before laying his head down on a special pillow made of Ninetails hair. With how much the multi tailed fire types shed, using that fur to make fireproof pillows was actually a pretty lucrative trade.
As Alex laid down, Blaze sighed and asked "why are you so concerned about your human past? Aren't you happy with your life as a Pokemon?"
"I am….I just feel like I owe it to Nigel and Celebi to stop whoever sabotaged Temporal Tower. They were my best friends before I lost my memories, and they sacrificed everything to save this world, so I need to make sure their sacrifice isn't in vain. If Lupin and his boss get there way, they died for nothing" Alex felt weird talking about Nigel and Celebi as friends, after all, he only had about a month's worth of memories with Nigel, half of which was when he was hunting him down, and he only was around Celebi for an hour or two. There was just a nagging familiarity that his amnesia hadn't taken from him.
Alex didn't even remember when he fell asleep…
Alex was standing on the stone walkway to Temporal Tower, as he looked up the tower shook and collapsed, floor by floor. Much to his horror, he saw Blaze's lifeless body in the rubble.
Alex ran up to his partner and shoved enough rubble off to see his entire body, which was crushed paper-thin from the waist down. Around the Fraxure, the sky darkened as everything froze around him, in a flash the dark future had arrived.
"No...NO this can't be real!" Alex sobbed as he kneeled over his partner's corpse, just then he heard a voice behind him.
"Your life is tied to this calamity, you only exist because this happened" Cresselia explained.
Alex turned his eyes to the lunar pokemon a few feet down the path and asked "WHY! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS!"
Cresselia shook her head and stated "I have done nothing, this world will fall to ruin because of you and you alone"
"This isn't real, This ISN'T" REAL!" Alex screamed to himself as Cresselia came closer until she was hovering right in front of him.
Cressila's eyes glowed blue as she lifted Alex up to look at her face to face saying "You must not exist in this world, or this will be your reality, the only solution is to end your life! Whether someone kills you or you do the deed yourself, only then can peace be assured"
Alex shook his head and defiantly said "NO! I would never do that to Blaze, not to mention Paul and all the other people who care about me!"
Cresselia gave a sinister chuckle as her voice slightly distorited saying "fight it as much as you wish, but there is only one solution, much like your fate at Temporal Tower, accept the inevitable. Your dreaming if you think you have any chance of existing peacefully in this world, and you need to wake up!"
Alex snapped awake as he realized he was not in the tent anymore, but in a horrifyingly familiar situation. Looking to the side he saw Lana, Tesla, and Blaze all trussed up to massive pillars, this was the room where Ivan and the Sableye tried to execute him!
"This is a dream, this is a dream!" Alex shouted, causing the other three pokemon to wake up.
"Alex, this isn't a dream, they ambushed camp when I was the only one awake. I need you in the here and now!" Tesla demanded, knowing this was a life or death situation.
Blaze gasped as he took in their surroundings and said "Alex, is this…"
On cue, the two massive stone doors at the other end opened as Lupin entered with four pokemon behind him. His black robes still obscuring his appearance aside from burning red eyes.
"It most certainly is the stockade you remember, give or take 150 years, fitting that it is the place where you die" the robed pokemon confirmed as the four explorers sized up their execution squad.
They were four, tall bipedal, with rounded, red, and black heads, similar to a war helmet, topped with a golden, double-headed axe blade. Their faces were primarily yellow with a black outline. The helmet shrouded most of their yellow-and-black face, although their triangular eyes were visible. Resembling shoulder pads, the Bisharps red shoulders projected slightly over their arms and had a thin yellow line where they met their black torsos. They had white, metallic hands that resembled gloves, with retractable blades attached. Encircling their torsos were two blades, which created the impression of a ribcage. Their thighs were red and become progressively thinner as they connect to the knee. All of their feet were metallic and split down the middle, resembling cloven hooves.
Lupin gave an icy laugh and ordered "Bisharps, take your positions, and gut them!"
Author's Notes- Didn't finish ending in time so sorry for the gap today, this is the more natural place to end the chapter
1. Fans of Red Rescue Team will know who Paul's friend at Frosty Forest is...
2. I've decided to finish this story then finish 12 hours, after that I'll finally make the sequel to RWBY Distortion, I am quite suprised on how well it was received
3. one more chapter, then the Federation Team Council wil appear, so last chance for submissions.
Leave a review, this story is about 80% done!
