I'm being hit with a writer's block lately... Hopefully this chapter still meets what you expect from my writing!
Chapter thirty-five: The Seventieth Floor
There was a lounge with a glass table, carpet, and sofas that seemed appropriate for socialising. Lining up the walls were bookcases and, past the lounge, the hallway leading to offices throughout the floor and cubicles with computer desktops. And of course, the elevator. Eclipse guessed this was designed to carry out day-to-day functions of the PRU on behalf of the respective region. There were also private offices throughout the floor too. Eclipse walked in the hallway cautiously, knowing that Sird must be waiting to attack her at some point. Using Heartbeat Heartbreak, she detected the single life form that had to be Sird, located further in. Following the radar that led her to an office on the far end of the floor.
Purugly followed her just as cautiously, on the lookout for the slightest hint of suspicion. Surprisingly, there was no one else on this floor, but then again, the PRU hadn't been formalised yet. Perhaps after the General Assembly, the floor might be busy with workers, but not today.
But that didn't make sense. As far as Eclipse was concerned, Fiera had each floor taken hostage and were about to dump Corrosive Gas into the ventilation system. It didn't make sense to Eclipse why this particular floor was empty and had no people were being taken hostage here. Unless… unless this was the floor that Fiera had infiltrated the tower with.
And if they controlled this floor…
CRASH
"What the-?!" Eclipse muttered.
The door adjacent to her was smashed down and there was Sird's Audino in its mega-evolved form. Eclipse was immediately struck by the side, winding her and forcing her down. Once Eclipse caught her breath, she saw Sird's Audino repeatedly hitting Purugly in the corner until Purugly collapsed.
Getting back to her feet, Eclipse knew she was no match for Sird's Audino upfront. Purugly might was down, and clearly the odds were against Eclipse. The GameFreak DS Lite had fallen to the floor, so as she picked herself up, she also picked up the console. Analysing the situation, Eclipse took her Poké Ball and recalled Purugly quickly. And when that happened, Sird's Audino focused its attention on her.
That was also Eclipse's cue to run for it. She had one chance to get away, so she took out the blue Great Ball and hurled it at the Pokémon. The Audino was taking it that Eclipse was attempting a capture and knew it wouldn't work, but the Great Ball exploded with a 'poof' and a smoky cloud filled the hallway. Not enough to set off fire alarms though. Running through the hallway, Eclipse dashed for the office where the last life form was detected on the GameFreak.
Where did you go… Eclipse thought, as she made a quick search of the rooms.
But she didn't have to go far because Sird found her first, or was waiting for her. Eclipse was ambushed when she stepped into one of the offices, and Sird had immediately brought a chokehold on Eclipse's neck when she arrived. Struggling for air, with her own hands trying to free Sird's grip on her neck, Eclipse brought an elbow backward repeatedly. She made contact with Sird's head, and within moments, she was free.
Turning around, Eclipse brought a forward kick to force Sird out of the office and back to the hallway. Knowing she didn't have time before Sird's Audino would catch up, Eclipse led Sird further down the hall and exchanged fists and swipes. Facing each other in the hallway, Sird went straight for Eclipse's neck and successfully did so. Then Sird smashed Eclipse's head to the wall, sending shockwaves through Eclipse's brain and making her dizzy.
A feeling of anger welled up in Eclipse's head too. Closing her eyes, not relying on sight, Eclipse went to attack wildly under her head stopped spinning. It was a desperate move, as she knew she was dealing with a killer, but it sure beat staying put and getting killed on the spot. As swiftly as she could, she felt Sird grab her arms and Eclipse returned the attack by lunging at Sird's body. As a result, she forced Sird to the wall to wind her.
They traded blows to each other's arms and bodies. Eclipse tried jabbing right at Sird while SIrd deflected the blows. It seemed to be an even match, with a killer standing off against a former criminal-turned-IP agent. Breathing was short. They grabbed onto each other's arms trying to overpower and throw the other down. Then once they separated in the hallway, Sird was first to attack, though it was easily blocked by Eclipse's arm.
Then Eclipse, during one block, caught onto Sird's arm.
Using that to her advantage, Eclipse descended into criminal mental state to coldly throw Sird to the floor. Winding Sird once more, Eclipse relentlessly stomped on Sird and threw more punches while Sird was down.
Some part of Eclipse's mind was actually enjoying this, as if she was back to her criminal ways, but it was not to last for too long.
Sird's Audino had cleared the smoke and had resumed its rampage. It struck Eclipse to the side with full force, sending her flying down the hallway and on the floor.
"Argh!" Eclipse groaned.
Eclipse didn't know how much more she could physically take. Was this how her life would end? By an Audino crushing her? Not today, Eclipse thought. She used the momentum of her fall to roll and get back on her feet to face the Audino. But then again, Eclipse was on her own.
Her breathing was short as she faced the mega-evolved Audino head on. It was practically a faceoff against certain death for Eclipse, but she did what she could, throwing fists and kicks at the Audino to keep it at bay. Frankly, Sird's Audino wasn't that heavy either and that allowed Eclipse to send it backward. Then her focus went to look for Sird once more, but that wasn't to last as the Audino was continuing its relentless attack on Eclipse.
And Eclipse suffered another blow to her side as a result, which sent shock waves through her body. This second blow left Eclipse unable to stand up immediately. By the time her head cleared, Eclipse saw Sird's Audino only two paces away ready to crush her for good.
"Croagunk!" a man's voice shouted. "Poison Jab!"
A Croagunk quickly appeared out of nowhere, at least where Eclipse was concerned, and attacked the Audino. Distracted, Sird's Audino turned its attention to retaliate against Croagunk but was soon met with Looker. While Eclipse was relieved and worried at the same time for Looker, Looker had moved fast. He tackled the Audino while also wrenching the pink stone in its possession. Still dizzied, Eclipse tried sitting up and saw the Audino had returned to its regular form.
"Poison Jab again!" Looker ordered.
The fighting continued with Croagunk battling the powered down Audino. Groaning, Eclipse got to her feet with a sense of relief. Backup was here. It was only a matter of time before the Audino was dealt with, so all that remained was Sird. She had to catch her breath first and then went to check on Purugly. Eclipse was not going to let Purugly get harmed like this again, so she took the Poké Ball and recalled the tiger cat to get whatever rest she could.
Now where did Sird run off to? Eclipse caught her breath and stumbled through the offices and hallway while the fighting was ongoing behind her. She couldn't let Sird get away… Certainly not now. The thought of failing was too much to bear. Sird couldn't have gone for the elevator or the stairs at this point – there had to be a reason she was on this floor, right?
After scanning through the rooms, she eventually found Sird in one of the offices with a view of the Unova coast and Castelia City across the water. Her back was turned to Eclipse, as if she were expected. And frankly, Eclipse knew, there was no point of an ambush. Sird knew she would be found here anyway.
"You know, I'm impressed that the International Police would take to recruiting a former criminal like you, Mars. To think you would have gotten this far…" Sird said, before turning to face Eclipse with a sinister grin.
Eclipse glared at Sird. "It's over, Sird. The tower is being secured. You and Fiera have failed. So much as you tried to blow up Unova… There's not much more you can do."
Eclipse wasn't bluffing. She knew that at this rate, the tower would be overrun by Icirrus and the counter-terrorist team floor by floor. And Essentia should have done most of the work anyway. But to Eclipse surprise, Sird was unfazed.
Instead, Sird's lips curled into that ugly grin of hers. The same one she used to break Eclipse back at the hideout.
"You're not smart, Mars. I was just a diversion. And now, in only a few more moments, Unova will collapse before your eyes."
She smashed the window to bits, exposing the office to the outside air.
Eclipse understood what was going on. Her eyes widened. "Don't tell me…"
"That thermal fusion reactor? You overlooked something, yes. It was hidden below the tower at the bottom level the whole time, and was powering the tower, after all. What will you do now? Your Kangaskhan may be in danger at this point," Sird taunted.
Eclipse blinked. "Then… what you meant by the detonator at the top…?"
"You are a sharp listener in Nacrene, weren't you? It's only a timed detonator, Mars, but the countdown has already begun. It's perfect timing, you know."
Over a hundred floors below, Essentia had completed most of her sweep of the tower floors and had made immediate haste for the bottom floor. She could hear fighting ongoing and knew that you-know-what had to be around. Why else would there be fighting and security didn't know about it?
At the bottom floor, she saw flashes of light which signalled the use of Pokémon moves. Upon moving closer, with Malamar by her side, Essentia cautiously but quickly moved in to investigate. She could hear blows being traded and the flash of psychic energy being used. Expecting hostility, she went in to the room where the fighting was – there had to be one ally at least.
And on walking in, she first felt the blast of heat that Eclipse had warned about earlier. She saw Kangaskhan and Bronzor – the only ones that could only belong to Eclipse – facing off against a mega evolved Lopunny. It appeared Kangaskhan's child had grown a little and was fighting independently, which steeled Kangaskhan's resolve even more. Bronzor was lying on the floor, beaten, and behind Lopunny were the you-know-what agents!
But something was wrong, because Kangaskhan was in a rampage. Essentia recognised it as a Pokémon being in a confused state, and with Kangaskhan in this form, she would be very dangerous. Worse yet, despite Kangaskhan in her confused and rampaging state, the Lopunny was getting the best of her. Essentia thought, that meant the Lopunny was very powerful.
"Malamar! Go back Kangaskhan up!" Essentia ordered. "Bronzor, fall back!" Then she used the power of the Expansion Suit to increase of agility and strength to launch herself at the you-know-what agents. She had to beat them down, in which she succeeded taking down the first two agents, and thanks to the power of the suit, Essentia could dispose of the agents quickly. Now all that was left was to deal with the Pokémon…
Except the source of the heat on the floor caught her attention.
The height of a desk, plugged into the tower's power grid, and a source of energy that radiated a red glow except for its core, which was like looking at a star. It was the thermal fusion reactor. Frankly, it was smaller than she expected. It made Essentia wonder how such a compact weapon with all its energy and the Formula R compound was capable of leveling half of Unova.
No way, Essentia thought. Getting to her radio, she barked, "I've found the thermal fusion reactor! It's below the tower!"
But as soon as she made the report, Essentia heard a noise like whirring. Looking at the thermal fusion reactor, the wall beside it began to shift sideways, like a sliding door. The light of day flooded the floor and it became apparent that it was leading to outside. What Essentia saw at first was the blue waters of the Unova coast, easily visible since Unity Tower was surrounded by water.
And an airship.
What Essentia saw second was a contingent of Fiera assassins, armed to the teeth with knives and daggers, standing on the loading bay of the airship. There were probably about twenty of them. The moment Essentia saw the weapons, she reacted immediately. First by throwing a pre-emptive strike at their legs to level some of them down, then went for those closest to her who would be in harms way. Behind her, it appeared Kangaskhan had recovered from her confusion and continued fighting the Lopunny with her child.
Yet as Essentia started fighting and the struggle ensued, a fraction of the contingent rushed past her and attended to the reactor. They expertly dismantled the reactor, separated it from the power grid, and all in the span of minutes. Had Essentia had more time, she would have realised the reactor was easily moveable as if it were moving a box, and it wasn't heavy. Rather, it was the material generating in the reactor that was worrisome, and the reactor was still active even when disconnected.
And by the time Essentia had taken down two more assassins, narrowly missing a fatal stabbing from one of them, she realised too late that the reactor had been hastily onloaded to the airship. Within moments, simultaneously, the assassins had retreated to the airship and the ship took off. Whatever assassin that had been knocked out had been dragged away by Bronzor.
With this many people to deal with and with time running out, Essentia sent out Crobat. There was really only one thing for it right now. And Bronzor went along with Crobat just in case.
Still on the seventieth floor, with a shattered window and wind blowing into the office, Eclipse really wanted to take Sird down right now. But she was hesitant. Looker was still fighting Sird's Audino, and what else could Sird possibly be up to?
"The thermal fusion reactor will be dropped onto the Nealcoda energy project hidden near the proposed settlement of Route 4," Sird said. "Is that enough for you? I'm sure your allies are already doing their best, but don't worry, Mars. They'll only become mere casualties of Project Fusion. The clock is already ticking."
Before Eclipse could say another word, Sird pulled out a Poké Ball and recalled her Audino. What was happening now? Did Looker lose? Or could Sird be planning something else? Or could she be giving up already?
Looker reappeared by Eclipse's side shortly after, looking beaten. "Giving up already, Sird? That sounds like someone I know." He glanced at Eclipse, who shot Looker an annoyed glare. For the first time in a while, Looker wore a smile, although a weak one.
Still, Sird shook her head, smiling her evil grin. "I told Mars already. You two are not smart. But don't worry. So long as you're standing here, you'll get a nice view of the devastation to come."
Eclipse thought Sird meant an explosion was going to happen the next moment, but instead, Sird turned around and jumped out the window. That sent feelings of shock through Eclipse and Looker both. What was Sird doing?! But as they ran to the window's edge, they understood what happened.
Sird had caught onto an airship's loading bay that had just taken off from the water below! And moreover, it seemed that she had some help from the you-know-what agents that were inside it.
And I thought this was supposed to be a no-fly zone, Eclipse thought.
Speaking of flying, a certain Crobat that was none other than Essentia's had showed up on the space near the window. Then there was Bronzor! At first, Eclipse was surprised that they had showed up here, but given the circumstances, she knew what to do. First, she recalled Purugly and Bronzor into the Poké Balls, and then nodded to Crobat.
"Looker. Go to Route 4 and get a squad there," Eclipse ordered. "Near the proposed site!"
"But that's suicide! The reactor will blow there anyway!" Looker protested.
And on the plus side, Sird told Eclipse more than she should have.
"They're going to drop the other reactor on there anyway," Eclipse replied. "No time to argue. Get a team there to the Nealcoda project and follow that airship. I… I'll see you there."
Before Looker could say another word, Eclipse grabbed onto Crobat's legs, where Crobat then took off in pursuit of the airship. From Looker's view, Crobat would catch up with the airship in no time. After all, Crobat were known to be very quick, and at this rate, Looker wouldn't be feeling very useful. He requested help from his contacts with the police. "I'll need reinforcements to Route 4. Eclipse is tracking the fusion reactor to there."
Then he made his way downstairs to meet the police team outside.