Fight Fire with Fire
Special guest this story is Susan Jarvis.
We stood before a beaten down sign attached to a high fence, topped with coils of barbed wire. The sign proclaimed in bold print; "Magmaville, condemned property, do not enter!".
"What happened here?" I asked. We had just been teleported in by Fenrill, who proclaimed that one of her sisters was here, somewhere. Since her teleportation was not extremely accurate, she had got us on the wrong side of the fence. Kameron pulled out a guidebook to the area in general. In a sling about my chest, the baby Floreevee snored contentedly. She was down to feeds every five hours now and I was starting to feel somewhat saner. I had made the sling to carry her about though, because she was too young to keep in a Pokeball. Maki sat on my shoulder and chittered to Kiki, who was in Kameron's trench coat pocket.
He flipped through the guide book. "Magmaville," he recited, "a small mountain top village that used to be famed for its fire pokemon, magma powered electricity and mining. Unfortunately, twenty years ago, it was discovered that underneath the village was riddled with tunnels, which were filled with lava. Sometimes, these would crack through the ground and spill hot lava into the environment. A young boy, digging in his backyard, found one of these tunnels and the seering steam killed him. Pretty…" He added. "After that, whole families left town and five years ago, the cracks got bigger and it was too dangerous for anyone to live here anymore so the place was condemned, and encased in a high fence. So, we're here for the Fire Mew then?" He asked.
"My sister of the deserts, yes," Fenrill explained, "but I know not why she is here. Let us move to the far side of the fence!" The purple light surrounded us and we were teleported into the village.
Magmaville was one of the strangest ghost towns I have ever seen – the houses stared as us from windows, like empty eyesockets, and the ground was riddled with cracks, the grass browned or gone altogether. Through the cracks small gouts of steam billowed. Azriel, who was bounded beside us, yelped as the hot dirt burned his paws and Kameron hastily picked him up, putting him into his other pocket. Azriel was not very big, as far as Eevees went.
"Lovely place," he said wryfully. "Do you have any idea where your friend is?"
Fenrill sniffed the air. Everything smelt hot, almost dizzying. She nodded. "She is somewhere over that direction," a small pink bubble appeared above her head and she batted it aside with her tail, doing a little somersault.
"Then let's head that way, I don't want to stay in this hell hole any longer than is humanely possible!"
"Aw, I thought we might be able to catch some neat Fire Pokemon," Kameron quipped. "Owww!" I'd hit him in the arm.
"We find her, we leave," I replied, "and that is that!"
The Mew rested on my head, her long tail dangling down my back and we continued further into the abandoned township. Everything was still and quiet, aside from the occasional gust of steam, or small explosion. Maki clung tightly to my shoulder, whimpering slightly. I'd never seen the Makimur scared before. This certainly was a strange place.
Suddenly Fenrill somersaulted off my head and bounced onto the ground, where she picked up something in her short little arms. It was a cap, a baseball cap.
There was an "R" on it.
"Uh oh," I muttered.
"Ma ki!" Maki agreed.
Kameron frowned at the cap. "Definitely a Team Rocket one," he said, confirming my fears. "And probably not been here too long either, judging by the fact that it isn't scorched around the edges. That means there's probably someone else here."
"They're after my sister!" Fenrill sounded almost desperate. "We must make haste, hurry, and go fast!"
"Maki," the Makimur urged us on. Fenrill darted along the road, bouncing off little pink bubbles she created on the way. We followed, more carefully. The ground was hot, even through our footwear. The baby Floreevee, named Flora, snorted in her sleep. I would have to stop and feed her soon. At least it would not be hard to warm the milk! As we rushed along, my foot caught in a crack in the road and I stumbled, falling over. I barely managed to twist in time so that I did not crush the baby in the sling about me. An explosion of pain shot up my leg and I clenched my teeth with the agony. Fenrill, darting ahead, appeared not to notice, but Kameron certainly did. He whirled around, putting out his hand to me.
The ground fairly burnt me, it felt like I had fallen on a hotplate. My foot itself, caught in the crack, felt almost as though it were on fire. Gratefully, I took Kameron's hand and he dragged me to my feet. My ankle still hurt, but at least the ground no longer scalded me. The palms of my hands were bright red, and burned.
Kameron acted fast, "Marrill," he called out his water pokemon (since I had none with me), "cool down her hands now!" The little blue ball Pokemon did not even pause, merely acted on his command, spraying my hands, my forearms, Maki (who was inspecting the damage) and Flora with water.
At least the pain subsided.
"What's keeping you," Fenrill came bouncing back.
Kameron looked at her. "Kat fell and burnt her hands," he said, "if you weren't making us go so fast it wouldn't have happened!"
"We must find my sister," the swamp Mew seemed urgent. "Please, before the bad people get her."
I had though Mews were all fun and playful, but I was starting to wonder now.
Staggering slightly, leaning on Kameron for support, we followed Fenrill, who was moving much slower now, thankfully. She seemed to realise that I was in pain and speed would not help. And then Maki found something else.
He bounced down from my shoulder, picking it up and bouncing back before his paws burnt. It was a Pokeball, or the shattered remains of one. It appeared to have been stepped on.
"Something very wrong is happening here," Kameron said slowly.
I had to agree.
Maki tugged urgently on my hair. "Maki kiki kimur makimur!" He insisted.
"What is it?" Kameron queried.
I smiled, for I now could understand almost perfectly. "The hat and the ball smell different," I said, "there are two people here."
"Hrm," Kameron pondered, "well, I hope they're not both trying to capture the Mew!"
"I'll show them what for if they are!" Fenrill agreed, chasing her tail. She lowered her huge ears.
"Well, onwards and forwards?" Kameron suggested. My feet were becoming quite hot, I was glad to keep moving.
Around us the empty husks of houses gazed at us. They seemed sad, lost without anything inside them. Many had been reduced to nothing more than piles of ash. We had not travelled far when we came to a gaping crevasse. It was only about three feet across, but steam poured from it and in its dark depths we could see flames.
"I really don't like this place!" I stated, somewhat unnecessarily.
Kameron nodded in agreement. "We have to jump across," he said forlornly.
"You can jump, but I can't!" I pointed out. "My ankle will never stand it."
"Mew!" Fenrill shrieked at us in exasperation. She zipped back, bounced off a bubble and grabbed my arm. A moment later we were on the other side.
"Oh yeah, I forgot she could do that," Kameron muttered, shame-faced.
And then I saw it. And I knew, somehow, that was where we had to go. A manhole, open in the middle of the road, steam wafting from it. Fenrill knew it too, she was already hovering over it, doing delighted little flips in the air.
"You know, I'm sure the sewer system here is really unpleasant," Kameron muttered.
"At least there'll be no Grimers or Muk," I pointed out. Kameron knew how much I hated the pollution Pokemon. We leaned over the manhole, feeling the hot air on our faces, it was highly unpleasant, but not uncomfortable, like being in a sauna.
"Mew, mew mew!" Fenrill insisted. She looped downwards. Why she'd given up her telepathy for Pokemon-speak I couldn't understand.
"I'll go first," I said, making sure Flora was comfortable in her sling. This was not the place to carry a baby. After a moment's pause I brought out an empty Pokeball. I didn't like incarcerating her, but in such conditions, it was a lot safer! "Flora return!" I scooped her up and placed her ball carefully on my belt. Now at least she wouldn't need a feed for another hour or so, but I hated the balls, I really did. "Maki, do you want to go safely away?"
"Maki," he shook his head.
"Very well." This journey I'd brought only he, Fenrill and Flora with me. Ozmos and Florion were of course otherwise occupied with their pups, and Dragosi had his eyes on one of the student's Charizards… And Chiko, well, she was baby-sitting. Kameron had brought Azriel, Marrill, Shadeon and Kiki, leaving Dancer and Shrubslash behind. Those two were happiest in the gardens at the University, much happier than wandering around lava.
I wrapped scraps of cloth around my hands (mental note, always carry old clothes with you when you travel, it saves wear and tear on your skin!) and made my way onto the first rung. Naturally, it was hot, and I was forced to grit my teeth against the pain from my already scalded hands. Times like this I wished I could heal myself. Luckily it was only a few steps down and then I was standing beside the sewer canal. There was water here, amazingly. But it was steaming. The Mew flipped down beside me.
"You are doing well," she said, "I trust you are not badly hurt?"
"I'll be fine," I replied, "after a rest, some water and a cold bath!"
"Ouch, ouch ouch," muttered Kameron as he climbed down after me. And he was wearing gloves too, the wuss!
And then we stood at the edge of the canal, in which the water steamed. One was lead into a glowing red light, probably magma, and the other lead into cool refreshing darkness. The canal was not very artistic, Magmaville was a small town and didn't need a sewage system with arching roofs. I thought I heard hissing around the place, but whether it was steam escaping from various vents or wild Pokemon, I could not even guess. We hadn't seen one wild Pokemon yet.
Fenrill did a somersault and looped off down the tunnel, thankfully, that led into darkness. We followed after her.
A splashing sound made me turn my head, but I could see nothing, probably just something falling into the canal.
It was hot in here, so hot that it was almost suffocating. Kameron removed his undershirt and put his trench coat back on (surprise surprise) over his otherwise bare chest. I rolled up my sleeves and tied the lower part of my shirt into a knot, so that at least my belly was bare.
We waded through a small drainage ditch, and Kameron pointed out something to us.
"Footprints!"
And indeed, there were footprints, wet footprints, which meant that whomever was ahead of us could not be more than a few minutes away.
"They have small feet," I observed.
Fenrill rolled her eyes. "We're getting closer!" She insisted.
We turned the corner and found whomever it was we were following.
It was a girl, about our age, with shoulder-length brown hair tied in a ponytail. She was standing there, staring sadly at the next obstacle.
I found my eyes drawn to said obstacle, and it was a pretty impressive one indeed.
The tunnel got smaller, very low and steam poured from it, thick steam that would slough the skin from anyone who got to close to it.
It was a substantial obstacle because Fenrill could not help us here, she could not teleport to the end of it, because she had no idea where that was. The steam was starting to make me feel somewhat light-headed, that and the pain in my hands. Azriel jumped from Kameron's pocket and darted over to the girl, who was still unaware of our presence.
"Eevee! Evee!" He said delightedly, dancing around her (to keep his feet off the ground).
"Why, hello there little cutey," she said, "where did you come from? You're no fire Pokemon." Then she turned around and saw us. "Oh, hi, what are you doing here?"
I smiled. "I'm Kataryna," I replied, "and this is Kameron, we're here in search of our companion's sister."
Fenrill did a little loop in the air.
"You too ah?" She asked, gazing at the Mew almost awestruck. "I'd only heard rumours, where did you catch her?"
Fenrill frowned at her. "Mew, mew mew mew!" She said urgently.
"We didn't exactly catch her, when we saved the Lapras she asked us to help her. So we agreed."
"Saved the Lapras?"
"It's a long story," Kameron stated, "and right now we have to go down there. Besides, you haven't even told us your name!"
"Oh, sorry!" The girl seemed unable to look away from the Mew. "My name's Susan. I train Fire Pokemon."
Kameron picked up Azriel again. "We don't train much of anything," he replied wryly, "we seem to get trained by them, now what Fenrill?"
"Mew…" Fenrill pondered then flipped again, landing on her feet outside the entrance to the tunnel. The steam scorched her and she quickly bounced away. "Me-ewww!"
"Bit hot there?" I asked, "could you create a bubble for us to travel in, safely?"
"My bubbles are meant for water and air, which contains water anyway, not for fire," she replied, "they would not last long at all."
"How long?"
She started counting on her fingers and had to recount them several times, "about eight minutes, by my guess," she said.
"What's going on?" Susan asked. Obviously she could not hear the Mew, not the way Kameron and I could.
"We're trying to work out how to get through the tunnel," I replied. "Do you think it would take more than eight minutes to crawl through?"
"I have no idea. Look, I have to go through there, he stole my Pokemon and ran down there!"
"What?? Who?"
"A man, I was searching the town for wild pokemon, and suddenly this man jumped on me from above, and stole my Pokemon. He was gone before I had time to recover, but I saw him jump down this manhole. I followed of course, he'd stolen my team! Only, now I don't know where he's gone, I don't see how he could go down there."
"He could, if he had captured my Sister," Fenrill replied. "She can control the element of fire."
"Hang on," I said, "if she can control the element of fire, you can control the element of water?"
Susan was looking puzzled.
"Certainly," the Mew replied, "But I would have trouble with this water, for it is polluted. It is also not natural."
"But you can try?"
"Please!" Susan urged, "he's stolen my Pokemon!"
"Calm down," Kameron reassured her, "Kat knows what she's doing, she's a dab hand at this sort of thing."
"I would guess so, yes."
"Then Fenrill, flood that tunnel!"
"What???" From Susan.
"What?!" From Kameron.
"Me-EWWW!" Fenrill let forth an almighty screech, like a cat in a fight. The water from the canal suddenly became like a living thing, spraying into the air, but not in a random fountain, this one had purpose. Like a giant hand, the water rose from the sewer canal and fired straight into the steam-filled pipe. There was an almighty hiss as the cooler water hit the hot air. Kameron grabbed me as water exploded around us. Susan screamed. And suddenly we were surrounded in purple light, Fenrill's protective bubble.
"WHAT IN THE GOD'S NAME WAS THAT!" Susan seemed alarmed. Understandably. She hadn't been around us long enough to know how frequently strange things happened.
"We must crawl through the tunnel now," the Mew insisted, "we have about ten minutes, no more!"
"I'll explain everything later," Kameron informed the girl, "but for now, we crawl! As fast as you can! I'll go first," he added bravely.
Still remaining in the protective bubble, we began to crawl into the dark tunnel.
It was still hot, and Maki and Kiki were whimpering and frightened. Azriel, on the other paw, seemed to find the whole thing quite entertaining. But he wouldn, wouldn't he? I would not have been surprised if we got a Flareon out of this. After all, Azriel had been a Flareon when we'd first met him (Remember the Flareon Shadeon devolved?).
The air started to get stifling within the pink bubble and Fenrill was "mew-ing" at us to move faster, to get where we were going. The pain was getting almost unbearable from my hands, which were starting to bleed now from the burns I had gained earlier. And suddenly, the bubble gave way, vanishing with a "pop".
Immediately, hot steam pushed past us, making us all choke on the boiling fumes. My throat felt raw with pain. And then the bubble appeared again.
"Um, sorry," Fenrill said. "But, well, something appears to be affecting my powers."
"Oh damn, that's all we need!" Kameron expressed my thoughts fluently.
And then we saw light. Golden light, not red fire light. Biting my lip I crawled furiously towards it, and we all saw what it was.
A large chamber complete with built in molten lava pit.
And something stirred in the lava. Something human sized.
At first I thought they had fallen in the lava and died, but that could not be right, for anything falling in there would be reduced instantly to nothingness. No, this person seemed wholly unaffected by it. We couldn't back out now, there was nowhere to go backwards to.
But looking up, I saw a circlet of light, high above us.
"So you have come to pay me a visit?" The figure engulfed in lava boomed, pulling itself to the ledge around the side as though it were climbing out of a swimming pool. It was male, quite definitely and naked, his hair completely scorched off. Small tongues of flame licked across his bald head and entwined lovingly about his shoulders.
It was then with a shock, that I noticed the two bright blue eyes, shining like sapphires. And I recognised him.
"Loki!" Kameron shrieked, a step ahead of me. "What the hell are you doing here? What the hell are you doing?"
Loki grinned mischievously. "I'm going to be a god." He said slyly. "Once I have caught all the Mews and stolen their souls, I shall be more powerful than any pokemon that ever lived. You shall bow down and worship me!"
He threw back his head and cackled.
"My Pokemon, what about my Pokemon?"
"Oh, those pitiful things," he smirked, "of no use to me whatsoever, I merely stole them for some entertainment, and perhaps so that someone would watch my rebirth as the God of Fire. I'm sure you'll find them somewhere. Those that haven't turned to ash that it." He cackled.
Fenrill somersaulted through the air, bouncing off bubbles and hovered before the pale man with his flaming hair and manic blue eyes.
"WHAT ABOUT MY SISTER!" She shrieked.
He rose one hand and a blast of fire sent the Mew tumbling backwards, almost into the lava, but she managed to catch herself just in time, floating upwards.
"She's a part of me now," he said, "but if you want her helpless shell, it's over there." He pointed to a ledge far out above the fire. "But right now, my little friend, I believe you have something I require!"
Another fireball, bigger than the last, a blast of flaming sulphur, erupted from both hands, and straight towards us. We had nowhere to escape to, nowhere to retreat to. The tunnel behind us was filled with steam, and below us was flaming lava that would melt us in mere moments. Kameron wrapped his arms around me, as though that could protect me from the fireball.
And something else erupted from the magma.
"Charrrr!" The huge dragon Pokemon shrieked, as it flapped its mighty wings, sending the fireball spraying into the lava.
"Charizard!" Susan shrieked delightedly, "you're alive!"
Loki smiled slyly. "But not for long," he said. "Not for long at all." Tendrils of flame leapt form his fingertips, entwining themselves about Fenrill, who was still dazed from her near-death experience. He drew her towards him.
"No!" I shrieked, wishing I had brought Dragosi with me.
"Maki makiMUR!" Maki shrieked, and Kiki joined in, the two of them making a cacophanous racket that seemed incapable of coming from something so small.
Loki glanced away for a moment, he still didn't know what the two Makimur were capable of, still was a little in awe of them. And Fenrill and Charizard reacted.
A purple bubble formed around Loki, just as a blast of hot air from the dragon pushed him upwards and into the air currents. He disappeared through the hole in the ceiling. Flaming pieces of rubble fell in his wake.
The Charizard hovered before us somehow, staring straight at Susan.
"Char charrr!" It declared.
"Where are the other's?" the girl asked, furiously glancing around.
"Chaaar!" It replied.
She sighed. "I wish I could understand it properly," Susan muttered.
I smile. "She says they're on the ledge with the Mew – they're still in their balls, her ball fell in the lava."
"You can understand it?!" She sounded incredulous.
"My Kat's amazing," Kameron replied, grinning. "But can you carry us over there, Charizard?"
"Zarrr!" She lowered her head so that we could clamber onto her broad back and she flapped across to the other side. There lay the Pokeballs, a discarded heap of them, four in total. And also there lay the Mew. She was in a bad way. She had more white in her then Fenrill and was curled up in a ball, whimpering.
Fenrill landed beside her and placed one paw on her. "Sister?" She enquired.
"Mew…" The Cat Pokemon whimpered. Susan picked it up gently, a step ahead of me. She cradled the little pink-white creature to her chest. It's tail flickered with a tiny flame, not unlike that of a Charmandar's.
"Poor wee mite," she said.
"Mew," it whimpered and started sucking on her finger. She stroked its head.
"What do we do now?"
"We must find the other ones." She informed us, "and stop that varmint that you call Loki, but first, we must get my sister safe."
"Agreed!" I said, "then back to Siryntown, is it? Do you want to come with us Susan?"
Still cradling the injured Mew, Susan's Charizard scooped up her pokeballs in one claw.
"Yes please," she said, "I've never been there, but this place is getting too hot to handle! I think a breadk would do me good." She looked at the poor Legendary Pokemon. "Besides, I want to help this girl get well."
"Mew!"
"I think she will make a good guardian," Fenrill stated, and then smiled slyly. "Would you like to look after my sister for me, Susan?"
Susan stared at her, amazed at the suggestion and the fact that she could suddenly understand the Mew. "Would I ever! I'll keep her safe from all harm and treat her with the respect she deserves."
Fenrill did a little loop in the air in joy. "Then it is agreed."
And so Susan was nominated guardian of the Desert Mew, and Kameron and I, after a quick trip home to have a cold shower, set off again, in search of the five other sisters and to stop the evil that was Loki.