Part Nine: In Hot Pursuit

"Hold on, mates! We're not outta this one yet!" Captain Thatcher burst into the room, giving a hasty announcement that only added to the fear felt across the small room. They had already escaped from death once and were sure that they were safe, but it seemed as if Team Rocket had more tenacity than originally thought. Wounded, weary, and staggering from their first failed attempt, the group of nine followed the ship's commanding officer to the bridge, where they saw something that set their hearts frozen.

An entire score of Team Rocket helicopters, twenty strong, were already flying after them, their guns rattling off in a mad attempt to destroy the ship and its rebellious crew once and for all. James and Jessie had never known their former organization to be so ruthless and persistent, especially whenever the opposing side was running away, but they just assumed that they wanted to finish the job.

"Persistent brutes, aren't you?!" snapped Jessie angrily. "Hmph… these freaks look like trouble!"

"They're more than trouble, Jess…" hissed James as he braced himself for a second battle. "These freaks of yours don't want us running away, they want us to die. It's not enough that we're beaten; we have to be slaughtered as well!"

"There'll be no slaughterin' while I'm Captain of this ship!" shouted Thatcher, growling angrily. "Bah, come and get me, ya flying Rocket rats!!! Joyleen!"

"Y-yes, sir!"

"Take the wounded to wherever they need to go! Lenneth, you go with'er! I'm gonna need the rest of you to come to the bridge with me!" The two women understood and helped carry Brock and Jennifer to the ship's clinic, while everyone else followed the crimson Captain. As the Dreadnaught buckled from the assault of dozens of stinging bullets, everyone braced themselves carefully for the unexpected turbulence. Thatcher, stubborn to his final heartbeat, continued to run to the bridge, already barking out orders.

"He certainly has courage," commented Misty. Ash agreed, and followed her to the bridge with Gary, James, and Jessie on his tail. Suddenly, the Captain took a sharp turn in the direction away from the bridge, confusing everybody with his random action.

"Gotta fix the thrusters!" he yelled. "Ship's movin' too slow! Somethin's wrong! You all go to the bridge and hold'er steady! Ain't nothin' to it, now go!" Before they could make an objection, he was already gone, leaving them little choice but to go on without him.

Confused but determined, Misty burst into the bridge first, gathering the attention of the navigation crew with a single stare.

"We're under attack!" she shouted, as if they didn't know already. "And the Captain wanted us to help steer the ship!"

"He must be repairing the thrusters if that's the case," muttered the chief navigator. Misty gave the older boy a confused look.

"Huh? How did you know that?"

"The ship's much slower than usual, and only he's crazy enough to try and fix it while the blasted thing's moving. Thanks for telling us that; we'll take it from here! Just hang on!" With that, the navigator temporarily took control of the Euphrates, guiding it to the best path of escape while Rocket's helicopters were still after them. Misty looked worried, but a simple smile from Gary assured her.

"Don't worry, they know what they're doing! Now hurry up and fasten your safety belts! It's gonna be a bumpy ride! Hey, I always wanted to say that!" Misty and the others took his advice, and strapped themselves in as the ship swerved left and right, barely dodging the spray of bullets and the roar of the slightly-slower choppers.

Captain Thatcher could feel the ship rocking and being knocked around, but he had full confidence in his team of navigators. All he needed to do was focus on the thrusters, a delicate operation even during stationary times, but with the Dreadnaught shaking and moving around so much, only he could've had the guts to dare try such a risky task.

However, Thatcher was barely able to tweak a few parts together when the ship rumbled out of control. He froze briefly, unsure of the cause, and was nearly thrown to his feet as his Dreadnaught trembled again.

"There's no way them could be bullet shots!" he swore. "What the heck is going on…?"

"Captain, hurry!"

"Huh?" Thatcher glanced around him, spotting a PA system just above the door to the thruster repair room, which was where the voice had came from. Putting the propulsion aside for the time being, the Captain marched through the Dreadnaught and tore into the bridge, capturing everyone's attention away from the chase for a brief moment.

"Why'd ya call me up here? Don't'cha know that I gotta repair that thruster?!"

"But Captain, we're heading towards an archipelago of active volcanoes!!!" Thatcher dropped his pipe from his mouth when he heard that, and sure enough, the white faces of the crew and the spewing red flares in the viewing screens before them told him that yes, they were entering into one of the most dangerous areas of the world--a place full of constantly active volcanoes! Thatcher brainstormed for only a second before he scrambled towards the wheel and began shouting orders.

"Stay your course! Increase coolant! Alert everyone on board of our progress!"

"You can't possibly be serious!!!" screamed Jessie frantically. "You're not actually thinking of flying right into an archipelago full of active volcanoes?!?!"

"They'd be crazy to follow us, right?" Jessie almost fainted as the Captain muttered out his senseless logic--James did faint--and everyone was sent into a panic as their beloved Captain plotted a suicide course, straight into the erupting pillars of flame. Already, the tongues of Hades lashed out at the ship, licking at it like Cerberus as it danced through the endless perils. Flames shot out, reaching for them with hot arms and fingers, barely singeing the protective outer layer of the Dreadnaught.

"We're not going to make it!" shouted Brock. "Captain, you don't have to do this to impress us!"

"I ain't," he replied gruffly. He turned the wheel suddenly just as another spurt of lava belched out at him, rocking the entire vessel and sending even those fastened in on a trip. He quickly wheeled it in the other direction just as fast, sending everybody lurching in the other way. He thrust the Dreadnaught down, underneath a column of erupting flame, and hoisted it upwards to avoid a low shoot of fire.

Meanwhile, the Rocket helicopters still pursued, though their luck was not so great. They split up into groups of two and fanned out across the archipelago sky, closing in on the swerving ship as they too bucked and rode through the deadly air. Suddenly, one of the volcanoes burped out hot magma, drowning one of the choppers in a sea of fire instantly. Another avoided this fate, only to swerve left into an unexpected burst. Two more dove down a flaming archway and pursued, and three split apart and converged when shooting fires exploded beneath them.

The lava poured out mercilessly, but Captain Thatcher had the bravery, the luck, and the skill to get through the storm without receiving more than a few burns. The Dreadnaught had taken a dip in the Sea of Fire and emerged back alive, but only thanks to the steering power of the Captain. As all seemed to calm down, Misty looked back and saw that the number of helicopters pursuing them had decreased to half their number.

"Look, most of them have left!" she pointed. James looked out and shook his head darkly.

"I'm sure a few retreated… but there are those that were destroyed…"

"Oh no… that's terrible!" moaned Misty, sadly hugging Togepi close. "I know they were our enemies, but still…"

"This is war, pure an' simple," muttered Thatcher as he swerved the ship away from a nearby blast. "Team Rocket wouldn't show us the same compassion or mercy. I don't mean to be cruel, but it's either them or us. They knew the risks and the consequences of their actions when they decided to side with the enemy, and we know the rules for our side as well. War is terrible, but necessary to spill the bad blood and renew life again." The red-cloaked man went back to his wheel after divulging a philosophical moment, leaving everyone else to gaze at him quietly.

The moment of peace didn't last, however, as the ship buckled again from a nearby lava spurt. Thatcher cursed violently and wheeled the ship away from harm, but it seemed as if they were entering into yet another portion of the archipelago, just as bad as the last. The brave and insane Captain guided his precious ship like he had been possessed by mighty birds, flying it into impossible twists and turns as he evaded the magnitude of the hellish heat. He allowed some burns to scorch him, but only because they allowed him to avoid the really big blasts.

The helicopters were not doing so well. After half their number had fled or were decimated, the other half tentatively followed, putting more and more distance between them and their prey. A wall of fire shot up and consumed two at once, forcing the remaining eight to flee away quickly. One of them traveled too far, and was unable to get out of the way as another burst scorched it, leaving the other seven to pursue as they dared. They managed to get a few clear shots, shaking the Euphrates but otherwise leaving it intact.

"C'mon, girl!" growled Thatcher as he performed feats of aerial acrobatics. "Live up to yer name! Be like a swift river, fast and powerful, and invincible to the tongues of fire that threaten to kill ya with thirst! Ha HAA, but I'm glad I didn't repair ye!"

"Are you insane, Captain?!" balked the chief navigator. Thatcher merely shook his head and laughed.

"Nay, nay! If I had, this thing would be goin' too fast, and we woulda been fried to a crisp long ago! HAA, but we're movin' at a delightful speed! Can't say the same for them choppers! AUGH, ya teat-suckin' babies, come and get me! See if ya can't even touch the mighty shark o'th' skies!!!" Mindless with the lust of battle and challenge, or else just mindless, Thatcher continued to outrun the choppers, slowly swerving through the storm and leaving them in his wake. A clearing just appeared in the distance, guarded by a seemingly-impenetrable wall of flame. Thatcher grinned, and sped up full throttle as Mother Nature challenged him.

"Captain! You'll kill us all!" screamed the chief navigator. Thatcher almost burned red himself with excitement.

"Nonsense, boy! This is what I was BORN for! Now face my wrath, you sick scurvy maggots!!" With an amazing twist, Thatcher barely tweaked the Euphrates through a very tiny opening in the wall that only he seemed to have found, leaving the remaining choppers to follow him and fail, creating a final massive explosion that guaranteed their freedom. Thatcher himself let out a yawp, but everyone else moaned and groaned as they tried to recover from all the moving around.

"That… was… a trip…" moaned Ash. Gary could barely hold in what little breakfast he had eaten that morning.

"Urgh… this can't be good for those in the clinic… I'm glad I wasn't hurt in that battle!"

"We'll check up on everything later," promised Thatcher, quickly calming down from the adrenaline rush. "Right now, we've got to find a safe place to hide. Those Rockets are off our tail for now, but they'll find us sooner or later. Navigator, any ideas?"

"There's a small island just off the coast of the Sapphire continent," he reported, struggling to stand. "We could… make shelter there for awhile."

"All right, sounds good. Ash, Misty, Gary, you three go ahead and rest up. James milad, Jessie milady, you too. I think we've all earned it. Mr. Christopher! About that thruster!"

"I'll get on it right away as soon as we land and cool down!" Thatcher smiled and patted his belly, then remembered that he had rushed into the room with a pipe, and went looking for it. Everyone else stood up as best they could, and limped towards their quarters so they could rest. Slowly, the Dreadnaught landed on the island, and the next phase of the war against Team Rocket began.

To be continued…