Forces of Darkness - Part IV: The Manor -- Saigo no Battle (Final Battle)
Chapter 16: Arrival
The Manor, on the border of France and Spain. O Month, XX Day 2010... (Day 6) 1400 hours...
They looked over the cliff in silence. The six members and one talking Pokemon from Team Rocket have finally ceased their chase, now looking to the massive vineyard out in front of them and the ruined temple beyond that...
"Is this... the Manor?" Cassidy asked.
Daisuke nodded. "I believe so..." He quickly looked down at the path below him and the rest of the teammates to see a familiar traveler walking by... "Quick! Get down!" he ordered.
Thankfully, she wasn't able to hear of the moving shrubs above her as she slowly entered the vineyard.
Meowth gasped. "Dat's..."
"Shh!" Daisuke hissed.
"But, how does she know...?" Jessie whispered.
"...That we're here?" James added.
As soon as the cloaked teen was out of earshot from the Rockets, Cassidy belted, "All those who say that there's a mole among us, say 'I!'"
"I!" the other Rockets said in chorus.
"Nay!" a voice objected. The voice was none other than Otaku coming out of a dispatcher in Mondo's Jeep.
"Majority rules, Otaku!" Cassidy stated.
Otaku bursted out in laughter. "You're a forgetful bunch! You don't remember that the place you're standing in front of is also Chloe's home?"
With eyes wide and dropped jaws, the Rockets stared dumbly at the Manor.
"Great..." Daisuke whined. "Chloe now has the home-field advantage..."
"Ahh... don't look at it as a bad thing, Daisuke... It's easier than it looks!"
"Are you crazy?" Butch asked.
"Yeah!" Meowth agreed. "Daisuke's gonna get mutilated by dat assassin if he ain't careful..."
"Hey! Hear me out for a second." Otaku said. "All that Daisuke needs to do now is to go to Altena and give her that Tadlos sword. And if all goes well, he'll be free before the seventh sunrise!"
"That's it!" Mondo asked.
"We came all this way to bring back a sword!" Daisuke asked. "I thought we were going to raid the place!"
"The situation has changed. But, if you want to do it the hard way, that's fine. Besides, that sword is your ticket to freedom..."
"I know... But, we can't go now. Chloe will spot us, and..."
"And the promise you made to duel will be carried out, right?"
Daisuke stared at the dispatcher awkwardly. "How did you know that?"
"I just knew you would. A competitive one like yourself loves to cross blades with those that believe they can overpower you."
"You've noticed..." Daisuke smirked.
"Yeah... But, anyways... Your best chance to avoid being attacked by Chloe is around the night hours when she's asleep..."
(Scene: Entrance to the Manor.)
Home at last... Chloe thought as scaled the small hill and saw the Manor before her. However, the mission is still not over... She stopped and looked back to a distant cliff, seeing a shiny red object hiding behind the small shrubs. She couldn't help but to smile at the ignorant team and their idea of camouflage...
To be continued...
Okay, it was longer when I first wrote it out, but here seems like a good place to stop... for this chapter, at least...