Author's Note: Seems people enjoyed the last chapter. Huzzah. Hee. Romance. I don't know why I put that, I just did. And plus, you got to have romance in a Harvest Moon story. If you don't, it's just weird.
Mr. Unimportant: Of course you did. Oh. I'm flattered. I get praise from one of the most popular Harvest Moon writers ever.
MidnightxPhoenix: I knew you would like that line. Well, she is. And yes, foreshadowing. Just you see who actually says it.
CuddlyBear: Yes they do. Awww. Maybe the pendant will. I dunno.
Chapter Sixteen: Bunnies? O.OBry whirled around, the others following after at the voice. But, to their surprise, they saw no one. Not even Trinity, who they had almost expected. The sandy bottom, and the red-rock walls that protruded only greeted them in this cavern, hidden thousands of feet underwater.
Suddenly, they heard a faint snicker, and glanced around uneasily. The snicker soon grew louder and louder, until the group could pinpoint where it was coming from. Glancing behind himself, Bry noticed Miro was snickering, trying to muffle himself with his hand.
" YOU WERE DOING IT?" Bry demanded, infuriated.
" I can't believe you fell for it!" Unable to control his laughter, he burst into a fit of laughing, slapping his knee.
" What was actually freaky was that he sounded like it too." Anna said with bewilder, a bit freaked, not to mention disturbed. Apology matched his master's face, eyes widened, mouth dropping a bit. Apology then shook his mane, and snorted, flaring his nares.
" I practice." Miro replied, putting his hands behind his head in a relaxing fashion.
" You have a lot of time on your hands." Ricca mumbled, crossing her arms and glancing away at the ground. William chuckled a bit nervously, then stopped, and grinned.
" That was funny though." William admitted.
" Quit fooling around. What if that really had been a Team Magma member? And you might've attracted attention to us, if they don't already know we're here." Winona growled. She then glanced at the walls, and spotted a video camera, a red light blinking on and off," Oh no. They're monitoring us now," she sighed," Let's just hope no one is there."
" We could easily stop the video cameras from working. Just take off the lens, and then re-attach the wires-"
" Or we could blow it up." Chase suggested.
" That's good too." Matthew replied, although a bit disappointed," So, how do we blow it up?"
" With Veloci of course! He'll blow the thing apart, no sweat!" Bry said, pointing at the rooster, who was inspecting Pelliper, Skarmory, Altaria, and Swellow with great interest in these creatures that resembled birds like himself.
" No. If you do that, it might destroy the wall, and cave in, and we'll all drown!" Matthew said, shaking his head," We'll have to think of something else." He glanced at Chase, who was moving towards the video camera. " You have an idea Chase?"
Chase glanced towards Matthew, his yellow eyes focused on the boy, and he nodded slowly. He then glanced back towards the video camera, and held up his clawed hand to grip onto it. Doing so, he gave a deep breath, and in his claws, the video camera began to tighten, finally crushed under his strength, and fell with a light thud on the sand. Just to make sure the camera was broken, Chase lifted his foot over the camera, torn and ripped, and stomped down. Under his weight, the camera sizzled as a few electric cords snapped, and it gave a spark, before becoming silent.
" …That was actually a good idea." Bry complimented, staring at the ruined beyond being fixed camera, smashed in the sand.
" Let's go." Chase said, his voice now deeper than usual. He began to stomp down in the sand, without waiting to hear if there were any protests from the group. He continued onward at hearing none, but only silence that greeted him in this cavern. He then heard the steps of the group following after him.
The group now entered a massive cavern, and a thick haze floated and drifted at their feet, reaching up to the ceiling, nearly thirty feet above them. Nearby was a cliff, with steps made of solid red rock leading up the way. These had obviously been man-made, as nature could have no hand in this. They were perfectly shaped, and the red rock glistened as the thick haze floated over it.
" Whoa." Bry commented at his surroundings. He, and the rest of the group except Chase, began to cough and hack.
" We're close. The smell of magma and lava, and ash, is close." Chase informed, glancing towards a wall that blocked off a very peculiar place, where the ash smell intensified, and as he felt the wall, it almost seemed to boil. " We'll have to go around. This wall weighs tons, and is much too thick for myself to break through. I doubt Groudon could break through this himself."
The group nodded, still coughing and hacking and lifting up the collars of their shirts over their mouth and nose. But as they got closer, climbing up the smooth steps, the heat and ash increased by a great amount, and their eyes began to water. All except Chase experienced this, the Groudon blood pulsing through his veins seeming to accept this environment, while normal humans had great difficulty. Apology also had difficulty, although he was a fire type, and Veloci also showed signs of weakness. Winona had returned all her Pokemon to the safety of their Pokeballs now, as the heat grew stronger, and soon they could see a few small pools of lava beginning to form on either side of them as they walked down the rocky path.
Cecilia had been the first to notice these pools of lava, and greeted them with a squeal of fright, backing quickly off from them," It's lava!" she had screamed to her friends, pointing her index finger that shook at the oozing and bubbling pit.
" We're very close now." Chase had replied without much enthusiasm, or without much notice of the lava, that now everyone had noticed and were backing off from it with caution.
Cecilia gave Chase a withering look, but Chase gave no mind to the younger girl, and continued his way down a small hill, his claws gripping onto the earth. The others managed, more or less, to get down the small hill, which was rather steep. Bry's way, not intended, had been to fall head over heels down the hill, much like a snowball, and try and stop himself. The others, of course, had tried to help, but no help could be given.
Finally, Chase had spotted what Bry was heading for, and gave a short roar, beginning to stomp with impressive speed towards where Bry would go: right into a massive lava pit that no one had spotted yet, obviously intent at watching Bry roll. Chase snorted, and his tail straightened out.
Bry had spotted the lava pit as well, and had tried to slow himself down, but this had not happened. Chase braced himself for the impact of the teenager heading his way, and watched with steady eyes at Bry's speed.
Everyone had now realized where Bry was heading for, and gasped. Luckily, they had also seen that Chase was already a step ahead of them, but were still concerned. What if Chase's tail didn't stop Bry? The only answer would be the boiling lava far down below, very far down.
Bry impacted Chase's tail, with a yelp, as the spikes ripped against his flesh. Chase growled in determination as Bry pushed his tail back, going over the cliff of the lava, some twenty feet below. Chase was suddenly caught off balance as Bry's body continued to push against his tail, and his tail snapped back, Bry plummeting head first down, with the group gasping in shock.
" BRY!" Cecilia cried out, racing towards the cliff. But she felt Winona grip her back by the waist, Cecilia thrashing about wildly, screaming as if she were a mad woman.
So, this is how it ends. I go head first into lava. Phew. It's really hot here. It feels like hell. Wait. Did I die? Must have. Wait. I'M IN HELL! NO! I COULD HAVE SWORN! I WAS A GOOD BOY! I WAS A GOOD BOY! Miro wasn't joking that I would go to hell! What did I ever do wrong! Oh, yeah, there was that Trinity incident, but that was an accident! I swear it was! And then that New Year's Party. Whoot. Boy was that fun. And I'm sure that cat had fun too, in that spinny chair…
But if you thought Bry had gone to…the land down under, and not Australia either. No. Then we'd see Steve Irwin. Dude, that guy almost got his son eaten by a croc! Anyway, back to my story. If you think Bry had gone, think again.
Chase had dove onto his stomach, his clawed hand stretching with great length over the cliff, gripping the tips of Bry's fingers just in the nick of time. Chase growled, determined not to let Bry die (:P), and attempted to pull Bry up.
Bry yelped as Chase's claws dug deep into his hand, and winced and cringed, clenching his teeth together, as Chase attempted to pull Bry up as quickly as he could. The others sprinted over to help him, seeing Chase start to lose his grip.
Bry glanced up at Chase, and saw he was straining himself to keep hold of Bry, and the grip was loosening upon his hand. Chase then gave a weak smile, two fangs protruding from his jaws," Don't worry Bry. I won't let you fall," he spoke, staring off down at Bry and the lava below.
" What?"
" Don't worry." Chase then felt his body begin to move forward, his stomach beginning to move towards the edge of the cliff. Bry began to slowly descend as this happened. Chase then sighed deeply, and smiled at Bry," Here goes nothing."
" Here goes nothing?"
At this, Chase pulled his arm so fast and quickly, Bry almost felt as though his arm had been pulled from its socket. Bry yelped, as he flew up and onto the rock of the cliff, rolling a few feet before stopping. Bry quickly lifted his head, and watched as Chase fell off the cliff. Having pulled Bry up so quickly, his body had shifted and pulled him overboard. Bry quickly pulled himself to the edge so his head looked over the cliff, as he let out," CHASE!"
The others sprinted over to the edge, watching Chase plummet headfirst, quickly gaining speed from his muscle weight. Chase's yellow eyes glanced up at Bry, and Chase only smiled up at the boy. He then glanced back down at 'hell', and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath of the molten lava and magma, mixed with fumes of the ash that burned clearly. They watched as Chase plummeted into the lava, a huge splash of it spraying up. Bry quickly pulled his face away, as a drop touched his hair.
" OW! OW!" Bry cried out, watching the TINY drop of lava on his hair sizzle.
But the others were too focused, watching where the lava now formed back to its original place, where Chase had fallen.
" He was…a good guy." Anna said softly, wiping her eyes.
" Yeah. He was." Matthew, Miro, and William agreed in unison.
" Yeah." Ricca agreed, watching silently.
As expected, Cecilia began to sob uncontrollably, blubbering. Winona attempted to comfort her, but Cecilia, being as sensitive as she was, was not affected by Winona's kind words, and continued to sob into her hands.
" WHY DOES EVERYONE KEEP DYING?" she blubbered.
" Let's…keep going. We can't let Team Magma win. If they do, there'll be a lot more deaths." Winona said sharply.
Bry, who had gotten over his little drama act of the lava thing in his hair, one of his blonde locks now a crisp black, glanced towards where Chase had fallen, and stared for a few moments.
" Now Bry has killed six people." Ricca sneered, smirking.
" SIX? I killed five!" Bry protested. He then snorted," And Chase didn't have to die for me."
" He could have just let Bry go and let him die." Matthew agreed.
" HEY. Well, I guess he could have done that." Bry said thoughtfully, glancing back at where Chase had fallen.
" Quit talking about Chase. You'll make everyone depressed." Winona snapped, turning on her heels and walking off.
" How was is six?" Bry muttered to Ricca.
" You killed that yellow rat too." Ricca sneered.
" Oh yeah. Damn thing." Bry muttered, watching as the others walked off. Cecilia continued to sob, glancing back at Bry for a moment, locking eyes, before shaking her head and following after Apology and Veloci. Bry sighed, and followed after.
Bry quickly lead the way of the group, acting much like a ninja, and humming the Jaws theme.
" Ugh. Shut up Bry. There isn't a shark here." William moaned.
" But I don't want to." Bry protested sharply, walking on his tiptoes, then falling flat on his face as he lost his balance and fell on a sharp rock. Luckily, the wounds from Chase had cleared up themselves, oddly enough. It seemed somehow the haze had cured them. Maybe this just happened when a Groudon hurt you or something. I have no idea.
" Knew that would happen." Miro muttered.
" I'd like to see you try Miro." Bry challenged, standing up with the help of Cecilia, who had stopped blubbering, yanking him up by the arm.
" Nah. I'll just look retarded, like you did." Miro smirked.
" Have it your way."
" We're near a Burger King?" Anna asked, dumbfounded.
" What's a Burger King?" Bry asked.
" …" Anna widened her eyes," I don't know. It just…came to my mind."
" You know, I bet that is a huge valley of burgers, ruled by a king!" Bry exclaimed, snapping his fingers.
" Your imagination confuses us all." Ricca said flatly.
" Not confusing. Idiotic." Matthew corrected.
" Enough of the chit-chat. They'll hear us." Winona warned in a whisper.
" Who will?" Bry asked, as Winona walked over the a boulder, the rest following and hiding behind it.
" Team Magma. I've spotted them, a mere fifty yards away too. They seem to be talking about something." Winona informed.
Bry nodded, then peered from behind the rock, the rest doing so as well. From this far away, they could easily see Trinity and a few lower rankings beside her, she holding a red ruby coloured gem, the size of her fist. She seemed to be bickering with an older male, in his mid-thirties or higher, who the Grunts seemed to fear. Most likely a higher rank. They could also hear some of the argument.
" No way Maxie! I got this orb, and I'm going to awake Groudon, not you," she hissed, holding the orb protectively.
" Trinity, you follow my orders. I'm the leader. I ordered you to do so. Give it to me." Maxie ordered.
" Never." Trinity sneered.
One of the Grunts, obviously a bold one, stepped forward and gave a salute to his higher ranking members," Now, Trinity, don't upset Maxie…" Trinity narrowed her eyes at the boy, older than herself, and he quieted himself.
" Get back into line Grunt. I can handle this girl by myself." Maxie commanded. The boy nodded, and obeyed, stepping back into line with the other Grunts. " Now, Trinity…" Maxie's gaze followed to the girl," Give me the orb. You will not be able to control Groudon once he has awoken. Only I can control him."
" I can control him, no problem. Let me do it. I've been in this team since I was ten! I deserve this for never quitting!" Trinity protested.
" Whoa, that's four years!" Bry exclaimed.
" No, it's actually twenty." Miro corrected, his voice oozing with sarcasm.
" That means she's," Bry said," …?"
" Ugh. I was kidding stupid." Miro replied flatly.
" Oooh."
" Yes, I know you have been part of this team for eight years, Trinity, and you were a loyal member of this team. You worked your way up, I know, from a grunt, to an admin. But, I cannot permit you to awake Groudon. What were to happen if you really could not control him? He'd create massive chaos, and destroy us all!" Maxie exclaimed.
" But of course Maxie, I'll be able to control him. I've studied since I was a little girl Groudon's power. I have been waiting long for this. More than eight years. All my life," she replied with a smirk, staring off into the ruby orb held in her hand.
" She is right sir." Another Grunt stepped forward," I have often watched her study in her office for long hours. Sometimes I have even gotten a glimpse at her books and their titles, and they speak of Groudon and the legends and the years of the battle he fought with Kyogre."
Maxie literally spit at the mention of the water being's name, and moaned, glancing towards the grunt. " Shut your mouth. I did not ask you to speak."
Trinity glanced back," YOU WATCHED ME? YOU ENTERED MY OFFICE WITHOUT MY PERMISSION?" she fumed.
The grunt laughed nervously," Did I say that aloud? Oh, well, umm, he did it!" He pointed a finger at a nearby grunt. The other froze, and shook his head rapidly," Nuh-uh! I JUST JOINED!"
The one who had actually gone into Trinity's office sprinted off, without another word.
" What was that boy's name again?" Trinity asked Maxie, glancing towards him with a raised eyebrow.
" David Michaels." Maxie retorted," He's a bit of a troublemaker. Well, he tries not to be, but he is. He also blurts stuff out easily."
" That guy's math is WAY off." Bry concluded," It's not eight. It's four!"
" Yeah," the others agreed in unison. The others then glanced back at Maxie and Trinity, listening.
" What was that?" Trinity asked suspiciously," I thought I heard something. By that boulder." Trinity jerked her head towards the boulder, and immediately, the group became silent.
" Good work moron. You yelled that too loud." Miro snorted.
" We can take them." Bry encouraged.
" Of course we can. It's only Team Magma." Winona retorted in a mutter," But if Team Aqua are here, there'll be some problems."
Remembering the talk that Winona had given on the trip here of Team Magma and Team Aqua, the others went into deep thought, now forgetting about Trinity for the time being. But Trinity has obviously not forgotten that someone was there, as she had heard voices from behind the boulder.
" Well, you take care of it, if you're so high and mighty." Maxie sneered, glancing at the admin.
" No. Let's begin to awake Groudon first. Then I'll see what's behind there." Trinity retorted bitterly, and with much impatience in her voice.
" Fine." Maxie replied simply," I allow you to awaken Groudon. It seems you've…earned it, so to say. But, I'll be the one that tells Groudon what to do, after he awakens." Maxie waved a hand towards the beast, dormant in the thousands of gallons of magma, just a few meters in front of them. The groups' eyes followed Maxie's hand, and they noticed the sleeping Groudon.
"…Why didn't we notice that before?" Matthew asked.
" I don't know. It's about twelve feet tall!" William exclaimed.
" Hey, it looks like Chase!" Bry pointed out. Cecilia immediately began to sniffle, and buried her head into Bry's shoulder, crying. Bry glanced at Cecilia, and sighed," Can someone please-"
" No. You deserved it for bringing that up again." Ricca and Anna said in unison. They both glanced at either other," Whoa. That was scary." Ricca and Anna widened their eyes," Ugh!"
" Odd. You guys keep saying the same stuff at the same time." Miro said, watching Anna begin to freak out a bit, and Ricca mumble.
" Yeah, and it's getting really annoying too," They both said in unison. " QUIT IT!" they both demanded, getting in each other's faces.
Trinity snorted, hearing a demand," You going to try and stop me boulder?" she asked, stepping up towards the lava's edge and glancing towards the boulder, her hands cupped around the orb.
" She thinks the boulder is going to stop her." Bry asked, confused.
" She must be stupid. Ugh. We've been noticed more than ever now. Everyone, out and go into attack formation Alpha!" Winona ordered, jumping out from behind the boulder.
" What freaking formation?" Miro asked, dumbfounded.
" Just make one up Miro." Bry muttered, standing up, the boulder still blocking him from view, and rolling out, every time he stopped, he could do so again, continuing to roll.
" Does it have to be like that?" Miro asked.
" DON'T STEAL MY IDEA. It's awesome." Bry hissed, still rolling.
" Ugh." Miro then shrugged his shoulders, and walked casually out, standing beside Anna, Ricca, Matthew, and William, who had decided to just follow Winona. Apology snorted, pawing at the ground with his ears flat against his head as he watched Bry completely miss the group, where he was supposed to stop, and continue like tumbleweed by. Veloci seemed so embarrassed, he raised a sign that had 'I don't know that dumb-ass rolling by' with his beak, glancing up at the others.
" It's you! You followed me all the way here?" Trinity demanded, stomping her foot.
" Uh, yeah." Bry muttered, continuing to roll into he did so into a sharp wall, falling sideways still in a ball. He then sprawled out, and sat up, rubbing his face as he pushed himself up.
" Well, not like any of you can stop me!" Trinity grinned, holding the orb up.
" NO TRINITY! DON'T!" the group cried.
" Haha. No one can stop me now. Not even Team Aqua!" Trinity laughed, as the orb in her hand began to glow red, illuminating the cavern with a red light, overtaking the haze.
" Well, Kale might." Maxie said reluctantly, crossing his arms. Trinity clenched her teeth, and the orb stopped glowing, returning to normal.
" Oh don't talk about Kale." Trinity growled.
" How can't I? He seems to follow us around. He might even be here right now, but we just don't see him." Maxie outstretched his hands," This whole place would need to be searched to find him though. And I think we don't have time to do so."
" Then let's pretend you never brought this up! Ugh, I don't see why you did it in the first place!" Trinity stomped her foot down, shaking her head, sending her ponytail waving with her heads' movements.
" Oh, and the guy in the red! Yeah, the tall old guy! You!" Bry yelled, putting his hands around his mouth," You have really bad math!"
" What? Oh. Just some kid." Maxie turned around, raising an eyebrow at Bry," I believe I know my mathematics."
" No you don't. You said Trinity had been part of Team Magma for eight years, when she's like, fourteen!" Miro said defensively.
" Trinity. Have you been lying about your age to these kids?" Maxie asked, glancing over his shoulder.
" I never told them my age." Trinity smirked," They just took a conclusion I was the same age as them."
" What? But you told Miro and me! I remember!" Bry protested, hitting his chest with his hand clenched in a fist.
" I did not." Trinity hissed.
" Quote: "She looked to be around their age, probably fourteen."
" I didn't write that! Corinne did." Trinity muttered. " I didn't say it. It was a description."
Bry looked towards me, watching from a massive platform, with marshmallow bunnies and chocolate bunnies lining the shelves and walls, and Y2K plushies lining the floors. I watched with wide-eyes, noticing I had just been spotted, and muttered," Oh darn." Glancing up from my laptop, I stare down.
Bry then took out a notepad, and quickly jotted down,' Hurt Corinne later' before glancing back up, narrowing his eyes," And you didn't even tell her real age?"
" DUH. Would be a spiffy twist if she was really eighteen and not fourteen." I retort.
Bry mumbles a few curses, better left for our ears not to hear, or eyes to watch, and continues to glare at me.
" Oh continue." I encourage, glancing at the TV," I'm watching Stand Up Comedy On Comedy Central. Hurry it up!"
" No. Unless you leave." Bry retorts stubbornly.
" Fine. Marshmallows, chocolate. OFF WE GO!" Immediately, the marshmallow bunnies begin to make themselves melt, and the chocolate bunnies follow suit, creating a massive wind glider, only not attached together. The melted marshmallow began to hop into place, forming a glue like substance that attached the chocolate together. Grinning, I quickly snatch gloves and a western hat, place them on, and scream," BYE SUCKERS!" and grab hold of the bar, pushing off the platform and taking flight, flying off and out of the cavern without another word, other than evilly laughing, with my laptop in a messenger bag, against my hip.
As the laughing finally echoed out, Anna yelled," What the crap?"
" I don't know either." Matthew admitted.
" So, you're eighteen?" Bry asked Trinity. Trinity grinned, and nodded," Yep."
" Oh." Bry said, crestfallen. " I thought you were near our age."
" Not exactly kid. And I was never English either. I thought you'd figure that out when you saw my mom." Trinity snorted.
" Now, let me get on with my work."
" No way! Even if you are older, we won't let you win!" Bry said through clenched teeth.
" Oh yeah. Prove it."