Act 1

Chapter 6: Time to run

"Guys... we're in trouble." Mario said.

Mario, couldn't help but comment on how bad the situation was. After finding out that Scorbunny was transferred and that the four are former members of the Ingobernables, they were surrounded by la Cruz Negra.

Turns out they had fallen into a trap. Although the four of them did not understand how this was a trap, but with the sign out, there was no doubt.

"We have to go." Maria said.

"There's no way, they'll shoot us before we get to the door." Santiago said.

He was right, they would shoot them with the slightest movement. Santiago would search the room and look through the windows in search of a solution, but the expression showed that it was not doing well.

Riolu, also look a way out of here, but he couldn't think of one. Besides what could he do? He couldn't fight, nor could he flee. He was feeling useless right now.

"Someone is approaching." Mario said.

Riolu, and the others paid attention. Sure enough someone was heading towards the house, but stopped.

The person wore sunglasses, he wore a jacket that looked elegant, just like the brown pants. He was blond, his hair was slicked back, a bit of a beard, age about thirty and forty. He had a confident expression on his face.

Riolu, did not know the person, but apparently he was a person of la Cruz Negra.

When he turned to see the humans, he could see that they recognized the person. Maria, showed anger, Mario, showed concern and Santiago, stared at him. As if his gaze could kill him.

He finally he spoke. "Who is that person?"

"Ricardo Salazar. Leader of la Cruz Negra in person." Maria said.

Finally the person he had read and listened to was in front of him. The person causing a lot of pain.

Salazar raised his arms. "What a surprise we have here!" He said confidently. +We meet again!"

Riolu stared at the Gomez brothers. The way the leader of la Cruz Negra spoke, showed that they knew them, thus increasing his curiosity.

"Maria. How is your shoulder?"

At that moment, she touched his right shoulder. Causing the Pokémon to look at her. "Fine, but no thanks to you."

"Very true." He said. "But let's get straight to the point. I know that apart from the three of you, there is a blue Pokémon in it. So I propose a deal. You give him to us and we leave you alone. Simple as you hear it. You go where you want and us too. What do you think? It's not a bad deal."

The humans looked at each other, while listening to the deal. Riolu, was afraid that they would want to accept it and betray him to save their lives. He didn't know what to think. Since he didn't want any of them to be hurt.

But then Maria spoke, with anger in her tone. "Do you think we are sell out? Those who keep quiet in exchange for money for our lives? Besides, I don't trust a type of pure evil, whose words are worthless. "

Salazar, hearing those words, shook his head in a way that showed disappointment. "My, my. You are still brave. You know?" He said, with a smile. But his smile went away. "But the reality is different. No one do what they want, but do what they can do. And what I can do is send my men inside to break you and bring me that little one. But there is nothing you can do that you can get rid of in the situation you are in. Here are two options. You die or live and anyone, both is fine for me. So choose, but quickly!"

After that explanation, anyone would feel intimidated and would take the option of living... But what Riolu, surprised him that the three humans were not intimidated. Mario, was a little worried, but he was calm again when he saw the look of her older sister, as if she were telling him that they are going to get out of this. They have a plan. Which was?

Then Maria spoke again. "You are right, but there is a contradiction in your words."

That confused Salazar, who could not help asking the following. "What do you mean?"

"You don't do what you want, but what you can. But you are a mafia because you chose it. It isn't that right?" She asked, but there was no answer. "You wanted to take this path, because it was the easiest and most profitable. So you contradict what you say. Anyone can do anything, but only if it is the wish of the individual taking that action."

What Maria said, left Riolu thoughtful. Apparently life here was not easy at all, he had not seen anything to prove that, but everything indicated that it was. It also makes sense what is said. You can do anything, but it is up to them to decide whether to do it or not. He had thought he could rescue Scorbunny, and he did… but he couldn't. Will they get out of here?

Besides Maria, wasn't finished. "And now what we want is to get out of here and we can do it."

"You are fools." He said.

"I would have thought the same in the past, but our recent actions show otherwise."

Salazar, already seemed fed up and tired of listening to the journalist's stupidities.

"Get into the house. I want the Pokémon, intact. The rest can die."

With Salazar's order, the armed men of la Cruz Negra, went to the house, with their weapons still pointed at said place, in case any of them wanted to leave here. The weapons had tranquilizer darts, so they weren't afraid to shoot by mistake. From a leader's point of view, this was task solved.

Suddenly there were flashes inside the house. Like a flash.

That left everyone who saw that event confused. Salazar ordered them to enter the house immediately. When five entered the house, there was no firing noise or seeing resistance. Something was wrong.

Salazar received a radio call from one of his men who said they were not there. They had disappeared.

—

Somewhere of the town, there were several flashes, the same ones that appeared in the house. When there were no more, it could see that all four are here

Riolu, was surprised. What just happened? He was glad they were no longer in the house and surrounded, but he couldn't help but wonder what happened. Everything was fast.

"What was that?" Riolu asked the three of them.

"This is what happened." Maria said, pointing to the medal she had.

"I don't understand."

"Let me explain it to you." Mario said. "These things have a mechanism that when activated, transports us elsewhere."

"Seriously?!"

It was hard for him to believe that a small thing could do all that. The technology of this world never ceased to amaze him.

"We have to run." Santiago said. "We won't be safe until we get out of this town."

"True." Maria said.

"But how?" Mario asked. "They'll see us if we get out of here."

"So we take one of the Black Cross cars and drive away."

Well, they already had an escape plan, but then some members of the cartel found them. But before the two of them did anything, Santiago shot them with his gun. He had no problem taking them down. Riolu, was impressed with the reaction and speed of that man. Like Maria's weapon, this one did not fire normal bullets, but electric ones that knock out the moment of impact that releases a discharge.

Although the bad thing when he done it, the gun shot sound echoed the area where they are. Anyone could have heard it.

"Run!" He said and they ran down the hallways.

Riolu, was faster than humans, so he was leading. Mario was behind him, his sister followed behind him and Santiago was behind. He was attacking those who were behind that he wanted to catch or shoot.

"Where we go?" Riolu asked.

"Let's go as if we wanted to get out of here, we'll find one there." Maria said.

So Santiago, said the fastest way to go is through the roofs of the houses. Riolu, didn't get any trouble getting there. The brothers needed help from the Pokémon and Santiago. He pushed them and Riolu, grabbed them by his paw to go up. Finally Santiago ran to the wall and jumped into it to push himself up enough for Maria to grab his hand and help him.

Once there, running across the rooftops. They were in a part of town where the houses were built on a hill above, so they were jumping it down, but being careful. La Cruz Negra, were behind them, who were climbing to the rooftops. Maria and Santiago, shot those who were close and those who shot them. But Santiago was the one who had the highest number of knockouts.

Suddenly one came out in front of him and grabbed him. But Riolu, managed to free himself and kicked him in the jaw. The blow stunned him and he fell into the street. Riolu was surprised by the way he kicked him. He felt like he had already done that. But he put those thoughts away and kept moving to the right along with the others.

Then Riolu and Mario, they fell.

What happened was that they had jumped into a house with a very thin metal. It couldn't bear the impact of the jump and the weight of the two, causing the collapse.

The two tried to get up, but they noticed that a member of la Cruz Negra was going to attack them. Fortunately for him, Maria jumped on him. When she was on top of him, she used her taser and knocked him unconscious.

"They are fine?" Maria asked and they both said yes.

Santiago from above, saw how they were. "We have to keep going." He said. "We are close."

"Good, but go ahead. Get a car, we'll distract them to give you time."

Santiago understood what Maria was saying. If they go straight to the cars, la Cruz Negra, they will know what they are planning and they will be waiting there to catch them. So they had to distract them so someone could get transportation as quickly and safely as possible. The Pokémon and the brothers were the most important targets, so it made sense.

"Agree. I'll send you a message when I get it and I'll go to you as quickly as possible. Don't let them catch you."

Then Santiago, left, trusting the three.

Quickly the three of them went to the right and went through several alleys. They didn't see that anyone was chasing them, so they must have lost sight of them. Or so they believed five seconds ago before Riolu got kicked in the face.

Riolu, fell to the ground. "Riolu!" Yelled Mario.

Before any action, the same attacker pointed the weapon towards them. The brothers stayed still. The man had long hair, a machete on his back, a mustache, brown eyes, age twenty-thirty.

That information were not important, since they both recognized the guy very well. It was Julián Rojas.

"You." Maria said.

"Quite a meeting! It isn't that right?!" He said confidently.

"I'd rather you were still in jail."

"So to continue my 99-year sentence in jail? Never."

"Come on. You have ninety eight and a half to go." Mario said.

Rojas ignored the comment and continued speaking to the two brothers. "You don't know how much I wanted to see you again. Because of you I ended up in that place for six miserable months. There wasn't a day that I didn't want to make you pay."

Maria, was not intimidated by the man's desire for revenge. Mario was worried, but he did his best to stay calm like his sister.

"Enough games, Rojas."

Mario looked and his sister did the same, but briefly. They both recognized the person who had appeared and was pointing her gun towards them both.

"Melinda Olivares." Maria said, not surprised at her appearance.

Melinda Olivares, was a woman in her thirties and forties with a red hair. She is famous as part of la Cruz Negra and being one of the best. Her list of crimes was kidnapping and the 'silence' of snitches. She is a woman without equal.

She was also part of the hunt for the defector Pokémon, unsurprisingly. Unlike Rojas, she was concentrating on her work. "You know we have been ordered to catch them alive." She said seriously.

"Come on, Meli. I want to have a little fun. "

"Forget that. The orders are clear." She said, but she soon realized that Santiago was missing. "Where is the other one?"

"Who?" Mario said, pretending confusion.

"Don't play dumb. There was clearly another one in that room. Where is he?"

The two did not respond, causing Melinda to starting to lose her calm. Maria, had thought of a way to knock out Rojas, but with the arrival of that woman, the idea was discarded. Right now, she couldn't think of a plan that could work. The two of them are the best of la Cruz Negra, against two young journalists. It didn't look good for them.

But even so, Maria was not intimidated. "I have no obligation to answer."

Her answer was not funny and it was not her purpose. "You are stubborn. I give you that." She said. "If you don't tell me in the next five seconds, I'm going to let Rojas have the fun of it."

"I like that." He said, with an evil smile.

"1, 2-."

Suddenly, a well-thrown stone smashed into Red's hand, causing him to drop the weapon to the ground. It goes without saying that the main person responsible for that action was Riolu.

The moment he was kicked, he was not knocked out, but was stunned. Luckily for him, the others believed just the opposite. During that time, Riolu was recovering and had grabbed a stone. When he was fine, that was the moment he launched it.

Also at that moment, Melinda was surprised by that action and Mario, tackled her, throwing her on the ground. Maria, took advantage of the moment and took the weapon from the woman, and then threw it somewhere. But she kneed Mario and hit Maria, thus managing to get them off her.

Riolu, was going to help them, but was attacked by Rojas. The Pokémon managed to evade the blow and backed off a bit. Now he was involved in a battle with him. To help the brothers, he had to defeat Rojas. He had no idea how he was going to do it. But for some reason he was so confident, like deep down inside he knew that he could beat him.

Rojas attacked him again, but he dodged the punch and the Pokémon hit him in the stomach. The cartel attacked him again, but evaded and counterattacked with a kick to the knee and two punches. With more confidence he attacked with a combination of three punches and a kick.

He didn't know how he could fight like that, with a style. But it felt very natural, like something deep inside him, he liked that feeling of fighting. Perhaps this was not as complicated as he thought. Either way, the sooner you take care of him, the faster he can help the siblings.

Speaking of them, Maria tried to hit the woman, but she blocked the blow and kicked her to the ground. Mario tried to attack her from behind her, but Melinda elbowed him, grabbed his arm and bent her towards his back, where it looked like she was using him as a shield.

Melinda, was very good at combat, an attribute that both brothers lacked. The older sister got up from the ground and saw how she was hurt on the ground. She pulled out the gun she had and pointed it at the cartel member. Melinda didn't worry, since she had her brother in front of her. She knew she wasn't going to shoot him, for the sake of her brother.

"Let him go." Maria demanded.

"No." The woman simply said and twisted his arm a little more, causing Mario to yell in pain.

That made Maria angry, but she didn't let anger take over the girl's actions. The journalist knew that she should not do anything stupi. She had to wait for a good opportunity, although her enemy was expecting the same and from what she looked like, she was a smart woman.

"You are in no position to make demands."

"Neither you do." Maria said.

Returning to the battle, Riolu was doing very well. It is due to a lot that Rojas, attacks with no style or strategy, the latter is due to the frustration and underestimation of his opponent. There was a time that he wanted to go for his weapon, but the Pokémon kicked it too far before he could reach it. Rojas tried to hit him, but he blocked it and with a twist, he elbowed his left arm twice in the ribs and finally punched him in the face.

He backed away. That blow had hurt a lot, but at the same time it made him angry. "That's it!" The next thing he did was take the machete out. "I'm going to cut off your feet."

Riolu couldn't help but feel concern when he saw that weapon. He could see that that machete was sharp, but it also had some use.

Anyway, he had to be very careful, he couldn't let Rojas hit him. Because if it happened, it would be very fatal.

Rojas attacked him, with a swift attack. The first instinct act of the Pokémon, was to block it, but he knew if he did it, most likely he would lose an arm. Then he evaded it. The cartel did not stop and attacked him several times. Riolu tried very hard to evade as fast as possible, but his opponent was very fast with his machete. Riolu did not realize it and inadvertently he tripped, falling to the ground.

The poster seized the moment and attacked the Pokémon. Luckily for him, Riolu noticed a metal tube. He grabbed it and used it as a shield. It had worked and it had protected him. Rojas tried to attack him two more times, but Riolu blocked the attacks. The Pokémon managed to hit Rojas on the legs, causing him to fall to the ground.

The Pokémon managed to get up and attack Rojas with the metal tube. But he defended himself with the machete, so Riolu backed off and Rojas got up.

Before, combat was a bare fist, now it had become a weapons duel, although Riolu's was not a weapon. Rojas attacked and he blocked it. The last blockade, he noted that if he hadn't done it, he'd end up headless.

"I can't tell that you don't want to catch me alive." He said, annoyed.

In one movement, he pulled the machete aside and hit Rojas's shoulder and knee with it. He was going to punch him in the face, but he grabbed Riolu's tube and pulled him next to the Pokémon, giving him a tremendous headbutt.

Riolu, was stunned with the headbutt. He didn't expect that blow to hurt so much, it really did seem like he had a hard head. Rojas on the other hand, threw the tube away from here and took advantage of the moment to attack him. The Pokémon came to itself and had somehow evaded it by moving its head back.

The machete had gotten stuck in a garbage container and Rojas was using his forces to free it, but he couldn't. Riolu, seized the moment and ran towards the wall, jumping on it to push himself up and give a tremendous kick to the face.

Rojas, ended up falling to the ground. Defeated.

The Pokémon was catching its breath, the battle had exhausted him. Although he reflected the way he fought. Was Maria referring to that? Those were his moves?

His thoughts were interrupted when saw that Mario was in trouble. Without thinking, he headed right there.

"Stop right there!" Melinda said and twisted Mario's arm a little more.

Seeing that, he stopped to avoid hurting Maria's younger brother. Which by the way he looked at her, seeing if he already had a plan to help him. From the looks of it, he still had nothing.

Melinda, looked frustrated to see that the Pokémon, was able to defeat her partner, meaning that she was alone with the three. "Surrender and everything will end well." She said, still determined to capture them.

"Nothing good comes from you and that will not change." Maria said.

"You are stubborn, but that won't help you here."

Then Maria, noticed something. She saw her brother take a taser out of his pocket without Melinda noticing. She knew what he was planning, she just had to make it turn her attention to Riolu and her.

"I will not repeat it again. Surrender now and- Ahhhh! "

She yelled, after Mario used the object on the leg of the member of la Cruz Negra. He was finally able to free himself from her and her sister shot her in the chest.

Melinda fell to the ground, unconscious. The three of them had managed to defeat the two most dangerous people in la Cruz Negra.

The two looked at Riolu, puzzled. He had said that he does not remember anything, but they saw how beaten Rojas was. Something that caused mistrust towards the journalist.

Suddenly, a truck arrives at the end of the alley. The three noticed the arrival of the transport and Santiago, in the place of the driver. "Come in fast, they're on my heels!" He said.

"Get out of there." Maria said.

"What?" Santiago asked, confused.

"Get out. Mario drives."

"Seriously!?" Mario asked excitedly.

Neither Riolu nor Santiago understood the reasons for the journalist's decision. "Why?" Santiago asked. "I am a good driver."

"But my brother is better and I am not going to argue. Vamos!"

Santiago, didn't want to change seats, as he thought it was a waste of time and it was something they couldn't afford. But he knew Maria. He knew she was sure and of her brother too, so he had to give in.

Mario was in the driver's seat. Maria was co-pilot and Riolu and Santiago were behind. The Pokémon felt strange, but at the same time curious, being in a vehicle. But that curiosity didn't last long. "Okay Mario. Whatever you do, don't-"

Maria was interrupted by the sudden acceleration of the car. Mario was driving at full speed through the streets of the town and doing a lot of maneuvers. Riolu didn't expect any of this and he held on where he could so as not to end up flying around in there.

The younger brother could tell that he enjoyed everything, while Maria and Santiago also held on. "I told you my brother was good!" Maria said to him.

"Yeah, driving like crazy!"

Soon they noticed that there were Cruz Negra cars coming up behind as he had said. So Mario sped up. Thanks to his great driving skills and speed, they made it out of town. There they saw the police vehicles, blocking the exits. To prevent anyone from la Cruz Negra from leaving the place.

"Go through them!" Maria said.

"Understood! Hold on tight!"

Mario, managed to cross them by hitting them and kept going. The police were unable to stop them, but were able to intercept the other Cruz Negra vehicles.

After two kilometers of distance and it seemed that no one was following them, Mario stopped the truck, since Santiago told him that.

"What happens?" Maria asks.

"We have to decide where to go and find a hotel to spend the night."

The brothers agreed. Since there was no point in driving without any destination.

None of the three came up with an idea until Riolu spoke. "How about Tangamandapio?

That response attracted the attention of the humans. "Tangamandapio? The same place that Jaimito mentioned?" Mario asked excitedly.

"Yes, there may be a hotel there and it is close to here."

"I vote for Riolu's idea!" Mario said. "What do you guys think?"

Maria and Santiago looked at each other, not sure it was the best idea. But before answering, they heard a vehicle from behind.

The four of them looked back and saw another truck just like this one, driving towards them. They also saw that the one who is driving was Rojas and that he was not happy at all and that he had a gun. The Pokémon and the brothers had thought that he had become unconscious after battling Riolu. But no, he recovered and got into one of la Cruz Negra vehicles and hunted them again.

"That guy is annoying." Maria said.

"Is that Rojas?" Santiago asked, recognizing the person.

"Yes." Mario said.

"The person has his gun in hand. Does he will shoot at us?" Riolu asked.

"I don't think so." Santiago said. "Even if he did, we are still far away. There's no way he-."

Suddenly Rojas fired and smashed the rear window of the truck completely. The moment that happened, the four were surprised and scared.

"Chanfle!" Mario exclaimed.

"Speed up, speed up!" Riolu yelled, totally scared and worried.

Maria also yelled at her brother to accelerate and Santiago took cover. The chase began again on the road.

Rojas, got closer and closer, while he shot them. Mario was forced to leave the road to lose him, since he was dangerous and it was night, but it was useless. Then he tried to do various maneuvers, but it didn't work either. Rojas was also a good driver.

"Can't you go faster!?" Riolu asked, noticing that he almost caught up with them.

"This truck is a trash! It can't go any faster!" Maria said.

"This truck is not trash!" Mario said, as if he was defending his own car.

"Yeah, yes is a trash!"

"It is not!"

"Shut up, both of you!" Santiago said, stopping the discussion between the two brothers and take cover again, as Rojas fired again.

Soon Rojas managed to crash the rear, causing him to lose a bit of speed. The cartel went to the right side of the vehicle where the young people were. There he shot Mario, but he didn't hit him, but he smashed the door window. Mario, moved to the right, colliding with him.

Rojas had to stop shooting and grabbed the steering wheel with both hands to have better control and collided with them. The two were trying to make the other lose control and crash. But neither of them gave in. There was a moment when the cartel gave crashes without stopping and made them end up crashing. Then Santiago takes the gun out and shoots Rojas in the shoulder, causing him to lose control.

Mario, stopped the truck and the four of them saw how Rojas's truck was out of control, while he was heading towards hill below. Then the vehicle was circling uncontrollably and doing a lot of damage until it fell to the ground, totally overturned.

They had managed to get rid of him. The only one who was chasing them. Now they could leave here without problems, even though they were looking at the vehicle.

"Hey? Don't you think he died? " Mario asked, concerned.

Riolu, hoped not. That person tried to kill him and he was angry about it, but wanting him dead... he can't imagine it, much less taking someone's life.

"Most likely he has several broken bones, but I don't think he's dead." Maria said.

"If he was, it's not our problem." Santiago said, with a cold tone.

"How is it not our problem?" Mario asked. "How I am going to live with a dead man in mu conscience?"

"And I remind you that we only defended ourselves. Also, that subject is Julián Rojas. that guy is better dead than alive."

"But still-."

Suddenly there was a shot that shattered the left mirror of the truck. Because of that, Mario sped up and they drove away from here.

Rojas got out of the destroyed vehicle through the window. When he got to his feet, he watched them leave. Out of frustration at not being able to catch them, he kicked to the ground.