Feeling relieved, I navigate back to where I saw Dan, while my concerns for Hypno grow. The moon is still high in the sky.

Now without Tony hunting me down, everything has gotten so quiet. What do I even do now? Do I run away?

My priorities shift when I see Dan, and the idea of revenge is back at the forefront. He looks sick, his skin looking much grayer than the blue it once was. Of course! He's a water type! He needs to drink water more than anyone! I quickly shoplift a bottle from Kecleons's stand while staring him directly in the eye. Despite not being a water type, he doesn't look particularly good either. I push over a Machamp that stands in my path to a fountain (with more force than necessary), so I can fill up the bottle more quickly.

"Drink."

'Please work,' I beg internally.

He grabs the bottle and chugs it. I've never been so happy to see someone drink water. Dan's color slowly returns, and he starts to look better. Now with my distractions gone, I still don't know what to do now. I know that whatever I do, it needs to happen soon. I don't know what will happen to them if I wait too long. But on the other hand, I also know that what's left of the group will be expecting someone to show up at the observatory to stop them. To charge in directly would spell certain doom.

The gears inside my head start to turn. Holding an arrow, I formulate a plan. I remember how I could still hear when I was under the same spell, so I talk to Dan to ease my nerves. Despite the lack of any reaction whatsoever, I know he can hear me, and I don't want him to be alone in this.

Eventually, when things quiet down enough, I tell him what I am about to do.

My bag feels heavy with how many jump orbs I steal from Kecleon, and while I feel guilty for stealing so much, I think I have a good justification.

Doing some basic math, I set myself in a clearing about five hundred meters away from the observatory. In my final preparations, I check my bag.

Jump orbs? Check.

Arrows? Check.

Adrenaline? Check.

I pull out 3 jump orbs before I attach my bag as tightly as I can to my back. I carefully pierce a jump orb onto the arrow, and then another jump orb, and then one more. They barely all fit on there, but it'll have to do.

I point my crossbow to the ground and get a running start.

BOOM!

The arrow shatters into a million pieces as soon as it touches the ground, and before I even realize it, I'm in the sky.

With no time to waste before my landing, I pull out my crossbow and jam another arrow into its empty clip, I strain the wood with how forceful I am in making sure it's in.

Looking at the observatory, I spot my three targets; the Alakazam, a Drowzee, and that Floatzel.

They all stand near a large black machine, looking toward the paths below in anticipation of a direct attack.

Suckers.

It's just as I practiced, like an apple on a fence, like a Pincer across a cliff.

I fire the first arrow at the Drowzee.

His large body allows me to land the shot easily, and he falls over dead before he hits the floor.

I switch hands, freeing up my right arm for the second crossbow.

I point it at the Alakazam. For a backup plan, I reach around to my bag for a jump orb, but in the process of grabbing it, I accidentally squeeze the trigger, launching my arrow prematurely.

I turn back around, and to my horror, he had jumped out of the way, and the arrow had missed him completely. Unable to stop my descent, I land on the observatory platform.

Fuck. It's two versus one.

I hear a loud rumbling beneath me, and I'm about to use the jump orb to escape when I come up with a much better idea; I curl up my arm and start to throw the orb at my feet, but I don't.

I aim at the Floatzel's feet instead, throwing him off of the building with no hope of recovery.

There's only one pokemon left, and that's one too many.

Confident in my abilities, I reach behind me and get another Jump Orb. I throw it at Alakazam's feet, giving me just enough time to-

My arm cracks loudly when Alakazam grabs it from behind and pulls it in an unnatural direction.

I shriek in pain as I get shoved to the floor. I try to move my arm, but I can't. Catching a glance at it, I know it's dislocated at the very least. The pain takes up so much of my thoughts, that I can barely hear Alakazam speak.

"What's wrong? Did your plan fall through? ...You thought you could just walk in here and kill us all, didn't you? Like it's just gonna be a Dumb piece of Cake. You were so close, but you still have me to deal with. Unfortunately for you, I'm the strongest one here. And I have the strongest taste for vengeance." He licks his lips, and his tone slowly turns away from smugness and into anger. I turn my head away from him, desperate for something, anything!

I see an orb slowly roll past my good arm, and just as I do, Alakazam grabs my head and turns it back toward him. "Don't, look, away!" "I want you to see what I'm about to do," he laughs. While he's distracted with his monologue, I grab at the orb and-

"Oh, did you think I wouldn't notice?"

Alakazam pins my good arm and he rips away my bag, and both of my crossbows. "I'll keep these… Actually, no I won't."

I try to think of a way, any way to escape, but I can't even get up.

Not when I'm this injured.

He leaves me with nothing. "You won't be needing those anymore," Alakazam remarks as he throws everything behind him, absolutely out of reach.

I stop hearing what he's saying, and instead, I try to draw my focus on something else, to distract myself.

I look at the moon. It's bright and round. Sometimes, in my final moments, I think about how it's the simple things in life that need appreciation. I'm going to miss it when I die… When they die…

Snapping out of it, I turn my head back towards Alakazam, and I see him holding an arrow like a knife, and he's kneeling on top of me. He pulls the arrow up above his head, and prepares for a stab that will surely kill me.

...

Just as he's about to plunge the arrow down into my chest, a second arrow appears in his chest. Alakazam sees it and stutters a little before he slumps over. His body falls backward, giving me some room to see.

I tilt my head up and I see Dan. He's holding my crossbow, having probably grabbed it after Hypno threw it out.

My emotions leap from terror to joy, and the realization that I will live to see another day sets in. It's so confusing, how he's here, but that confusion doesn't last long, as the next thing I turn my attention to is the machine, and I see an arrow-sized hole on its left side. It must have been the one I missed that saved my life. Everyone else's too.

"Adam! You're alright! I heard your plan! And then I heard you scream! And I- And I!- … Let me, um, help you up." Dan stops his hyper-speech as he notices my helpless arm.

"I suppose I'll have to walk on two legs until I heal, but that's fine, I'm used to it," I remarked to Dan, laughing it all off a bit at the end.

"What do you mean you're used to it?" Dan asks, confused, and I remember it's not normal for Eevees to be used to walking on two legs.

"OhyeahI'mahuman" I hastily remarked to him, half hoping that he would hear me, and half hoping that he would not.

"You're a FUCKING WHAT?!" Dan's eyes widen as he screams. He takes a deep breath, and my arm is still broken. "... Let's go find Hypno," Dan crouched down and offered to aid me in getting up.

"Yeah, let's go find Hypno."

-
AN: And that's a wrap! I want to give one more thanks to Limoki for making the cover art, Lucas the Lion for beta-reading, and you, dear viewer, for staying with this story. I hope you enjoyed it, and if you didn't, you can go take a look at my new story for some WAY better content!