YEA, yea, I'm ridiculously late and I'm sorry for it. Wednesday was incredibly busy, and my mom wouldn't let me get on the laptop, and there was this beautiful novel that I couldn't put down all day ("Books of Umber: Happenstance Found", to be specific), AND THEN we visited the ice skating rink and I couldn't get back till four or so!
Again, I'm so sorry for keeping you all in suspense. Please enjoy the belated chapter, though!
*~Third~*
While Janice, Felipe, and Axel were dealing with the shock of the Master Sword in their local forest, the thunderstorm was directly over the city of Elkin. And it was hitting hard. Rain whiplashed the buildings in waves, pounding on the windowsills and rooftops, dripping into leaks and cracks. Thunder boomed outside, roaring like an animal, and lightning would often accompany it with bright cloud-to-cloud flashes.
Anyone unlucky enough to be outside was soaked to the bone within a minute, and anyone inside was scared the lightning might hit the taller buildings. Except for a select few: those who were brave, those who were sleeping, and a twelve-year-old who was too occupied in a game to notice.
Jenna Talum kept her Eevee-brown eyes on the screen of her DS system, the loud sounds of the storm playing in the background of her battle. She was using an electric type, ironically, and a smile tugged at her lips whenever the words "PIKACHU used THUNDERBOLT!" and a flash of lightning reached her senses at the same time.
She was laying on her chest, specifically on a bed, lithe form under a blanket while her rusty brown hair was sprawled over her shoulders. The room wasn't entirely dark, a lamp on her bedside proving this point, so she had no reason to set the device down for the sake of sleep. She would probably just get a nightmare again, anyway...
Right as Jenna had victory in her grasp, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck tense up. Not a split-second later, a deafening BOOM and a flash of pure white light encased the building, causing her to shriek and the lamp to snap off. The DS's duel screens left her hands when she jumped and snapped shut, leaving her in total darkness.
The building had just been hit by lightning.
"For the love of Arceus…!" she muttered, a hand over her racing heart. Her long hair was now standing on end, though from fear or static, she had no idea.
After confirming that the side-effects of the lightning had worn off the apartment, she began feeling around for her game again. It couldn't have been dropped far, could it? Then again, this darkness was as thick as an Octillery's ink shot…
Deeming it nowhere near her (or her feet), Jenna slid off the bed and began feeling her way to the door. Several toe-stubbing injuries and discoveries of random junk later, Jenna finally found the door and opened it into the apartment's kitchen. There was usually a flashlight kept on top of the fridge, and she also managed to find that after stirring up a population of dust bunnies. And finally finding the light source, she turned it on and sent the beam of light towards her room.
But…
...then again…
...what does a lightning strike look like? This was a one-in-a-million event here; that lightning could have struck any building, but it struck HER building. And it couldn't be all that bad now that the electric effects were gone…
Curiosity won her over, and she slipped on her navy blue hoodie to investigate. Fortunate for her, the floor she lived on wasn't too far from the roof, the generator downstairs was being swarmed by most of the building's staff, and the dark warded off anyone else from coming; it was like the universe wanted her to check it out.
The pounding of her feet matched the pounding of the rain, her breath panting in time with the thunder. Apparently, the storm didn't care what or who it struck; she did, however, and finally made it to the roof's door. She hesitated before touching the cool metal of the door handle. Sure, it was lightning…but it was lightning. And if it struck once, it was a pretty high percentage it would hit again… J
enna shook the negative thoughts out of her head. She'd made it this far, right?
Barely parting the door, she peeked outside. The rain made a repetitive tapping sound on the metal pipes and heaters exposed on the roof, and a duller plinking on the concrete. A huge scorch mark was centered on the roof, and splayed outwards like someone had dropped a black water balloon on the place. Nearby metal was seared and twisted into awkward, strange shapes.
"…huh," she blinked. "Never expected lightning to look-…"
she stopped when something gold caught her eye, right in the center of the lightning burn. Something small, grey…and distinctively mouse-shaped.
Well, this was awkward.
It wasn't just because she had caught two teenagers and a dog fishing themselves out of a patch of awful-smelling plants, it was also because she had caught them with a figurine in her hands. The Ivysaur she found looked to be made of the same material as the Pikachu, and was snagged in some tree roots when she first saw it. Then there had been a shout from somewhere else in the forest, apparently being the younger girl's, and she had come to investigate.
What exactly was Jenna doing in the forest in the first place? It was actually a bit of a long story, involving missing the bus and falling into some shrubbery before being chased off by a guard dog…
"Did something happen? I heard a shout," she spoke up, catching the two's attention. Her suspicion and curiosity was hidden under her usual mask of nonchalance, and she swiftly hid the Ivysaur in her jean pocket—Pikachu was nestled in the other one.
"Oh, miss klutzy here just tripped into a garlic patch," the seventeen-year-old shrugged.
The younger girl (though truthfully, she looked around Jenna's age) gave an indignant shout of "Hey!"
The black lab loped out of the pit and instantly began sniffing Jenna down, the girl following and tugging back her dog in a practiced manner. The reek that surrounded the lab instantly made Jenna recoil, though the dog just kept following her and panting excitably until the girl could fully pull her back. "Wendy, I swear, you're just a big ball of trouble today…" she muttered.
Jenna stepped back one more time and crossed her arms casually, and through some act of Arceus himself, opened the part of Ivysaur that was still sticking out to the public's eye.
The garlic-scented girl immediately perked up. "Wait, is that Ivysaur your's?" she asked. "'Cause we have some other statues a lot like it…"
"Oh? No, it's not," Jenna dismissed. "I just found it around here earlier."
"Ah well, worth a shot," the girl smiled anyway. "My name's Ayame, by the way. Over there is Janice."
Janice waved.
"Jenna," she stated curtly. "Either of you know the path back to the city?"
"What is it with these people and getting lost in woods?" Janice sighed. "No, we were just looking for Ayame's home. I just moved here, so I have no clue."
"Is that why you kept getting us lost?" Ayame asked.
"…maybe."
"Really?"
"I'm sure it's the field."
"…really?"
"Okay, so maybe I'm bad at directions!" Janice groaned, flinging her hands into the air. "It's like a dang SPACESHIP around here! I DON'T KNOW THESE CONTROLS!"
Jenna smirked slightly.
Right before she joined the duo (trio, including Wendy) in trying to navigate the area, a small tremor shook the ground.
"…do earthquakes happen in Elkin often? I think I just felt one," Janice asked. The earth beneath their feet shivered again, this time enough to make Wendy cower.
"Not that I know of," Jenna shrugged.
"Then what—"
A small flock of birds took off from the nearby woods, scared off from the snapping tree branches and shuddering shrubbery. Several heavy footsteps made the ground tremble slightly as a shadow appeared, something huge that was crouched beneath the trees. A low growling followed, further spooking Wendy, and the sunlight caught onto the pearly white teeth of some enormous beast.
"…oh crud," Ayame whimpered.
Jenna could hardly get back in time as the thing jumped where she was standing, and she stood in a defensive position as the beast roared. It had to be five times taller than an average man, with a gargantuan head and large mouth—the stark white teeth stood out from its green 'lips'. A mane of yellow-orange leaves fanned out from the back of its red, white-spotted head, making him look like a king. It had two long, leaf-like arms and a large torso, apparently capable of walking because of two footless legs. It appeared to be wearing a pair of red boxer shorts, pattered with white polka-dots, but its skin was a plant green everywhere else.
"PETEY?!"
"Who?!" Janice shouted back to Ayame, though yipped and had to move from her spot when the overgrown plant slammed a cage where she was standing. it was armed with two, large enough to contain an ostrich safely.
"Please tell me that isn't Petey Piranha! Or we're doomed!" Ayame continued, beginning to walk backwards. Wendy stayed behind her as she tried getting away, only for her to realize that the plant's direction followed her. Or namely, the Yoshi figure she was holding.
When he began following her, however…
"Ayame, Jenna, run," Janice ordered, standing between them.
"Are you insane?! You'll die!" Jenna barked.
"Listen, I'll distract it while you get someplace it can't reach!" she explained with all the seniority an older sister could have. "Simple, alright?"
"Well, okay, then, C'MON WENDY!" Ayame yelled, bolting from the spot with Wendy and Jenna on her tail.
Janice had to continually shift spots when Petey Piranha tried walking around her, a cartoony-looking scene ensuing for about half a minute before Petey got irritated and braced himself. Janice barely got out of the way in time before he jumped on her spot and banged his duel cages about, crushing the wheat flat.
He took off after the other two girls, slowly catching up to them. Janice held her breath, her heart banging like a caged bird in her chest, as they were almost upon the heavy shrubbery and yet Petey was almost upon them…nine yards to the plants…six yards to the girls…
SLAM!
"Ow!" Ayame hissed when she couldn't stop in time, instead hitting the iron bars that had found their way around her.
Jenna skidded to a stop with Wendy, a few feet away from where Petey had thrown his open cage, and her eyes went wide when the monster caught up to her. Before she could step in and try to free her, a huge glob of acidic saliva found its way in her path; Petey gave some form of a laugh before snatching Ayame's cage's handle and bounding away with huge, earth-shaking leaps.
The field grew very quiet. Any wheat that wasn't crushed in the incident was gently rustled by the wind, like it was comforting the surviving plants. Janice made her way over to Jenna and Wendy at a walk, energy used up from when she had tried blocking a three-story-tall plant, while the girl and dog stared after Petey.
Wendy whimpered and lowered her head, Jenna's mask of emotionless bravery shattered into a dumbstruck frown. Ayame was just captured by the enemy, and they didn't even know there WAS an enemy.
*Pulls cardboard box over self*
*Face appears as an Octan-codec-styled message* Zetra, please don't kill me.
Ayame's kidnapping actually helps bring several members of the team together; namely, the FE, Metroid/Mother, LoZ, and Pokémon wielders. IT'S LIKE SUBSPACE EMISSARY!
I'll have to admit, though…I'm having a butt load of trouble plotting this sucker out. It might wind up on a hiatus around chapter ten until my brain stops malfunctioning and I can think of something. But don't worry, I'll have some weekly-updater to keep you satisfied—
Heirlooms fans: YAY!
…*sets early draft of ASW 2 down* dang it.
ANYWHO, thanks for reading, guys! I'd love it if you could hit that little follow/favorite button down there, maybe leave a review voicing your thoughts (I'm in a cardboard box, so hopefully Zetra won't murder me) (or Chewbacca, we had an incident with an Eevee being strangled a few chapters back), hug your Eevee with LOVE, and I'll see you next week! BYE FOR NOW!