Chapter Seven: Divided We Fall
The protective shield gone, Wes grabbed his throat and collapsed on his knees, attempting to draw breath... only to find out that he was breathing just fine. He felt no ill effects from the Distortion World's air – it was somewhat stagnant and dry, but nothing he wasn't used to. He stared at Shrew, who stared back for a while before tearing off the rebreather and breathing deep.
Relieved to be able to breathe, Wes shook Yellow awake. Yellow weakly opened their eyes, Wes wiping the blood off their mouth.
"Don't ever scare me like that again," Wes said, sounding badly out of breath. "We're all fine, though – our lungs didn't collapse or anything! Just get the portal fired up and we'll get out of here!"
"...you better duck," Yellow muttered weakly.
"What was that?" Wes asked.
A deafening explosion and a ridiculously hot blast wave was his answer as the bomb exploded. After the blinding light had faded, Wes had the courage to look at the blast zone. The Unown had stopped spinning, and instead they just floated in the air, almost completely still. Slowly but visibly, the portal started to shrink in size.
"...I have to create a temporary portal before the big one closes," Yellow mumbled, eyes closed again. "My knife..."
Wes took the knife from Yellow and didn't even hesitate to cut his own hand with it, letting a few drops of his blood fall on the ground.
"You've done enough, Yellow," Wes said before turning to look at Shrew. "I can't ask you to do anything, but-"
Shrew didn't hesitate either. Using its claws, it made a small cut in its paw, dropping a little more blood right close to where Wes had done so. Weakly, Yellow dragged themselves up and drew the symbol for the portal, the big one near the Unown having shrunk to half its original size.
Fortunately, a smaller one opened soon enough just as Yellow collapsed from exhaustion again. Wes hefted Yellow on his back, holding them with one hand and offering the other to Shrew.
"I'm sorry for what happened earlier," he said, "but you have to trust me now. It's either that or stay here forever. What's it gonna be?"
The Sandshrew narrowed his eyes at Wes, but reluctantly grabbed the hand he was offering. As the small temporary portal was starting to shrink, too Wes ran right through it, once again feeling himself, Yellow and Shrew pulled by a massive unseen force. However, something felt off and during the few seconds it took for him to travel through the portal, he somehow let go of Shrew, barely realizing that the Pokémon was no longer close to him.
~o~O~o~
Wes and Yellow materialized in a fortunately empty corridor. As soon as Wes opened his eyes, he recognized the signs of destruction – he was back at Navel Rock. He couldn't decide whether that was a good thing, though.
The corridor they were in was empty, but Wes could hear muffled sounds of conflict coming from a distance. He barely had time to pick Yellow up and sling their arm over his shoulder when he heard footsteps coming from around the corner. Feeling sore all over, Wes made a weak grab towards his revolvers, only to remember that he had lost both. Worse yet, his brown jacket was gone, too – and that one wasn't easy to steal.
Wes prepared himself to fight whoever came by hand if necessary – but was relieved to see they were Hilda, Rosa, Nate, Jasmine and Bianca, the first three firing their blasters at something out of Wes' sight. The moment Hilda noticed Wes, her face lit up ad she ran to him. Wes noted the bag Cal had used to carry the Griseous Orb was with her, and Cal himself was nowhere to be seen.
"Wes!" Hilda cheered, but the brief smile on her face soon faded when she saw Yellow. "Wait – why is that one with you?"
"This one just saved all of us," Wes groaned. "And I think they're about to die. Bianca!"
"On it," Bianca said – she was helping Jasmine walk, but the latter insisted she was fine, so Bianca left her sitting and leaning against a wall and dashed to Yellow instead.
Rosa and Nate had finished shooting at whatever they had fought before and joined the rest. Hilda didn't stop Bianca from tending to Yellow, who Wes laid carefully on the floor, but still eyed them suspiciously.
"Saved how, exactly?" she asked Wes.
"Portal," Wes panted. "The one those freaky things used to come through. We closed it. Whatever had come through before are stuck here."
"We have the rest of Cal's explosives here," Nate said – Wes noticed he was walking again. "We blow this place up and kill them as we get out of here. Sounds like a plan, right?"
"You're looking more chipper," Wes grunted to him.
"Bianca's shot did the trick," Nate said. "But that wouldn't have helped if you hadn't saved me before. Now it's my turn to do something for you! Team Rocket is fleeing, though we saw a few dead ones on our way. The only thing we have to deal with anymore are those glitch things."
"Way to make that sound like a good thing," Rosa commented, though with a smile. Her whole demeanor was much more relaxed now.
"Regarding this 'Yellow'," Hilda interrupted impatiently. "The fact is that they still lied and-"
"Hilda," Jasmine said quietly, prompting everyone to look at her again. "Didn't you hear Wes? They saved all of our lives. They gave us more time to finish our mission."
"Crap," Wes muttered, remembering the time limit. "How much time we have left?"
"Under two hours," Hilda said as she checked out her C-Gear. "But it doesn't matter now. We have the Griseous Orb and Dr. Kaminko, and I already called Marshal. He's on his way, but the Rockets outside are still causing him trouble. Wes, are you absolutely sure we can trust-"
"Yes!" Wes snapped.
Hilda and Wes stared at each other intensely for a few seconds. For a moment, Wes was sure Hilda would protest or even smack him across the face. But instead, she just nodded and, for the first time since the two had met, smiled warmly and for longer than just a second.
"It's good that we have you with us, Wes," Hilda said.
"Thanks... but I doubt anyone would be here if it you weren't leading us," Wes said back. "Did anyone see a Sandshrew around here, by the way?"
Hilda frowned. "Do you have a Sandshrew?" she asked.
"No, I... you didn't see... forget it," Wes sighed.
Everyone was startled as Bianca cheered and Yellow gasped as they recovered. Wes watched in concern when Yellow stood up like nothing had happened, in perfect shape despite looking quite pale and greenish, not to mention sweaty, in the face, a little dried blood still around their lips.
"We made it," Yellow said simply. They looked around the room, perhaps wondering why everyone was staring at them. "I hope you all forgive me for my deception earlier."
Bianca let out a relieved laugh as she hugged Yellow, who was confused by the act but didn't struggle against it. Wes smiled at Yellow as well, though just doing so hurt his face.
"Here's your bag," Wes told Yellow, giving them the bag they had used to carry around the bomb. "Those powers were pretty goddamn awesome, I gotta say. I wouldn't mind being able to do all that crazy crap."
Yellow took the bag carefully from Wes and nodded silently. Hilda cleared her throat awkwardly.
"Yellow, I... I shouldn't have doubted you," she said.
Yellow just waved it off. "You had every reason to do so, Hilda. You have an enormous responsibility over everyone here."
"Well, I should have listened to you," she amended, biting her lip and looking at the floor. "And that's not all. We ran into more Team Rocket on the way, and... we lost Cal. I'm so sorry."
Yellow looked at the floor as well, though their expression didn't change. If anything, they just looked contemplative. Wes just stared at Hilda in disbelief. All this time, he hadn't been sure what to think of Cal, but to hear that he had died...
How many more have to go for this?
"I see," Yellow said finally. "I'm sad to hear that. He was an enormous help. I apologize for him as well. I don't know if he felt any particular guilt for it, but he didn't enjoy lying to you either. And he died fighting for a good cause," Yellow added quietly, clasping their hands together briefly before getting up.
"What's our next move?" they asked Hilda.
Hilda blinked, but managed to pull herself together. "We stop wasting time and get to the drop-off!" she said firmly. "With your help, I think we can make it on time with a lot to spare. Once we dropped things off, we save everyone we can and get them out of here as well."
"And what of the people still stuck upstairs?" Yellow asked neutrally. "Are you sure we'll have enough time to go get them? And we have to make sure to set the explosives as well."
"Ain't even a thing!" Rosa exclaimed, her hand on Nate's shoulder. "The two of us can go up and do both. What do you say, Hilda?"
Hilda looked unsure, biting her lip so hard it almost bled, looking around the room and everyone in it one at a time. Finally, she sighed and nodded sharply.
"Go, then," she said. "But be back soon. If you run into too much trouble, forget them and save yourselves."
Before Rosa and Nate left, Hilda tossed them her Xtransceiver. The duo saluted Hilda and ran back the way they came, towards the elevators, presumably. Bianca gave Wes an injection that managed to relieve his pain, allowing him to walk again. Together, the remnants of the group walked past a lobby containing more bodies of Team Rocket members and to a reinforced door that led to a dark staircase. Hilda knocked on the door, and soon enough, it was opened by Hilbert, who lowered the blaster he was carrying and grinned in delight upon seeing the others.
"You guys!" he cheered. "You all made it! And you have the Griseous Orb?"
Hearing the words, a tall, graying scientist squeezed past Hilbert rudely. Wes frowned. So this is Kaminko, he thought. The reason Buck, Cal and most likely Professor Krane, not to mention all those civilians, are dead.
Wes decided that he hated him even if he saved sick orphaned Pokémon on his spare time.
"Finally!" Kaminko huffed. "Are you ready to get me out of this hell hole?"
"We're ready to complete the mission, which you are sadly part of," Hilda snapped, and Wes smiled at her. "Be a little more grateful! The orb is here," she told Hilbert, showing it to him. "The submarine will soon arrive, but there might still be hostages in the floor above us. The coast should be clear to the sub, so it might be enough if I take Kaminko there."
"I'll go with you," Yellow said suddenly. "Can I suggest that you send Wes, Jasmine, Bianca and Hilbert to the upper floor?"
"Fine by me!" Hilbert said. "Good to see you're with us again, by the way, Yellow. You, too, Wes!"
"Yeah, whatever, this is seriously not the time for that!" Hilda snapped. "Wes – you cool with this?"
"Well, I don't know if I can deal without your awesome presence, but okay," Wes remarked. "We'll get it done."
"Good," Hilda said and briefly looked at everyone present, her eyes lingering on Hilbert for a second. "Once we're all done, we'll meet again in this lobby. If it looks like you can't find anyone on time, come back here anyway. I want everyone here to make it out alive, understood?"
"Yes, ma'am!" Hilbert said cheekily.
Bianca offered to help Jasmine walk again, but she seemed to have regained control of her legs, so she wordlessly rejected the offer. Wes, Jasmine, Bianca and Hilbert then made their way upstairs through the emergency staircase, while Hilda, Yellow and Kaminko rushed towards the hangar.
~o~O~o~
Shrew woke up realizing he was on the same level he had left into the Distortion World from. He got up on his feet, already anticipating trouble, hearing muffled sounds of conflict from afar, though he was unsure if it was happening on the same level. Shrew found himself in a dimly lit hallway, most of the lights having been blown into bits.
Shrew slowly inched himself to the end of the hallway and looked around the corner, moving closer towards the source of the noise. Indeed, at the end of the corridor, huge chunks of the wall and floor were missing, smoke pouring out of a crater with bodies at the bottom. Shrew didn't even want to know if they were human or Pokémon, he just immediately took burst into the next room he found.
That just happened to be the security room, the lights in that place broken as well, though the security monitors were all on, casting a pale light into the small, windowless room. Shrew climbed on a chair to get a better look at the monitors. Some of the cameras didn't work, the monitors only showing static, while pretty much every other screen showed signs of carnage. Partially destroyed rooms, other rooms filled with bodies of hostages, Team Rocket members and captive Pokémon. Shrew didn't have time to mourn their fates, however – he kept cycling through the footage in desperation, attempting to find the Pokémon he cared about the most...
There!
On one camera that the on-screen text showed to be from one level below, a group of frightened non-Rocket humans were attempting to flee from something. A Granbull had sank its enormous teeth into one of the humans, while a Zangoose, most likely the one Bagon and Pachirisu had talked about, slashed its claws across another human's chest. The two Pokémon continued to chase the humans across the room, eventually stumbling across a band of smaller Pokémon – mainly Rattata, Litleo, Skiddo and the like. Shrew winced as he saw the Granbull bulldoze through them as well, tossing them around without even stopping. That was until a blast of fire finally caused the Granbull to take cover. Shrew almost hit his face on the monitor when he saw a Cyndaquil emerge and begin to fight the Granbull, its flamethrower attack sweeping the room until it hit the camera, stopping Shrew from seeing what was happening.
Quill...
"Who's there?!" a Pokémon voice suddenly cried from the corner. "I'm not sleeping! I was just preparing to attack you!"
The blue, dragon-type Pokémon stepped into the light, her expression completely changed when she realized who she was talking to.
"Shrew!" Bagon exclaimed. "You actually did it! You're really making a name of yourself out there!"
"Good to see you too," Shrew said urgently, wanting to go down and help Quill as soon as possible – though Bagon's words did intrigue him. "...what do you mean 'making a name'?"
"Oh, Shrew, it was amazing!" Bagon said frantically. "I was looking for more captive Pokémon as you said, mostly small ones, and released them. We, well, Quill, mostly, told them all about your escapades, how you had went into another dimension to save us! They were really inspired and went along with Quill to fight their way out of here! Too bad one of them was apparently in league with that nasty Zangoose and betrayed their location and then they got into a fight and I got separated-"
"I saw them, they're down below!" Shrew said quickly. "We have to go and help!"
"Of course," Bagon sighed. "But Shrew, I gotta tell you, I was wrong! Wrong about you and wrong about that professor Krane guy as well!"
Shrew jumped off the chair, and together with Bagon, started to make their way towards the level's elevators. "Why's that?" he asked Bagon.
"He patched me up better than I expected," Bagon huffed. "He managed to do something to Quill too, at least he got her back in fighting shape. Now she can use her powers as she pleases! I dunno if he cured whatever was ailing her, as he got separated from us too! This may sound weird, but... I hope he's okay!"
Shrew and Bagon made it to the elevators, but all but one were disabled, and that one was currently occupied, slowly making its way to the level above them. However, close to the elevators was a hatch leading to a garbage chute. Shrew glanced at Bagon, who winced, but nodded.
"I guess getting dirty is the least of our problems," Bagon grumbled.
"Well, our problems are soon over," Shrew said and positioned himself below the garbage chute. "Come over here, I'll help you climb up and then you can pull me."
"Yeah, okay," Bagon said – Shrew noticed she was talking quickly and sweating profusely. "I just... are we really going to get out of here?"
"Of course we are," Shrew said and pushed Bagon up, allowing her to climb into the chute.
"...then what?" Bagon asked while climbing.
As Bagon got up, Shrew stared at her in confusion. "What?"
Bagon sighed. "I hatched here," she admitted. "I'm less than two years old, and all I've known is the same old routine of being a lab animal. Do you know what it's like out there?"
Shrew stopped to ponder the question. Quill's dilemma was still the chief thing on his mind, but he wanted to make sure Bagon didn't stop or hesitate. But what would he tell her?
"I don't remember much of it," Shrew admitted truthfully. "I was probably just a few weeks old when they caught me. My earliest memory is me getting captured in an electrified net and my mother and potential siblings getting sucked into a tube – even that's a little fuzzy. But the little I do remember before that is... I was happy. And I can be again, just like you."
"How touching!"
Shrew turned around – somehow, without him noticing, a Pokémon accompanied by four humans had managed to sneak behind him. The Pokémon was the Pachirisu, its fur smeared with blood and a vicious grin on its face. The humans, as Shrew noticed, were both Rockets and civilians, pale and greenish in the face, their eyes glowing red, just standing behind Pachirisu with their mouths open.
"Surprising, isn't it?" Pachirisu asked, nodding at the humans. "This is just a taste of lord Giratina's power. By dying, these humans have finally made themselves of use, and thanks to my new master, I can control them as I wish."
"Bagon go!" Shrew told the dragon-type as he stared at Pachirisu. "I'll be right behind you – Bagon?"
Shrew looked up – Bagon had alredy gone, Shrew hearing her frightened yowl as she slid down the garbage chute. Pachirisu just laughed.
"Such sweet friendship," he mocked. "You should have learned this by now, Shrew – it's every Pokémon for themselves!"
"Is it even worth asking why you're doing this?" Shrew wondered. "If you stop me, you'll just end like any other Pokémon here!"
"No, Shrew," Pachirisu said calmly. "Giratina will never abandon me, as long as I do Their bidding. Everything that happened here went according to plan before you stepped in – that's why you can't leave. I mean," Pachirisu laughed again, "did you really expect me to stop worshiping our new ruler and join you instead?"
"No," Shrew admitted, "I just wanted to check where we stood."
And with that, Shrew lunged at Pachirisu, claws extended. Even the lightning-fast Pachirisu didn't react in time as Shrew slit his throat. As Pachirisu collapsed, the zombified humans just stood there, awaiting their orders. Shrew didn't stick around, but ran towards the open chute and jumped into it, dropping down a long steel shaft before landing on a pile of garbage bags.
~o~O~o~
Rosa and Nate stood in the elevator, on their way to the second floor above the ground, ready to pick up the hostages from the room they had found professor Krane in. However, between the ground floor and the first basement floor, the elevator stopped moving. Nate mashed the second floor's button over and over, but the elevator didn't budge.
"What now?" he groaned.
"We have to find another way up," Rosa said. "This place will be bombed soon!"
Rosa pushed past Nate and pressed the button that opened the doors. There was a small gap Rosa and Nate managed to squeeze through, landing on floor B1, which was littered with corpses and debris, holes on almost every wall. The duo didn't have time to stand around when something tore its way through a door to their right, Rosa shrieking as she saw the skeletal Kabutops lumber towards them.
"What the hell is that?!" Nate cried as he fired his blaster at it, making no damage whatsoever.
"Long story," Rosa remarked in panic and threw her first Poké Ball, sending out her Scolipede. "Use Earthquake!" she ordered.
The huge bug-type stomped on the floor, creating a seismic wave that managed to slow the skeletal Kabutops down a little. Rosa and Nate then dashed into a room on the left side of the corridor, Scolipede following suit, using Earthquake a few more times, creating a hole on the floor that the Kabutops monster slipped its foot in.
Rosa and Nate locked the door of the room, but while Nate stopped to take a breath, Rosa looked around frantically until he found what she was looking for: a desk that she started to push towards the door.
"What are you doing?" Nate asked her.
"Trust me," Rosa groaned as she pushed with all her might, "that thing isn't stopped by locked doors, so you might want to help me!"
Nate didn't question it, but helped Rosa push the heavy, wooden desk against the door. Indeed, they soon heard pounding from the door as the Kabutops banged its scythe against it.
"It'll break through soon!" Rosa said. "We need to put more stuff here!"
"Or we could just run!" Nate argued and dashed to the other side of the room, where there was another door.
Nate opened the door, but Rosa didn't have to ask what was going on: Nate shrieked and fired his blaster at something. Rosa ordered Scolipede to go and help, the bug-type blasting at the unseen monstrosities with Venoshock.
As Rosa started pushing a heavy bookshelf closer to the barricade, Nate and Scolipede soon dashed back in and Nate locked the door.
"There's..." he panted. "There's like dozens of little ones out there! Those purple smoke thingies!"
Rosa stared at him, and Nate soon got the clue and started pushing another bookshelf against that door. Rosa nodded at Scolipede, who helped him, the two easily managing to barricade that door. Soon enough, they started to look for more heavy objects, and the duo quickly heard the glitch Pokémon pounding on that door as well.
As Rosa finally finished pushing her bookshelf against the desk, she was startled by the skeleton Kabutops' white scythe burst through the thick, wooden door. It wouldn't last long.
Seeing its trainer in trouble prompted Scolipede to dash towards her and attempt to ram against the skeleton Kabutops. Before Rosa could tell it otherwise, Kabutops had stabbed its scythe through the door, managing to slash Scolipede with it. Rosa screamed as the Scolipede crashed down, but had to back from the door as she could see the skeleton through it, attempting to create a larger hole into it.
Nate ran to help Rosa and they both backed against one corner of the room, as far from the door as possible, hugging each other and watching in terror as both doors started to slowly give in.
"Wuh... we..." Rosa stuttered, her lips trembling as she stared at Scolipede's body. "We're not going to make it..."
"What about your other Pokémon?" Nate asked frantically. "Damn it, I wish I had mine! Even my blaster is running out of power!"
"Mine too," Rosa lamented. "And my Pokémon are too exhausted – I haven't had time to heal them. And what good will they do, anyway? They'll just get killed like Scolipede!"
"Goddammit!" Nate yelled as he balled his fists and cringed. "We were so close..."
Rosa tore her eyes off Scolipede and looked at Nate, who was reduced to muttering incoherently. Staring at him, the realization dawned on Rosa as well. There was no way out. No one could come to save them in time, what with all the elevators out of order, and the doors seconds away from giving in.
Gulping, Rosa grabbed Nate's hand with her own.
"Nate," she whispered. "We can't let these things get any further."
"Don't you think I know that?!" Nate ranted as he held his head with his other hand. "But we can't do anything against them!"
"We... we can," Rosa said slowly. "T-the explosives..."
Nate opened his damp eyes and stared at Rosa, mouth slightly open as if he was about to say something, but couldn't.
"You're not in any shape to fight anyway," Rosa told Nate, desperately holding back her tears. "We have to give Hilda and the others a chance."
Nate continued to stare at Rosa, but as he heard another crash as the Kabutops tore the door apart and started to break through the barricade, he slowly started pulling the bomb and the detonators out of his bag.
"We have to call them," Rosa said, her hands shaking uncontrollably as she tried to use her Xtransceiver. "Warn them, tell them we failed – m-maybe they can still try to save the people..."
But all Rosa could get from her device was static. Cursing to herself, she tossed it away and buried her face in her hands as Nate finished arming the device – it was only the click of a button away from starting to count down its ten second counter.
The Kabutops tore through the desk, sending splinters flying all over the place. Startled, Rosa and Nate embraced each other, Rosa nodding at Nate as he pushed the button. The clock started to count down.
10... 9... 8...
The Kabutops skeleton kicked the Scolipede out of the way, the air getting distorted around it as it walked. It slowly lumbered towards Rosa and Nate, ignorant of the ticking bomb next to it.
5... 4... 3...
Rosa and Nate closed their eyes as Kabutops got close to them and brought up its scythe.
~o~O~o~
Back in B3, the entire floor shook as Kaminko dialed the access code required to get into the hangar. Hilda and Yellow looked around them, but had to ignore the shaking and distant sound of an explosion now as they ran into the hangar.
Two Rocket Grunts were apparently anticipating them, standing guard and watching a submarine emerge from the pool of water that connected to the facility to the ocean around Navel Rock. They turned around as Hilda, Yellow and Kaminko dashed in, raising their own weapons at them. But as they were distracted, the submarine's dash opened and a huge, muscular man jumped out, using his elbows to knock both Rocket Grunts into the ground.
"God, I forgot how fulfilling that felt!" Marshal exclaimed as he got up and dusted his uniform. "Hey, guys, how goes it?"
"Maybe you should have joined us before," Hilda remarked, managing a wry smile. She tossed the Griseous Orb at Marshal. "Here's what we came here for."
"Wow, it's so light," Marshal observed as he weighed the thing on his hand. "Real eyesore, too. And is that the administrator?"
"Yes," Kaminko said, irritated by Marshal's careless handing of the artifact. "I am Dr. Kaminko, and you shouldn't-"
"Yeah, cool, get in the sub," Marshal interrupted. "If anyone besides Dock had piloted it, it would be scrap metal right now – looks like Team Rocket brought their own little diving equipment."
Hilda watched Kaminko clumsily climb up the ladders bolted to the side of the submarine while Yellow stood a little away from the sub, observing the hangar and keeping watch.
"Okay, well, we gotta run!" Hilda said as Kaminko was finally in. "There are still people stuck there, no matter what Lan... I mean, no matter what anyone says. Plus I heard an explosion before and I'm worried about the others."
"Sorry to hear about Buck and Cal," Marshal said more seriously as he held the Griseous Orb under his arm. "How did Marston work out for you?"
"Better than we could have hoped," Hilda said as she glanced at Yellow briefly. "Though he's still kind of a prick, though."
"And one more thing!" Marshal said firmly. "You know that there's a good chance we might not make it back for you, right? The teleport might be your only choice, and if there's no one left alive to use it..."
"Jas, I mean, Jasmine is still with us," Hilda said. "She can make it work."
Marshal nodded. "Just be careful then. I know you can get everyone out of here. I'll do my best to stall command for a little while longer. Kick ass, Hilda!"
Hilda smiled and saluted. "And after this, we're getting drunk – as long as I don't have to carry you again."
"You could probably do it without Hilbert's help this time," Marshal remarked as he climbed back into the sub.
With one more cheerful wave, Marshal closed the sub's hatch, and soon enough, it submerged, disappearing from sight. Hilda and Yellow left the hangar, but stopped when they saw a dozen more glitch Pokémon tearing through furniture mindlessly at the end of the corridor, many of them looking like regular Pokémon gone wrong while others being just incomprehensible messes.
Hilda sent out her Emboar, but as she was about to order an attack, Yellow grabbed her arm. Hilda looked down at the much shorter Yellow, who looked surprisingly calm.
"Don't send it there," Yellow said quietly. "It's no match for that many glitch Pokémon. Just keep it ready to fight and stick close to me – I'll shield us as you go and get those hostages out."
"You sure?" Hilda asked. "You were just coughing up blood not too long ago."
Yellow smiled. "I heal fast."
~o~O~o~
Meanwhile, in the floor above, Wes, Jasmine, Bianca and Hilbert exchanged confused looks as they heard the explosion from the floor above and felt the tremors. Hilbert let out a small, frightened squeak.
"Did they start the bombing already?" he said nervously.
"No way," Wes argued – checking the C-Gear, he saw they still had an hour and a half to go. "I think we'd know, anyway. We'll just make a quick sweep and get it over with!"
Hilbert had sent out his Samurott while Jasmine had done the same with her Mawile, a cutesy yellow Pokémon that Wes wasn't very impressed by, but as he had exhausted his Pokémon back at the Distortion World, he had no room to argue. Instead, he had taken point using Hilbert's blaster.
"Just a thought," Bianca said carefully as the group moved forward, checking every room and every hole blasted in the wall for survivors. "The sub will take Kaminko and the orb to the nearest island, right? But it takes an hour to get there."
"Mm-hmm," Wes said as he checked a room that had its door blasted apart, but found nothing – fortunately enough.
"Marshal will try to stall the bombing," Hilbert assured, though mostly to himself than anyone else. "And besides, we already know there's like a dozen hostages below us, so there's no way we'd all be able to fit into the sub. We're going to use the teleport, right? Right?"
"Yeah, I guess," Wes muttered, wondering why Hilbert was asking him. "Jas?"
"I can use it," Jasmine said surprisingly firmly. "And I know the layout of this place, so there are escape pods in this floor which we can use if all else fails – unless they've all been launched already. But don't worry, the bombing won't kill us – we'll be crushed by the debris fairly quickly," she added grimly.
Hilbert wiped his face with his hand, practically leaving a trail of sweat behind him.
"Hey, nobody else dies today, didn't we agree on that?" Bianca said.
The group soon reached a point of the floor where the corridor split into four directions, rooms in every direction. Wes groaned in annoyance.
"We really don't have time for this!" he grumbled.
"Please don't say that we should split up and search for clues," Hilbert groaned.
"We have to keep looking for a little longer!" Bianca said. "We can't just leave them here!"
Wes sighed. "I know, you're right. We just have to..."
Wes trailed off as he stared at the corridor leading left, the one with the elevators at the end of them. Two civilians and two Rocket Grunts just stood still next to a dead rodent Pokémon, apparently oblivious to what was going on. Maybe the Rockets had finally given up and realized they were in the same situation as everyone else now.
Wes motioned the others to stay still and held firmly on his blaster as he approached the four humans.
"Hey!" Wes yelled at them. "You okay in there? We need to-"
Wes had just enough time to realize that the humans had glowing red eyes and inhumanely pale, almost greenish skin as something came through the wall next to them that blew the zombified humans up and knocked them away. It was another skeletal monster, this time the shape of an Aerodactyl. Like the Kabutops, it warped the air around it, but could also somehow fly despite its wings being reduced to bones. As it turned to 'look' at Wes with his empty eye sockets, Wes saw it charge energy in its mouth.
Without even trying to use his blaster against the skeletal Aerodactyl, Wes turned back and ran towards his friends, who were all frozen by terror. As Wes yelled at them to run, they all ran into separate directions, but were far too slow as the Aerodactyl fired a sizzling hot beam of destructive energy. Wes managed to throw himself down just as the beam was about to evaporate him, but couldn't avoid the explosion that ensued a second later.
Wes was out of commission for several minutes. The skeletal Aerodactyl had flown away, having most likely blasted its way through either the floor or the ceiling to get to the other floors. Even after he opened his eyes, Wes couldn't see much, but before he started panicking about having gone blind, he realized he was covered by rubble. His body covered in burns and bruises, he dug his way through it, coming to the painful realization that the explosion had leveled almost the entire floor, the walls between the rooms and the corridors having collapsed.
Wes started to slowly crawl his way through the debris, looking around for any signs of life. It was probably safe to call out for them, but at the moment, Wes couldn't bring himself to shout – breathing alone was painful. As he crawled on, Wes had to stop and cough as he inhaled some dust – an enormous cloud of dust had erupted during the explosion and it still partly lingered in the air.
But even through the dust, Wes could see a familiar green beret on top of some rubble, and the sleeve of a colorful shirt sticking out underneath a large chunk of wall. Wes crawled over to it and started to dig around for the person underneath, grabbing everything he could get his hands on and tossing it away from the person, desperately hoping she would start moving soon.
It was no use, however. Bianca had been severely burned by the attack and suffered a large head injury due to the debris. Wes checked her pulse from her wrist, and quietly lowered the arm in resignation.
Refusing to let this stop him, Wes crawled away from Bianca's body in search of the others. Every step he took was painful, no less because of the burns on his hands and knees. However, at least he apparently hadn't broken anything, even if pain shot up his spine every time he crawled forward.
Finally, he saw some debris shaking close to him. Wes watched Jasmine's Mawile emerge from the rubble, dragging its fortunately alive and conscious trainer with it. Wes quickly crawled over the two.
"Jas!" Wes wheezed, his voice weak and hoarse. "Please say something!"
"...what's next?" Jasmine muttered.
"Huh? Jas, are you-"
"I mean... what comes after this?" Jasmine said weakly, smiling at Wes with her other eye only half-open. "A skeleton Omastar? It would make sense, right?"
Wes sighed in relief, and together with Mawile, pulled the excess rubble off Jasmine until they were ready to pull her away. Unfortunately, as she had already been wounded before, her legs were completely out of commission.
"I think... they might be broken," Jasmine said with surprising softness and winced as she tried to move them. "Yeah, multiple small fractures on my shins... and thighs... and possibly knees. I don't suppose Bianca could-"
"Jas," Wes said firmly, but couldn't say any more than that, the idea causing him even more pain.
Jasmine seemed to understand, and her reaction seemed to be the same as hearing about the death of Buck – simple acceptance. Somehow, she still remained calm.
"What about Hilbert?" she asked.
"I haven't found him," Wes said and slowly raised his arm and tried to use his Xtransceiver, even though just bending his wrist caused him pain. "Let me try to get a hold of Rosa and Nate."
But as Wes sent them a call, there was no response. She gave the Xtransceiver to Jasmine, who had no luck either. As Jasmine fiddled with the device's controls for a while, she eventually sighed and her shoulders slumped as she gave it back to Wes.
"What is it?" Wes asked. "Did you figure something out?"
"There is no signal anymore," Jasmine said flatly. "Their device has been destroyed. And if Rosa wore it on her wrist..."
Wes started rubbing his temples. During all his travels, he had never faced anything like this. One by one, every single person he had been hired to assist and protect had been killed. And now he couldn't even get the hostages out safely.
Just as that guy told me, Wes thought suddenly.
Wes blinked as he stared at Jasmine, who stared back in confusion. Really, Wes didn't even see her, as he had completely sank in his thoughts. Just like Nate and possibly Hilda had been, Wes had been ordered to silence absolutely everyone, his teammates included. Tempting as the offer was, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Only now, circumstances had done it for him.
Buck, Cal, Krane, Bianca, Nate, Rosa, maybe Hilbert...
Wes was hurt, but not too much. He could still get away and complete his mission. He didn't trust the man who made him the offer the slightest, but he also knew how they operated – Wes was sure the guy who pay him whatever he would ask just to keep quiet about it. And Jasmine was wounded and unable to go on any further...
"W-wes?" Jasmine said.
Snapped out of his funk, Wes stared at Jasmine, and Jasmine's expression made Wes wonder if she had known what he was thinking all along.
"No," Wes said quietly.
"Um... sorry?"
"I don't care if it's just the two of us, but we're getting out of here!" Wes said. "You said there are escape pods in this floor – do you remember where?"
"Y-yes," Jasmine said. "In the direction I was running in, though everything kinda looks t he same now... well, I can guide you there, but I can't walk..."
Wes turned his back on Jasmine and crouched close to her. Jasmine took the hint, and after some hesitation, wrapped her hands around him. Wes grabbed her legs, and with one painful lift that made Wes yell in pain, Wes lifted Jasmine on his back, though his knees wobbled and his body ached all over.
"Are you sure this is okay?" Jasmine asked uncertainly, startled by Wes' scream. "You don't have to-"
"Yes, I do," Wes said. "Which way?"
Jasmine pointed Wes in the right direction and ordered her Mawile to go first. The two made their way towards what they hoped were the escape pods, though Wes had to walk slowly as every step caused him tremendous pain.
"I have to confess somethin'," Wes grunted as he carried Jasmine and limped forward. "Back when we first saw the Kabutops monster, when you were hacking that door, I... got a call from someone."
"Who?" Jasmine asked.
"I don't know, but it seems he's the one behind this mission."
Wes stopped for a second and knelt to catch his breath – even talking was not only hurting but draining his energy quickly. It didn't help that Jasmine was heavier than Yellow, though fortunately not much so.
"He..." Wes panted, wondering how he should phrase it. "He told me the real reason I was brought on this mission. From the start, they weren't expecting you guys to make it."
Jasmine sighed. "I knew it," she said quietly. "I knew it, because we'd only been a unit less than a year, and they had people with decades worth of experience in reserves. Why would they send us of all people on a mission of such great importance?"
"You knew?" Wes asked.
"I suspected," Jasmine muttered. "I mean, I didn't think they were expecting us to fail, but I knew something was up. But... everyone was so excited to go on this mission, especially Hilda. And I didn't really want to, um... speak up."
"Well, you couldn't have done anything," Wes said quickly. "See, they brought me here because they wanted an outsider in to make sure only two things left this facility: the Griseous Orb and Dr. Kaminko. Everything else was not only expendable, but from the start, they wanted to make sure they wouldn't leave any witnesses. That's why they didn't want to send their best and brightest in... no offense."
"None taken," Jasmine mumbled. "But does that mean... they told you to, um, kill all of us?"
"Yes," Wes sighed. "I didn't have a lot time to think about it, though. First Kabutops attacked, then the Griseous Orb, then we had to save Nate and I had to go to a frickin' alternate dimension... but I didn't say 'no'. And do you know why that is?"
"Wes..."
"Because they offered me a crapton of money," Wes said in disgust. "Money I sorely need. I actually considered taking the offer!"
Taking a deep breath, Wes got up and started walking again, hoping the pods weren't far. He didn't hear Jasmine say anything, but he could hear her breathing as her mouth was right next to his ear.
Eventually, Jasmine spoke up: "Are you... still considering it?"
"No," Wes said. "Screw that guy. Screw them all. We'll get you to an escape pod, I'll swing by to get Hilda and Yellow and we'll leave this crap behind us for good."
"...thanks," Jasmine mumbled.
"Don't mention it," Wes grunted. "And I mean seriously – I don't deserve you thanks. And Jasmine?"
"Yes?"
"From now on, speak up. Don't feel ashamed for it, don't be afraid to do it and never let anyone stop you. Speak your mind and do what you think is right."
Wes, Jasmine and Mawile continued their slow, anguished journey in silence.
~o~O~o~
As Shrew landed on the garbage bags, he was soon pulled up by Bagon, who had fortunately stopped to wait for him. Together, the two ran towards the room Shrew had seen through the surveillance cameras, but as they ran, Shrew saw a door open along the hallway and stopped on his tracks, preparing to stab them with his claws if necessary. Fortunately, it was not, as the door's opener turned out to be professor Krane, who waved the two to come in.
As they did so, Shrew took a good look at Krane. The other lens of his glasses was broken and his lab coat had been shredded, but he seemed to be in good shape otherwise. Not only that, but the room he was in was full of Pokémon: a Rattata, a Litleo, a Skiddo, a Shinx and a Sandile cheered and rejoiced, chanting Shrew's name as they saw him arrive. The Litleo put its paw on Shrew's shoulder and shook the Pokémon roughly, while Rattata and Shinx raised Bagon in the air, praising it as well.
"He returns!" Litleo cheered. "I told you he would!"
"We've heard so much about you, Shrew!" said the Sandile. "You'll help us rise against both the humans and Zangoose and help us reclaim this place and make it our home!"
"What's going on?" Shrew asked Krane, who was still wearing his translator headset.
"You're a hero to them, Shrew," Krane smiled. "I don't know if you knew this, but a lot of Pokémon have attempted to escape over the years. No one has come as far as you have. Not only that, but they seem to have a lot of affection for Quill and Bagon as well. Hell, they even named me a 'honorary Pokémon' and praised me as the first human to understand them – I tried to tell them that it's just this device that helps me do that and I'm certainly not the first, but hell, you try stopping them!"
"I told you that we inspired them, Shrew," Bagon laughed. "I wonder what else Quill told-"
"Quill!" Shrew said pointedly. "Where is she?"
"Right here!"
All five of the little Pokémon stepped out of the way when the familiar Cyndaquil made her way towards Shrew. Only, she wasn't all that familiar. The flames on her back were alight and burned more intensely than ever before, and overall, the way she carried herself had changed immensely.
"You did it!" Quill praised Shrew as she rushed to hug him. "You saved us!"
"Not quite yet," Shrew said awkwardly, not expecting to get a hug but did little to protest. "And it honestly sounds like you've done more than me back here."
"So are we ready to go?" the Litleo asked.
"Where, exactly?" Shrew asked Quill.
"Professor Krane says the teleport chambers are in this floor," Quill said. "If we can rush our way past the glitch Pokémon, we're home free, and with you and Bagon here, I think we can do it."
"I was just about to tell you something, though," Krane said hastily. "Honestly, I'd prefer to wait until those strike team members who helped me before joined us, but not only has it been a long time since I saw them, but this place won't last much longer, even with the time you gave us, Shrew. And besides, thanks to these Pokémon, I heard rumors that they came here to silence us civilians, so I'm not all that keen on assisting them anymore, anyway."
"And they can always teleport after us," Bagon pointed out.
"No, that's what I was going to tell you about," Krane said. "I can activate the teleport, but the only ones who can calibrate it right are the people working for that division, who I think are long dead now. I have a feeling that the teleport chambers won't be able to handle the enormous burst of energy that teleportation creates – the whole room might collapse!"
Shrew pondered this for a moment. The 'Yellow' person, whoever it was, had been an enormous help to him – but if they could create a portal to another dimension, surely they could get out on their own? The others Shrew did not care for that much. Yes, the 'Wes' character had helped him, but apparently he had come there in the first place to kill everyone... and Shrew hadn't forgotten how Wes had let go of him during the teleportation.
"We can't wait around for those guys!" Shrew said finally. "Plus they'll want to use that thing on their own. The way I see it, it's us or them!"
"Are you sure?" Quill asked Shrew carefully. "I mean, do they really deserve to be left here?"
"All I know is that we sure as hell don't!" Shrew said. "Everyone, we're moving out!"
The little Pokémon followers cheered, and Krane carefully opened the door. The eight Pokémon and the human checked that the coast was clear, Krane calculating the fastest route to the teleport chambers, which were at the end of a long corridor and a long series of rooms, having been built far from the rest of the facility to avoid accidents.
With no one in sight, the group started running, Shrew leading the posse. He heard the little Pokémon chatter excitedly behind him, and as much as it hurt to admit that, being admired by them felt good. As Shrew took a moment to look over his accomplishments, he was very impressed himself. So many hours trapped in a hell zone like this, even after a trip to a literal hell, and yet here he stood, alive, along with a bunch of others. Sure, it was less than Shrew had wanted, but it was enough.
Maybe, just maybe, they could get through this after all...
And then the zombie humans came.
From the corridor leading to the teleportation chambers, at least seven humans similarly pale and greenish with glowing red eyes like the ones Pachirisu had controlled shambled towards them, armed with knives, pieces of debris and other sharp or blunt objects that they swung around mindlessly.
"What the actual f**k?!" Krane screamed.
"The glitch Pokémon can probably control them!" Shrew yelled. "We can't let them stop us from getting through! Attack!"
Quill and Litleo launched simultaneous flamethrower at the human shells while Shinx shocked them with electricity. They managed to bring down one and hit several others, but the shells felt no pain and had no reason to stop.
"Watch out for their weapons and just bring them down, don't stay behind and finish them!" Shrew ordered.
The five Pokémon obeyed, and instead of using their special attacks, they pounced, tackled, bit, scratch and kicked the humans with all their might, making sure to attack their legs or sneak around their backs, dodging their weapons. Shrew, Quill and Bagon soon joined the action, Shrew effortlessly bringing down one with his claws while using his tail to fight another. Even Krane helped the Pokémon from afar, throwing whatever he could get on his hands at the humans.
"Shrew, Quill, go!" Sandile yelled as it used its tail to knock down one human shell. "We'll take care of these guys!"
"No way!" Shrew argued as he dodged when one of the humans tried to hit him with a baseball bat. "We go together! We're getting out of here!"
"You don't understand, Shrew," said the Skiddo. "We don't want to leave."
"All five of us were born in this place!" Litleo yelled. "We had a life here, and with the humans gone, we can make it a better one!"
"Yeah!" agreed the Rattata. "There's nothing for us out there. Just-"
The Rattata was silenced when a human managed to hit it with a club, sending the little rat Pokémon flying away. Hissing in rage, Sandile attacked the human, sinking its teeth into the human's arm and dragging it down. Litleo made eye contact with Shrew, giving him a determined, intense look.
"All we can do is make sure you guys can escape!" it said. "Call it our little reward for all you've done for us, Shrew!"
"But I didn't-"
Quill silenced him. "Thank you," she told Litleo. "We won't waste this opportunity!"
"Just don't forget us!" Litleo said cheerfully and pounced an another human.
"Well I'm getting out," Bagon said. "I wanna see what freedom is like!
"Bagon, look out!" Shrew yelled suddenly.
Bagon didn't dodge in time – one of the humans with a sharp piece of debris managed to stab the little dragon-type in the back. The Skiddo tackled the human to the ground while Krane rushed over to catch Bagon before it fell down and hit its head on the floor.
"GO!" Litleo yelled.
Shrew, Quill and Krane dashed towards the teleport chambers and didn't look back.