Chapter 8
Spectra racked his brain for any possible way out of this trap so that he could stop Lina from coming back. Every second that passed him by made his heart pound harder. "I WILL come back." Those were the last words Spectra had heard Lina say, and he knew that they were true, so he had to get free.
Spectra looked for any weak links in the vines, trying every knot with his hand. Unfortunately, they were tied extremely well. "Too complicated to undo without being seen," he thought to himself. It was highly unlikely that any of the Rattata would be willing to help him, either. Spectra sighed and retracted his hand.
"Ow!", he yelped. Something had pricked the back of his arm. He looked and saw that a piece of sharp bark was loose next to his shoulder. Spectra flashed back to when Shocks had zapped him earlier and realized that Shocks must've broken the bark loose.
"Bingo!", Spectra yelled in his head. He'd found his way out. He could use the bark to cut the vines, then when Shocks came back, Spectra could jump off the tree and land safely. Well, safely for him anyway. Spectra planned to jump on Shocks to soften his landing, and get a little payback at the same time.
Spectra then began to search for weak spots in the vines. Near the bark, Spectra saw one of the vines had a small scorch mark. Spectra slowly shook his head in triumph. "And he thinks I'm an idiot?" he said, amazed at how careless Shocks had been.
Slowly and quietly, Spectra reached up, broke off the bark, and began sawing away at the burn mark. "Stay away Lina! If you can hear me, just stay away for a little while longer," he thought, hoping she would hear his message. He managed to cut through the vine, checked to make sure that none of the Rattata had noticed, and went to work on the vine above his other shoulder. However, the bark broke and fell to the ground, splintering into pieces. Which was good, because Spectra had to leave the vine a little bit intact and he'd almost cut all the way through.
Spectra heard a rustling to his right and noticed that one of the Rattata had begun to wake up. He lowered his head, hoping to fool the Rattata into thinking that he was still asleep, and since the Rattata didn't know that Spectra's eyes were in the stomach of his costume, he easily succeeded and the Rattata went back to sleep. "Come on back Shocks," Spectra thought. "I'm waiting!"
=
Lina had been leading Alexa through the forest for what seemed like hours, even though Lina had repeatedly assured her that they'd only gotten into the forest ten minutes ago. It didn't exactly help that Lina kept shoving Alexa around with her powers. "Are we even close yet?! It feels like we've been walking in circles," Alexa whined.
"No, and if you would hurry up, we probably would have been there by now!", Lina barked.
"Well soooorry Miss stay in the shadows, but in case you haven't noticed, you keep shoving me into trees!", Alexa scolded. Lina just ignored the girl and continued through the forest.
"Wait, slow down! I can hear someone." Alexa figured that Lina meant heard their thoughts, because she couldn't hear anything but the wind dancing through the trees. "We need to move!", She urged and practically sprinted ahead. Alexa had to run just to keep up.
"Who was it?", Alexa asked.
"Shocks," Lina replied. "One of the pokemon who beat up Spectra, and he's leading us straight to him!" Alexa could hear the excitement in Lina's voice, but she could also hear the fear. Alexa guessed the little Kirlia must be afraid of what shape Spectra might be in, especially considering how beaten up he'd sounded when Lina described him.
"But won't Shocks hear us running!?", Alexa yelled in her head. She thought it would be better to talk telepathically so that other pokemon wouldn't hear their voices.
"No," Lina answered. "They are a little ways away, just enough to be where I can hear them." The two continued this pace for a little longer until Lina began to slow down. Alexa mimicked her movements and started sneaking alongside her. Lina stopped outside of a clearing and gasped. Alexa crouched down beside her. In the center of the clearing was a massive tree, and tied to that tree, was the Mimikyu that Alexa had come to save. The girl felt something grab her hand and realized it was Lina, scared for Spectra and glad to see him in one piece all at once.
Spectra looked over and noticed Lina. "You came back!", he thought, his surprise very apparent.
"I said I would, didn't I?", Lina replied. "Hold on, we'll get you down."
"No!", Spectra shot back, frightening Lina. "Not yet. I have a plan and I need Shocks for it to work. I need you to- Wait, backup. Did you say "we"? Nevermind, just stay out of sight for a little while longer and be ready to run."
Lina nodded and stepped back into the shadows. "Well, what do we do now?" Alexa asked. Lina jumped. She'd forgotten that Alexa was behind her. "Sorry," the girl said.
"It's alright, we just need to wait for Shocks to come back," Lina said. After a few minutes of waiting, Lina could hear Shocks coming back and signaled Alexa and Spectra.
However, something about all this seemed off to Alexa. It seemed like she and Lina had gotten here too easily. She wasn't sure, but Alexa thought she could hear footsteps behind her. She turned around, only to confirm her suspicions. "Uh, Lina...," Alexa said in a whisper, her voice shaky with fear.
"Not now!", Lina scolded.
"Why not, Lina?", called a familiar voice from the clearing. "My Rockruffs have been looking forward to your arrival." Shocks stepped into the light, a smug, evil grin on his face.
"How did he know we were-", Lina started, but then realized that Shocks had planned this. "Alexa, there are Rockruffs behind us, aren't there?" she asked, already knowing the answer.
"Yep, and I don't think their quite as happy to see you as Shocks is." Lina turned around to see three Rockruffs, each with their teeth bared, ready for a fight.
"Now, why don't you come over here and face me like a good little coward?", Shocks encouraged.
Lina had no choice. She had known she and Spectra were already in enough danger as it was, but now she'd gone and dragged Alexa into it. "STUPID!", she scolded herself. "Sorry," Lina said aloud in defeat.
"Just stay away from Shocks and be ready to run," Spectra thought.
"Alright," Lina replied. "C'mon Alexa."
"Don't have to tell me twice," the girl told her.
As the two walked into the light, Shocks began to snicker. "So, you brought a human along," the Pikachu said gleefully as Alexa and Lina got closer. "How unwise. But, I'm in a generous mood, so if the human agrees to leave now, she'll be unharmed. Sound fair?"
Alexa glared at the little yellow rat. "Yeah, see I have this policy on not trusting people who are holding pokemon hostage and threatening me with teeth," she retorted.
"Fair enough," Shocks replied chuckling. "I don't really believe that I would either. Boys, change of plans. Focus on the Kirlia." With the snap of his fingers, the Rockruffs began to shift and now had their eyes trained on Lina. "Door's that way," Shocks said, pointing in the direction of the cave system.
Alexa gritted her teeth, beginning to hate Shocks as much as Lina. "Fine. I never agreed to this," Alexa said as she turned around and began to walk away.
"What!? How could you!?", Lina exclaimed.
"It'll be fine," Alexa whispered through thought. "Just stay calm and remember, it will be over soon." As Alexa walked away, Lina was disgusted, both at the girl and at herself.
"You really should've known better than to trust a human," Shocks said, ridiculing Lina.
"He's right," Lina thought. "Humans really do only care about themselves."
"Oh!", Shocks exclaimed. "One more thing, Spectra. Take a look at your vines for me, would you? It would really suck if any of them had been cut."
"Wait, how did he know about that!?", Spectra thought. He then looked down and saw that the vines had completely grown back, and all his hoped seemed to be swallowed into the darkness.
"Yes, I'm afraid those aren't just vines," Shocks teased. "Tie her up and let the revenge begin!" The Rockruffs forced Lina towards the giant tree. Then, as if the vines had a mind of their own, the ones around Spectra began to move and a second set of identical vines descended and hauled Lina into the air. Spectra realized what Shocks meant. The vines were from a pokemon on the other side of the tree.
"That's why they grew back!", Spectra said, mentally slapping himself for being so dull.
"Well, you didn't honestly think I would give a Mimikyu of all pokemon a breakable prison, did you? I'm truly offended that you think I could be so stupid Spectra," Shocks teased, enjoying the taste of Spectra's regret.
Lina wasn't paying attention. She had focused what Alexa had told her before the girl left. For some reason, Lina couldn't shake the feeling that Alexa was trying to tell her something. "What did she mean?"
