HELLO EVERYONE

Marmar here to scare you with another chapter! 8D

+Insert usual excuses for why I haven't been writing so much

+Insert LeafxGreenx3 and milsu22 poking me until I actually worked on it

+Insert WHOOPWHOOPs when I actually got it done

+Insert appropriate music for this: Kagamine Len and Megpoid Gumi - Ah, it's a wonderful cat life! and Kagamine Len - Dream-Eating Monochrome Baku

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ALEXIS' CHAPTER

"Rutabaga." I hissed to Andrew, nudging him so that I got his attention, "Rutabaga, rutabaga-rutabaga, RUTABAGA!"

He glared at me, probably to shut up, "…rutabaga?"

"Puh-lease, rutabaga is rutabagaing and rutabaga to the rutabaga with le rutabaga rutabaga rutabaga has rutabaga!"

An epic gasp was heard, "Rutabaga, not the rutabaga!"

I turned to Jess, who had somehow magically appeared behind us, and stretched my arms for a bro hug, "RUTABAGA!"

Sasha rubbed her temple in annoyance, "Can we please stop talking about vegetables?"

Andrew stepped closer to Jess the second I was left hanging, "How did your mission go?"

"Not okay," Jess pouted, crossing her arms, and Andrew's Gliscor glided through the giant hole in the wall to land on her head. "Giles and Nick are in the skies. I went over to find them, but it was hard. They were fighting a Salamance so I had issues getting near them. Nick found a way to get to me and told me to get away, probably because I was pretty much defenceless out there, holding on like I was. Still, I really prefer flying in dangerous skies than going up stupid stairs."

"Stairs do suck," I groaned, falling in step with the duo. "Why are we going up these again?"

"Obviously, to stop the boss," Sasha rolled her eyes, already a dozen stairs ahead of us, "They're always on the highest floor."

What? Who says we need logic?

"Okay, that's a random thought," Jess laughed, "But seriously though, what are you guys doing up here? Weren't you protecting the dome?"

"Andrew stalked you!" I teased, trying to skip the stairs three at a time. The fewer stairs to climb, the better! "He got really worried!"

Said male flushed and tried to hit me in the midst of his embarrassment, but I was such a ninja that I epically dodged. Watch out double Js! I'm out for you guys next! Ninja battle for the win!

Let's get serious now.

"So why are we going on top of this tower…" Sasha turned and I bumped into her, having been in the zone with my full blast stair-skippage. "…Jessica?"

"Did you guys see the Xatu that flew in the town?" She asked, glancing up to stare at the Gliscor who was still sitting on her head comfortably. "Well, um, how should I say this…?" She bit her lip as we stood in a make-shift square around her, anxiously awaiting our grand purpose in life. "It brought the Soul Dew…?"

"The Soul Dew." I repeated, my eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "The one from our town? What's it doing all the way over here?"

She shrugged, "That's the thing. No one can figure it out. I originally thought that they were going to find a way to control the Eon Pokémon with it, but nothing happened so far. Plus, I saw Bianca and Roth riding here on them, so there has to be something else. We must've missed or overlooked something that could help us figure out what's going on." She glanced behind her shoulder before ushering us to go higher. "Let's hurry up. I don't want us to get caught. One of the grunts is sure to notice me landing here and will come after us."

"Yeah, let's move!" Andrew agreed with her. I quickly spun back around and went back to my ninja movements, enjoying it. Now I know why the double Js do this so much. It's so much fun!

I tripped on Physic (my Ralts) and landed flat on my face. Uh… nevermind about the fun. It hurts.

"Come on, Alexis," Andrew huffed at me, "Be careful and hurry up."

I shook my fist at him, "Shush you! You try to be a ninja and not fall over."

He sent me a daunting smirk, "Like this?" And then cartwheeled.

ON THE STAIRS.

WHAT.

I quickly snuck up behind him and shoved him so he'd stumble. "A-ha!"

He rolled his eyes at me and continued on, his Kirlia giving me the stink eye before following faithfully. I was suddenly glad that we decided to return our bigger Pokémon (my Absol and Sasha's Zangose), or else we'd have no room and I couldn't be a fail ninja anymore. And then maybe he would've fallen through the hole instead of actually sticking his landing. Hm.

I heard the sound of Sasha smacking her forehead with her palm and stuck out my tongue at her.

'Immature,' she mouthed to me.

'Jealous!' I made a face and she wrinkled her nose in distaste.

"You guys really get along—" Jessica started with a giggle, but then her eyes caught something and she stopped talking. She took the lead of our group and crept up more stairs, holding her hand up for us to stay quiet. Curious, and not wanting to piss her off, we obeyed and lined ourselves behind her to see what she was doing (and what she was sneaking around).

"Well done, Jace." The voice of the woman that started the disruption at the contest was recognizable from here. I inched closer and tilted my ear closer, trying to catch the full conversation.

"It was easy." Jace, the evil playboy, was still as cocky and egotistical than ever. "I just faked the flu and they let me stay back. Biggest mistake on their part, if I do say so myself."

Sasha let out a low growl from her throat and I gave her a look to be quiet. She glared at me though, and her Pachirisu was following her master's attitude by letting out small sparks from her cheek pouches.

'Not the right time!' I mouthed in a hurry, hoping she'd calm.

'But I want to beat him up!'

'You can do that after they reveal their plans!' Jess jumped in with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

Sasha nodded, staying serious, and took her Pachirisu off her shoulder, probably to keep her out of sight (her sparks could be potentially noticeable).

"What about the Latios and Latias?" The woman inquired, shifting further away. "They're supposed to guard it."

"That was also easy." He was getting further away too. They must be climbing the stairs as they conversed. We tried to inch closer without being seen. "The teachers let the Pokémon meet the students so that they knew that we were good people and that they wouldn't attack us if they saw us."

Oh… no…

Jess put a hand to her mouth as she gasped, "Then… that means…"

"I literally waltzed in, took the Soul Dew, and left. Just like that." Jace snapped his fingers as he continued smugly. "Like taking candy from a baby."

"They didn't put up a fight?" The woman, I think her name was Iris, asked incredulously.

I inched closer, wanting to see them too. It felt weird listening to a voice you couldn't keep track of. I spotted Iris first, with her Arcanine trotting lightly in front of her, and then Jace. They were walking alongside each other, both wearing matching dark cloaks.

"At the end, yes," Jace shrugged nonchalantly and continued up the spiraling staircase, "But I didn't stay back to battle them. It would've been a waste of time."

Iris nodded. "As long as you got the Soul Dew, I don't care how you did it."

"Good!" Jace smirked and took out something from his cloak's pockets. It glinted, bright, shining, and blue as he held it up higher.

"He has the Soul Dew!" Andrew quickly piped up. "We can still stop them!" Jessica and Sasha nodded with me and I turned around to look at him as he went on. "Let's think of a plan to get the Soul Dew back." He pulled us back to hide completely behind the pole and we went into a group huddle, where all of our heads met in the center. It was funny, since we were four so it was perfect. "No unleashing anymore Pokémon, that would only draw attention to us."

Jess nodded, "Yeah, let's stick to the ones we have now."

I shot a quick glance to the available ones and started to think. We had a Kirlia, a Ralts, a Pachirisu, and a Gliscor. Two psychics, an electric, and a flying type. What can we do with that?

"I got a plan," Sasha quickly jumped in, a smirk on her features. Man, she worked fast. She leaned closer and made a sign for us to do the same. "Alright, listen carefully."

-LINEBIATCH-

We waited and waited. Jace wasn't doing anything with the Soul Dew it would seem. He was holding it way too close and it was hard to get a good view of it from here. Come on, we don't want to see your back Jace… show us your side or your front! (As long as you don't notice us, I mean!) Let us see the Soul—oh look, he lifted it! Good enough!

"Psychic, use confusion!" I whispered to my Ralts. She nodded her cute tiny green helmet-head and lifted her little hands. I watched Jace intently, trying to see if it would work. I saw the purple energy wrap around his ankles and glue them to the floor, and I was unable to keep the grin off my face.

"H-hey, I'm stuck!" Jace suddenly yelped, fruitlessly trying to move his feet. Sasha snickered in amusement next to me.

"What?" Iris looked at him over her shoulder. "Stop goofing around and hurry up. Ray," I swear she swooned as she said this name, "will not wait for incompetent children like you."

"Kirlia, psychic, now!" Andrew hissed lowly, taking advantage of the moment. His Kirlia twirled and whipped its hand in the air. I watched, wondering if Jace would notice.

"Hey!" Jace yelled back at her, putting his hand with the Soul Dew down at his side as he pointed furiously at her with his other hand. "I am not incompetent! I brought you the Soul Dew!" Speaking of sparkling jewels, Andrew's Kirlia was carefully manoeuvring it out of his finger tips. "You should be grateful that you have someone as great as me on your team!"

I watched the orb intently, really hoping he wouldn't notice it hovering away from him. It was so close. So very close! A few more inches this way and we were home free!

"Grateful?" Iris scoffed and turned her back to all of us. Even better! "The only person I'm grateful to is Ray, not a pompous high school boy like you."

"I'll have you know—" He suddenly cut himself off as she left him alone there. He groaned and sighed, looking back down at his feet as he tried to move them.

Come on, just a bit more—

"Shit!" Sasha hissed, "I think he noticed!" She glanced down to make sure her Pachirisu was with her. "Knock him out with spark!"

"Pachi!" Blaze chirped before charging all her electricity power.

Almost as if in slow motion, Jace's face turned to us and he noticed what we were doing. He instantly glared and reached a hand for the still hovering Soul Dew. "What do you think yo—"

"Risu!" Blaze cried as she finished, bright yellow electricity flying wildly from her as she dashed for him. Before he saw it coming, he was knocked to the ground and sizzled like bacon with the energy released.

"Move! Move! Move!" Andrew said as we jumped to our feet, rushing over to the scene. I took over the top of the stairs, making sure no one would come down and notice us. Jessica did the same for the bottom, while Sasha and Andrew took their time to time to tie up Jace (Sasha had rope in her bag for some reason… "Don't look at me, I-I go rock climbing sometimes!") and put away the Soul Dew. Andrew was the one to keep it. He put it in his bag, returned his Kirlia, and grabbed onto his Gliscor, nodding a quick salut to us before the Pokémon dragged him in the air. With Andrew leaving with the Soul Dew, we had nothing to worry about now. The other grunts won't know he had it unless Jace blabbed it out. And I'm sure he won't do that with the three of us guarding him like total creepers.

"You won't get away with this." Jace grunted as he wrestled with the ropes. Blaze, who was sitting comfortably on his head, sent him another electric shock to get him to stop squirming. He hissed and dropped back against the wall, glaring at us. "How dare you tie me up?"

"How dare us? How dare YOU?" Sasha stalked forward, pulling back her fist.

I foresaw a punch coming and quickly jumped between them, "Sasha, no violence! You can do it after this is all over!"

"He deserves to be punched right now." She returned her fist in front of her and cracked her knuckles instead, moving her head to the side to do the same to her neck as well. "And I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants a go at him either." She huffed and walked to the opposite wall, leaning against it as she tried to calm down. "It's what he gets for being a traitor."

Jace stayed uncharacteristically silent. I returned to my post, peering up the spiraling stairs. I was starting to feel dizzy just looking up at it. I had to wonder where Iris was and if she was going to come back for him. Though, by the sound of their earlier argument, they didn't get along well, so I'm guessing she wouldn't normally bother. But still. What if she'd send some other grunts down here to make sure he hadn't been ambushed? I felt the paranoia strike.

"Hey, Jace," Jessica piped up, looking over her shoulder and up at him. "Why did you betray us?"

"I didn't betray you—" He started, but Sasha stomped her foot and made him shut up.

"You so did," She hissed. "Taking the Soul Dew and helping the bad guys count as betrayal."

He stayed silent after that, gluing his eyes to his sneakers. His expression looked cold and irritated, probably about the situation that befell him. I would be so too if I were him. I wouldn't even try to talk to my captors! But I guess it makes sense he would try to reason with us, he used to be our friend (I think).

"Are…" Jess glanced at Sasha to make sure she wouldn't yell again. "…you going to answer?"

"Not if she keeps interrupting me!" His head snapped up and glared at her. Blaze shot him more electricity at the sudden movement, for almost falling off. He ignored it, probably getting used to it. I sat down in the steps, getting bored of watching nothing, and started wishing for some popcorn. And some comfier stairs. But mostly popcorn. Arguments always keep me so entertained.

"Fine." Sasha grudgingly grumbled, glaring right back at him.

"Good!" Jace snapped back, looking like he wanted to say a lot more but held himself back. We watched him for a few silent minutes before I had enough of drilling holes into his face with my eyes.

"Well?" I drawled, forcing back a yawn.

"I-I don't know how to explain…" He had the nerve to look sheepish.

"The truth would help." Sasha leered under her breath, earning a smirk from me and a roll of the eyes from Jess.

"There she goes again!" Jace complained. I bet he would've swung his hand out to smack her too if we hadn't tied him up so perfectly.

"You were taking forever!"

"Yeah, cuz I was trying to figure out how to explain!"

Ohhh, here's an opportunity! "Explain what?" I quickly jumped in before Sasha could retort.

"Explain how left out I was!" I did not expect that from him. "As the rumors spread and I was secluded from the population, being insulted and thrashed and even slapped, I fell to the low of the low. Sure, I cheated on Kiera, but that was one time. I realized my mistake when my nose finally stopped bleeding, but it was already too late at the time." Oh no, he was trying to use the guilt card on us. And it was working! "I was ready to start a new honest living, but it became too much. No one would give me a chance or even listen to me, not even my own teammates!" He pleaded. "My thoughts started turning dark and all I wanted was for them to realize how bad they hurt me! That's when Iris and Ray gave me a chance." And he joined them. "But now I realize my mistake…" He looked really guilty and heartbroken. "I don't want to face you guys anymore… It hurt me as much as it hurts you…" His eyes were glittering. W-was he really on the verge of tears? Did we do that to him?

"G-guys, let's untie him…" Jess turned to us, looking as guilty as Jace did, if not, even more so. "He didn't mean to… he was just really unhappy about the way we treated him…"

Sasha and I shared a look, going into a mental discussion with our eyes to think about it. When she eventually shrugged, I shrugged back and then nodded to Jessica. "Alright. We trust your judgement Jess."

After waiting a bit to see if anyone else would do it, I crept behind Jace and turned him away from the wall so that I could work on the ropes. He let me of course, sending me a small smile in thanks (which seemed oddly fake to me) before humming a small tune. I rolled my eyes at his weird sudden mood swing and worked through the knots, not taking into much consideration that he was reaching for one of his Pokéballs with his tied up hands. The second that the most troublesome areas were undone, Jace started to squirm and wiggle uncontrollably in the binds, suddenly a lot more rushed and violent than before.

I slid the last knot free and tried to soothe him. "Hey, calm down, I undid all of—"

His elbow whammed into my face harshly, sending me hissing in pain to the ground as I held my precious precious face daintily. What the hell was wrong with him?

The sound of an opening Pokéball echoed and I peered through my fingers in time to spot the giant creature exploding from the red and white ball. I shrieked and dived to the side, nearly avoiding getting hit in the face again by its giant arm orb thing. Was he stupid? Send out his giant Claydol in such a tiny space? He's got to be insane!

Jace laughed maniacally, "Once more, I am astounded by the naivety you STARS all seem to possess!" He clambered on his Pokémon until he was comfortably seated on top of it.

"I should've known he was lying!" Sasha hissed, dropping to her knees as yet another hole was busted in the wall of the stairs, this one near her head as Jace missed an attack at her. Blaze flew from her shoulder and ran around the creature, blowing a few Swift stars here in there to try and get in confused. It only served to irritate it, and the Claydol managed to knock out the Pachirisu with a well-aimed Mud-Slap. With a low growl at how the tables have turned, she returned her Pokémon. "I should've never given you the benefit of the doubt!"

"Too late, little Minx!" Jace had officially gone insane with power. It was really creepy watching him from here. "It's your fault for letting me free in the first place! Now you'll regret it forever!"

"Forest, come on out!" Jessica cried as she unleashed her own Pokémon. "Use Magical Leaf!"

Her Leafeon instantly jumped in the air, his giant leaf glowing bright rainbow colours as it charged with energy. With a quick whip of the head, multicoloured leaves of shapes and sizes peeling away from him to surge forward at the foe Pokémon. Jace simply sat there, disinterested as both he and his Pokémon were attacked by the barrage of leaves. When the multicoloured grass attack finally cleared and faded away, Jace's eyes lit up.

"Ohh, a challenge!" Jace grinned, but then turned his Pokémon away from her. "Too bad I have to leave and follow Andrew. You see, he took my Soul Dew and I kindly want it back."

"Not a chance!" Jessica frowned, not liking how he was underestimating her. "Forest, Leaf Blade!"

"Feon!" Forest cried as his overgrown forehead leaf started to glow again, only this time it was green in power. He charged at our traitor.

"We should stop gawking and help stop him." She pulled out her second Pokéball and called out her Zangoose. I didn't really know how a normal type was going to help us in this situation, since I'm guessing we needed a type advantage if we wanted a clear victory, but I didn't dare bother her about it. Knowing her, she already had a plan formed. She was good at making plans.

"What do you have in mind?" I cried as the noises of the battle started to get worst and a whole lot louder. I picked up my Ralts and dodged a few flying debris.

"Help me create a hole in the wall!" She yelled back, nodding to her Pokémon. Without even an order, it dashed forward and unsheathed bright, glowing, metal claws, attacking the wall in a red and white flurry.

Now was the perfect time to point out her flaw. "But Jace'll just escape faster—"

"Trust me!" Her expression was strong and determined, refusing to waver at any doubt I threw at her. "My plans never failed before."

"Okay," I nodded back and readied myself. I looked down at Psychic in my hands. "Ready?" My adorable little Ralts nodded her head and wriggled into my hands until I let her back down on the floor. "Alright then, use Psychic!" She gave another energetic little nod before lifting her hands and concentrating hard, sending waves and waves of pulsing energy to knock down the wall. I glanced down at my belt, wondering if it would be okay to let my Absol out as well, when everything started shaking. I stumbled around until I found a good grip on the wall, holding in my screams that this tower was going to fall.

"HAHAH!" Jace laughed darkly, not bothered at all by the shaking ground, seeing as him and his Pokémon were levitating. "Use Earthquake again, Dray!"

"He's gone insane!" I cried, staring jealously at Sasha who was somehow being able to keep her balance like a ninja, unlike me. "Forget the wall—we have to get out of here before this whole place falls apart!"

"No!" My partner of justice yelled back, still determined as ever. "The hole is almost done! And this earthquake will help us!"

"I'll help too!" Jessica cried, her and Forest joining us now that Jace and Dray were going on a rampage and didn't a smidge about us.

"Okay! Let's do it!" Sasha beamed and pointed forward. "Metal Claw!"

"Psychic!" I followed.

"Leaf Blade!" Jess joined in.

At once, the three Pokémon charged and unleashed their attack, the wall not having a strong enough defense and crumbling under our awesome skillz of doom. We quickly cheered and highfived at our victory before Sasha pulled us into a huddle, her Zangoose zipping everywhere to ensure that no flying bricks or rocks would hit us.

"We'll use our combined energy to blow Jace out of that hole!"

We nodded back.

"His Pokémon can levitate though." Jessica was quick to point out.

"If we blow him far enough, it won't be able to find a good area to levitate on." She was quick to reply, "No physical attacks. We don't want our Pokémon going out with them!"

"How do we lure them to the hole then?" I finally asked, the question started to nag on my mind.

"I'll take care of that," We broke our huddle and hurried to surround Jace and his Pokémon.

"Ohhh, what's this?" Jace mocked, "You puny little trainers actually think you can stop me? Think again!" He howled. "Psybeam!"

"Duck!" Jessica yelped dropping to the little floor stairs could give, us following closely behind. The attacks shredded through a large portion of the wall, merging the destruction it just created with the large hole we spent our time making.

"I guess we could've just provoked it enough to do that…" I mumbled to Sasha, "Would've saved us time instead of working on making a hole…"

"Shut up!" She hissed back lightly, throwing a thumbs up in the air. That was the go symbol. "Jace, your wave of tyranny ends here!"

"TRY ME!" He hollered back, not bothered by the fact he was going to be blown away like Team Rocket.

"Fine then!" Sasha was really happy he was going down. "Now guys!"

I pointed forward, "Psychic, use Psychic!"

Jess did the same, "Magical Leaf, Forest!"

"And Claw…" Sasha was also good at being super awesomely dramatic. "…use Water Pulse!"

I did not see that attack coming, but HECK YEAH! Way to learn an unexpected move set!

Our waves of concentrated psychic energy and mystical leaves whirled around the large amount pulsing water, merging into one large attack. Jace's jaw literally dropped to the floor and he gawked forever until he realized at the last second he had to move. "SHIT—" His reaction was cut short, obviously, as the attack hit him straight on and not only pushed him off, but sent him flying back past the forest behind the Space-Time Tower (from what I can tell) and over the edge of the town's cliff. Good riddance to you, Jace!

"We did it!" Jessica jumped for joy. I did so too when I realized that this place was slowly starting to settle down.

"This place isn't going to be destroyed!"

"Whoo!"

For some reason, Sasha wasn't as enthusiastic as we were and her eyes were glued to the exterior. "We have to hurry to the top!" She suddenly exclaimed, rushing back up the stairs after seeing something I couldn't. Jess and I shared a look before sprinting after her. We were already really near the top, probably another 20 stairs to go, but why was she suddenly so agitated and in a rush?

"What's wrong?" I gasped, skipping steps to go faster. "I thought we saved the day!"

"Yeah!" Jess agreed with me, "We took away the Soul Dew from them and then knocked out Jace! The end, right?"

"No! Not the end!" She barely even looked at us, pushing herself to go faster. I felt the strong urge to knock her out cold. We did save the day! The Soul Dew was safe in Andrew's hands and all we had to do was bring it back to Lance and everything would be—

"Oh wow!" Jessica gasped as we were finally out of the damn endless winding staircase. We weren't at the top per-say of the tower, but it was still close enough. We reached another room and in this one, we were surrounded by a large metallic machine. Its large center piece reached high for the ceiling and ended with two large spikes that passed electricity forth. Near its foot was a spot where there were disks inserted, and on the side was little measuring and time dials. There was many other intricate little things, but it was hard for me to know what they all were and what they did unless in action.

"It's like a giant CD player…" She breathed, gazing up at it in awe with us.

"It probably is…" I replied without thinking, my eyes roaming everywhere. They landed on the scenery outside and I couldn't help myself from nearing it. "We're so high up!"

"Duh," Sasha replied from behind me, probably rolling her eyes.

"H-hey… I think I know why we were in such a hurry to get up here…" Jess' tone had a sudden hint of fear in it. Surprised, I turned to her, finding her standing next to the machine facing some hallway, and quickly joined her. She was as pale as a sheet! Maybe she saw a ghost?

"What?" I asked, even if I knew she wouldn't answer right away. She pointed straight down the hall and I followed the direction of her finger faithfully. Down the hall, with the woman known as Iris were her Arcanine, and a large Pokémon and its owner. "It's the Aerodactyl!"

"Not just that," She inched me closer, but not close enough so that they'd notice us. "Look at what—or more like whom—they have with them!"

I leaned forward and squinted, trying to see what she could but I couldn't. My gaze roamed over the large gray body over the Pokémon and the two humans, one male and one female, noticing that they both wore the dark capes of the higher-up grunt members/bosses. I could recognize Iris, yup yup, but the male had his hood up so he was still a mystery. His hand his hand up and in it—

"HEY!" I hissed lowly, jabbing Jess with my finger in a fury, "Why in the world does that guy have the Soul Dew? We took it from them!"

"Stand over here!" Sasha yanked me to the side, setting me at a different angle to watch the scene. With this new place, I finally took notice of it and gulped, dread falling to the gut of my stomach.

Under the Aerodactyl's wings were both Assassin and Andrew, battered, bruised, and completely knocked out.