Last time, on Explorers of Prehistory...
Nicholas and Laura, after searching high and low for a ship to take them back to where Tiny Island sank, finally decided to head back to Team Berserker's ship. However, their mystery stalker continues to follow them... Meanwhile, Blade and Iron met up with an Umbreon named Tracen, and saved him from a group of Umbreon only to run into more, and Tracen's sister, a Glaceon named Celeste, members of a mysterious organization...
What will happen next? Find out now!
"Alright," Iron said. "One more time... One, two... Dragon Pulse."
Blue flames licked Blade's frozen form. The ice began to sizzle and fade away, cracking and melting. Finally, it burst open, and Blade fell down from his icy prison, gasping and coughing.
Iron grabbed his friend and steadied him. "Easy, bud," the Garchomp said. "You've taken a bit of a beatin'."
"W-what happened?" Blade asked, shaking his limbs to get the chilled blood flowing again.
"We got sucker punched by some Glaceon's Ice Beam attack," Iron explained. "Our Umbreon pal - his name's Tracen, by the way - broke the ice on me so I could use Draco Meteor on the other Umbreon. Sent the shmucks runnin' to their mothers."
"Oh," Blade said, as if it were the obvious answer. "So, where did the two Eeveelutions run off to?"
"Nowhere," Iron said. "They're right over there."
Blade turned his chilly head to see the Glaceon and Umbreon in the middle of a severe scolding session. The Glaceon was growling at her brother in a quiet tone, and her brother simply looked at her and nodded, not paying any real attention.
"Do you realize just how stupid that was?!" Celeste snapped. "You blew your cover and nearly got us killed all in one night!"
"I did not blow my cover!" argued Tracen, actually hearing that comment. "It was blown for me! The Umbreon have an excellent spy network, remember?"
"Oh, I'm sure!" Celeste said, sarcastically.
"Hey," Tracen said. "This is me, okay? I'm the best spy the resis-"
"Don't say it!" snapped Celeste. "You know you're not allowed to say it!"
Tracen scowled. "I'm the best spy you have," he said. "I did not blow my cover. If anything, you shouldn't be angry with me! How about a little concern, huh?"
"I am concerned!" admitted Celeste. "I'm concerned you could have gotten killed!"
"Not about me," said Tracen, rolling his eyes. "They knew I wasn't one of them - someone had to tell them. We might have a leak."
Celeste's glare intensified, and her rage returned. "A leak?!" she snapped. "Are you saying that the resis-!?"
"Not allowed to say it," Tracen interrupted with a hint of smugness.
Celeste rolled her eyes and continued. "Are you saying that someone in... the group, could be a spy?! Are you serious?!"
"You got a better explanation?" Tracen said.
"This isn't about a spy!" Celeste spluttered. "This is about you going all loose-cannon! You tried to take on those Umbreon by yourself, and you let that guy" she pointed at Iron "out to help us! What if he was on their side!"
"I'm not," Iron said, folding his arms.
"Don't make me freeze you again!"
Tracen sighed. "Okay, okay!" he said. "Fine. I'll be more careful."
"Don't give me that!" Celeste said. Tears were starting to form her in her eyes. "You're my only brother, Tracen. I... I don't want to see you get yourself killed!"
Tracen gave a cocksure grin. "Me? Get killed? Hey, you really do worry too much!"
"Oh for the love of..." Iron growled. "Look, you idiot, she's worried about you! Shut up and listen to her!"
"Don't make me freeze you again," snapped Celeste. "I can scold my brother by myself, thank you."
Iron grumbled in response. "Whatever... Look, you two wanna tell me what's going on?!"
"No," the Eeveelutions answered in unison.
"Isn't it obvious, Iron?" asked Blade. "They're members of the Eeveelution Resistance," he said, before Celeste could hush him.
Iron looked down at the two. "There guys?" he asked. "These guys are part of the most mysterious rebellion movement in history?" He looked at the duo skeptically.
"So what if we are?!" Tracen demanded.
"Shh!" hushed Celeste, angry that Blade had figured it out. "How did you know?" she demanded.
"Mere observation," Blade said. "It doesn't take a genius to figure it out. Besides, your own reluctance to state the name of your organization is quite suspicious."
"Not to mention you said 'resis' like five times," Iron said with a dry smile. "Not a lot of words that start with 'resis', you know."
"Touche," Tracen said, conceding defeat there.
Celeste stared suspiciously at the duo. "Fine, we are members of the... you know what. What business is it to you?"
"None, really," Blade said. "We've never come in contact with the resistance before."
"Which side are you on?" demanded Tracen.
"Pardon?"
"Which side?" Tracen glared hard at the bounty hunters. "Espeon or Umbreon?"
"Neither," Iron said. "They're both actin' like morons!"
Blade gave a small glare to Iron; he could have handled that a little more diplomatically, but the answer seemed to satisfy the siblings. "Right," Tracen said. "They are."
"Innocent Pokemon are being killed, kidnapped, bought, and sold by both sides," Celeste said, anger and sorrow filling her voice. "Hundreds of each kind are killed each day. Both tribes have tried to get the other Eeveelutions to join their cause, but all of them refused, and they refuse to step in and fight them off to stop this senseless violence."
It was no secret that the Umbreon and Espeon tribes had tried to convince the other Eevee Tribes, the Flareon, Jolteon, Vaporeon, Glaceon and Leafeon tribes to join them. However, each tribe refused, and refused to get involved. If all five of the remaining tribes were to join together, they could have defeated both Umbreon and Espeon long ago, but all of them refused to start open war, backed up by the Dragonite Empire. As such, both Umbreon and Espeon were not above secretly raiding towns and villages for supplies or potential warriors. As mentioned before, they would often kidnap Eevee and try to force them to evolve into either an Umbreon or Espeon and to to join their respective armies - no easy task, as Umbreon and Espeon were Pokemon that evolved via happiness. As such, brainwashing and bribery were often used. They also often allied themselves with whatever group of criminals came their way - such as the Dark Claw Pirates, and the Reaper Wings.
Many of the Eevee Tribes were enraged that their leaders weren't going to fight against their foolish kin, and it didn't take too long for the Resistance to form. Espionage, sabotage, and rescue operations were their game, and they played to win. No one had ever captured a member, and no one knew who they really were - until today. Two members were now in plain view of Iron and Blade.
"Well, you two clearly hate this war," Blade said.
"Of course!" Tracen snapped. "Why else would we join the resistance?!"
"Shh!" snapped Celeste. "Don't say that word! We might be being watched!"
Blade raised his blades, looking around. "I don't see anyone... but I don't want to take any chances."
Iron looked down at the siblings. "Is it safe enough to tell us what in Palkia's name was goin' on back there?"
Tracen sighed. "Oh, fine. Celeste and I were sent on a mission here," he began.
"Tracen!" Celeste snapped.
"Oh, like they haven't been able to figure out pretty much everything else already!" Tracen retorted. He sighed, and continued. "There's some dame around here who just managed to capture a good deal of Pokemon - including a lot of Eevee, young ones. The Umbreon are planning to buy them."
"That's horrible," Blade said.
"Yeah, right?" Tracen agreed. "So we got sent by our superiors - who shall not be named - to infiltrate and end the operation."
"Just two of you? Blade said, surprised.
"Well, too many Eeveelutions arriving at the same time could draw unwanted attention to outselves," said Celeste.
"Yeah," Tracen agreed. "So we came, I tried to sneak in as one of those yahoos, I got discovered, beaten up, and, well, then you guys showed up."
"They wouldn't have to show up if you were more careful!" Celeste was quick to point out.
"Hey, I got what we needed, didn't I?" said an offended Tracen. "I know where they're being held!"
Celeste blinked. "You do?" she asked.
"I do! I know where the warehouse is!" Tracen said. "We can sneak in and out with the captives before they even see it coming!" he added, proudly.
"Goood for you," Blade said. "But those Umbreon... Umbreon..." His eyes widened. "Sweet Children of Arceus, Shadow and Laura!"
Iron blinked. "Dang it!" he shouted. "I can't believe we forgot about them!"
"Who?" asked Tracen.
"Friends of ours," explained Blade. "An Umbreon and a Lopunny. They left our ship to find a vessel to take them back to where Tiny Island sank."
Celeste blinked. "Wha... Tiny Island sank?" she said, horrified.
"Yeah," Iron said. "We came to this dung-stain of a place to send a message to the Gardevoir Guild about it."
"Wait a minute," Tracen said. "You work with the guild? And the Dragonite Empire?"
"Yeah, what's it to ya?" demanded Iron.
Both Tracen and Celeste looked disturbed and angered by this revelation. "The Dragonite Empire..." Celeste said lowly. "They could have stopped this... they could have stopped this a long time ago."
"They could have, yes," said Blade.
"Well?" Tracen said, angrily. "Why don't they, then?!"
"Do we look like politicians to you?" asked Iron.
"...No," Tracen said. "You don't look smart enough to be politicians."
Unintentional insults aside, the four Pokemon now had major problems on their hands. Tracen and Celeste had been spotted by their enemy, and were likely still being hunted. Iron and Blade had no idea where Shadow and Laura were, and with things being how they were, they could be in serious trouble.
"We need to get out of here..." Blade said.
"Not a bad idea..." Iron said. "We should find Laura and Shadow, and get to the ship."
"After that little fiasco?" Celeste said. "You don't have a chance. The Umbreon are watching the docks, and word spreads fast around here. They'll know who you are and take you down before you know they're there."
"Oh. Great," Iron murmured sarcastically. "Now what?"
"Now we find Laura and Shadow," said Blade gravely. "Whether we're being watched or not, they could be in serious danger." He turned back to Celeste and Tracen. "You'll have to forgive us," he said, "but we have urgent business to take care of. We must be off."
"Wait a minute," Celeste said. "We don't even know your names."
"I am called Blade."
"I'm Iron."
The two bounty hunters looked at the brother sister duo. "And we're Team Berserker," they said in quiet unison.
With that, they took off. Blade swiftly leaped to the top of the nearest building, shooting off into the distance, while Iron disappeared from the alley way with surprising stealth from one so large.
Tracen looked at Celeste. "Do we follow?"
His sister nodded. "We do."
"We're being followed."
Shadow's no-nonsense voice cut through Laura's depressing inner turmoil of self-pity. "What?" she asked, nervously.
"Shh!" Shadow hushed. "Look behind. Slowly."
Laura slowly turned her head. She could see him. A Scyther, wearing a dark cloak, keeping his distance from them but walking in the same direction. It couldn't be Blade - he would have said something to them by now, an d wasn't wearing a cloak like that on the ship. "Him?" she asked, keeping her voice low as she turned back to Shadow. "Are you certain?"
"He's been following us for some time," Shadow said. "But I wanted to be sure. He's been keeping up with us for twenty minutes."
Laura felt her heart leap into her throat. A dozen thoughts flew through her mind. Kidnapper, thief, murderer, and worse. What could that Scyther want, and what was he willing to do to achieve it?
"What do we do?" she asked, never breaking stride.
"We take him down and ask him what he wants," Shadow said. "See that alley?" he asked, looking to the side.
Laura followed his gaze. "Yes. But-?"
"We're going in it," Shadow said quietly. "I have a plan. Trust me."
Laura didn't want to go into that alley at all, but she trusted Shadow... sort of. So she held her breath and followed him into the alley. It was everything she expected. Wooden crates lying on the ground, decades old. A filthy odor hung in the air. Graffiti was scrawled on the laws in a multitude of written languages. The walls were covered in a thick layer of age old grime.
"Get in that crate," whispered Shadow, pointing to a crate with his paw. "Be quiet."
Laura blinked, surprised. She turned to ask Shadow what the plan was, but he was gone. With speed that she couldn't hope to achieve, he had managed to leaped between the two buildings and on top of one, silently and swiftly. Laura, seeing the only real alternative was to sit there and possibly face the stalker alone, swiftly crawled into the box, keeping silent. She felt her heart beat as she imagined the footsteps of the Scyther grow closer and closer. She could practically feel his long blades tearing into her sensitive skin. She clenched her fist, ready to use her Thunderpunch attack. No way she was getting taken without a fight.
Shadow was equally on edge, but he didn't let it get to him. He was an Umbreon - stealthy, quiet, and deadly. He could take down that stalker before he knew what had happened.
Shadow slowly peered over the edge. His eyes scanned the area. The Scyther was nowhere to be seen. Where did you go? the Umbreon thought, anxiously. Did he stop following them? Or perhaps, he was simply paranoid - perhaps he had never been following them at all.
He heard something hit the ground behind him. A rush of air caused his ears to perk.
Shadow whirled around by the time that the Scyther was within slashing distance. The Bug-Type hissed the words "X-Scissor," as his swords slashed and struck Shadow. The Umbreon bit his tongue to keep from screaming as the blow sent him flying from the roof-top and down to the ground. He landed on a wooden crate, right next to the one where Laura hid. Shattered wood flew as he hit the crate and sank to the ground, bleeding and bruised.
"Shadow!" shrieked a terrified Laura, rushing to the Umbreon's side.
The Scyther leaped down, landing in front of Laura. Before she could even blink, he slashed out with a blade, striking her and sending her flying back. The Lopunny groaned as she struggled to lift herself off the ground. but the Scyther was faster, pouncing at her with blades raised.
Laura gritted her teeth. "Thunderpunch!" she shouted, deviating from her lady-like tone. An aura of lightning surrounded her raised fist, and she swung it at her foe.
The Scyther side-stepped, easily dodging the attack. With a grunt, he swung again, and felled the Lopunny with a simple Slash. Laura screamed in pain as she was flung to the ground, wounded and out cold.
The Scyther didn't say anything. He walked over to Laura and slung her over his shoulder. He was prepared to take off with her, when...
"Iron Tail!"
A fierce blow aimed for the Scyther's leg knocked the Bug-Type off his feet, sending him to the ground, dropping Laura's out cold form in the process. The Bug-Type stood up in a flash, gritting his fangs at the pain in his leg, and turned to face the Umbreon.
"Big mistake," he hissed in a rasping voice.
Shadow didn't say anything. The look he gave the Scyther said enough.
Wordlessly, the two flung themselves at each other.
A Shadow Ball struck the Scyther in the chest, but it wasn't enough to stop him from striking Shadow with Slash. The two separated, retreated, and shot for their foe again.
The battle was a bloody and fierce one. The two combatants were both very agile, and it didn't take long for the fight to escalate to the roof-tops. Iron Tails, Slashes, Shadow Balls, and X-Scissors were flung left and right. The two fighters fought viciously, both taking severe hits, but neither willing to go down.
Shadow gritted his teeth as he landed on the ground, a deep cut on his forehead. He charged forward and spun about, an Iron Tail aimed for his foe's face.
The Scyther leaped back and raised his arms, spinning like a miniature green whirlwind. "Air Slash!" he hissed, releasing a blade of air that sailed right for Shadow. The Umbreon growled as he ducked underneath the attack, shooting towards his foe again.
"Quick Attack!"
With a fearsome shout, Shadow head butted the Scyther in the thorax, sending them both sprawling on the ground. The Scyther swiftly leaped to his feet, but an Iron Tail from Shadow put him down again.
Shadow's eyes flashed brightly as he took aim at his fallen foe. But just as he launched the Shadow Ball, the Scyther leaped up with a snarl, shooting into the air, his form becoming a shadow on the moon. The Bug Type flew high up, and then swiftly descended, spinning rapidly.
Shadow's eyes widened. That was Swords Dance. The Scyther was building up attacking power. With a desperate look on his face, he fired off several Shadow Balls, all aimed right for the Scyther's head. But the Scyther swiftly spun from side to side, each attack missing until he was right on top of Shadow.
"X-Scissor!"
Dual blades ripped into Shadow's fur and flesh. He heard the sound of bricks crumbling away. The building they were battling on was decades old, and not used to such abuse. The roof crumbled away, and Shadow fell into the house, landing in a pile of broken rubble. Raticate scurried away in horror as the Umbreon hit the ground.
Shadow groaned. Everything hurt. His entire body was in serious pain. Blood covered his black fur. He struggled to move, but he couldn't.
The Scyther landed on the streets. He looked at the badly damaged building, searching for any sign of life. Satisfied that there were no signs of movement, he made his way back to the alley, to reclaim his prize.
"N...No..."
The Scyther blinked. He turned his head. Standing there was Shadow, broken, beaten, battered, but moving, and ready to fight more.
"You..." the Scyther snarled. "You don't know when to give up! Do you know who I am?!"
"I couldn't care less..." Shadow snarled.
"Well..." the Scyther said. "Then let me tell you: I am the Black Scyther, and I have come to collect the bounty on your boss."
Shadow's eyes widened. The Black Scyther, a Scyther Bounty Hunter. He was almost of legendary status, right up there with Team Berserker and Team Ranier. He was renown for his ruthless, almost suicidal battle techniques. No one knew his true name, but he was known well for his vicious hatred of crime, any crime. He usually brought back bounties who were beaten, bloodied, and sometimes near death. And he was after... Laura. A Lopunny who lived on an out of the way little island with her daughter and had no criminal past.
"I don't know... what you're talking about," snarled Shadow.
"Likely story," said the Black Scyther. "I'm taking her in - and if I have to kill you to do it, so be it!"
With a roar, the Black Scyther charged at Shadow again. Shadow tried to charge up a Shadow Ball, but it faded away in an instant. He looked up, eyes wide as the Scyther swung his blade, aiming right for his throat...
"Dragon Pulse!"
A blast of blue flames struck the Scyther, knocking him right on his back. Snarling, the Black Scyther leaped up and growled at his new foes. However, another Scyther swiftly shot overhead, slicing at the bounty hunter before he got a chance to attack.
For the first time in a long time, Shadow gave smile. Team Berserker had joined the fight.
"Ough... Where...? Shadow...?"
When Laura the Lopunny came to, she was in an alleyway. The same alleyway. memories came back to her in a flash - the stalker attacking them, Shadow getting thrown off the roof, getting knocked unconscious herself...
She struggled to get to her feet. She heard the sounds of battle - rough voices shouting and screaming, along with explosions of powerful attacks detonating.
"Shadow..." she murmured, slowly making her way towards the battle. She had to help him. She had too-
"Vine Whip!"
A pair of blue vines covered her mouth, cutting off the scream that would have erupted from her mouth. Before she could move her arms or legs, another pair of vines completely enveloped her. She fell to the ground, completely tied up. Screaming underneath her gag for help, she struggled against her bonds.
Someone grabbed her and hauled her to her feet. It was a Kadabra. The creature stared into her teary eyes with merciless eyes of his own.
"Hypnosis," he muttered.
Waves of mental energy emerged from his eyes. Laura couldn't look away, and she felt her eyelids slow shut, and sleep overtake her.
Content that their captive was asleep, the Tangela and the Kadabra dragged her off to the financial district. They had new merchandise for sale.
Author's Note:
Jeez, another update on time! Kickarse!
Well, we got to meet two members of the Eeveelution Resistance up close and personal. Tracen and Celeste, stealth operatives and brother sister team! Pretty cool, eh? We also got to meet the Black Scyther, and saw that he could hold his own with Shadow, which means he is very, very tough. And now Laura's been kidnapped! What will happen to her?!
Stay tuned to find out!
Oh, and one more thing: I just wrote and published a new fanfiction, and I would really appreciate it if you read it! It's a documentary fic that I called Confessions of a Male Gardevoir. Please read it and review it!
Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for next time!