See what I did there?
Sorry this one was a bit late – I've started a new HTTYD fanfic called "Of Average Insanity". These chapters may or may not come slower than normal, we'll have to see.
-.-.-.-.-.
Everyone looked up, startled, at the sudden sound of the cell door loudly creaking open. The Crawdaunt guard shoved Wyvern in and slammed the door just short of his tail. Behind him, a few Pokemon could see another guard forcing Fireclaw and Lancelot into their cell as well.
Pteryx instantly ran to his big brother's side. "Thank Arceus!" he exclaimed. "I'm glad ta see yer alright, Wyvern. I was sittin' in the dark, all in a tizzy 'cause I couldn't see how ya were doin'!" The Archeops gave him a weak smile and reached down to pat him on the shoulder.
"Was it bad?" squeaked Terra, almost too nervous to get the words out. Wyvern nodded and sat down heavily on the cave floor. "Fireclaw's badly burned and moves with a limp," he said gravely. "Lancelot and Cenric are worn out, but otherwise alright. I'm afraid to say that we're probably not goin' to survive long here."
There was a grim, heavy silence as he finished speaking. It was broken by Jowl, who asked, "But did Team Knights say anything about coming close to an escape plan?"
Before Wyvern could open his mouth again, the cell door creaked open again and a different guard stomped through. The Crawdaunt effortlessly reached in and plucked Jowl and Luke in his pincers. Both struggled vainly to get free.
"Oh no, another battle so soon?!" exclaimed Wyvern, scrambling to his feet as if to do something. But the door shut before he could grab the Eevee and Victini back. Okami rushed to the door and desperately yelled, "Stay alive!" She couldn't hear their faint reply as the guard lumbered off. Another guard stomped by with Arthur the Escavalier in tow.
"Well, at least they have one of Team Knights' knights with them," Gaby said, sounding as if she were trying to reassure herself. Wyvern crouched down beside her and put a gentle arm around her shoulders.
"Don't worry," the fossil Pokemon said gently. "I know you're worried about them, but as long as they stay together and fight together, they'll get through whatever foe is put against them."
The Kirlia didn't say anything, only looked forlornly at the cell door through which Luke and Jowl had been taken. Be safe, Luke, she thought, hoping that her friend would come back to her, safe and sound.
-.-.-.-.-.
The trio was led into the enormous cavern that served as the Abyssal Raiders' arena. Luke, Arthur, and Jowl had never seen this place before, and stood in momentary amazement as they observed the ledges filled with chanting Water-types and the moonlight streaming down to reflect off of the shallow water. Luke hovered in order to avoid it, and Jowl was small enough that the water rose to lap at his underbelly.
The Escavalier prevented them from moving forward by holding out a lance in front of them. "Stop, my friends," he cautioned. "Allow me to handle the worst of what is to come. And then, Master Luke and Master Jowl, you will swoop in to take care of those left behind."
Luke and Jowl nodded, even as the door at the opposite end opened, and six Carvanha swam out. Holes dotting the sides of the arena gushed water at the flick of a lever, allowing the water level to rise doubly. Jowl whimpered as the water rapidly began to cover him, but Arthur swept him up with a lance, allowing him to avoid the sudden deluge. The Eevee clung tightly to the Bug-and-Steel-type's body, hanging on just behind his extravagant crest.
With the water at a comfortable depth, the six Carvanha shot forward, spreading out in order to surround them. Two of them leapt up to try and reach the hovering Luke while the other four surrounded Arthur and Jowl.
The battle rapidly descended into chaos. Luke fluttered around in the air, trying to avoid the Water Pulses his pursuers barraged him with. Arthur deftly dodged each Carvanha's attacks, barely even moving from his stationary position as he ducked under Ice Beams and jumped away from Crunches. Jowl dug his paws in more firmly to the Escavalier's shell as he became under threat of falling off and into the infested waters.
"Twineedle!" cried Arthur, quickly jabbing with his lances at a Carvanha whose fangs missed their mark. First one lance, then the other ran the poor fish through, and Arthur flung its lifeless body over his shoulder to land behind him with a splash. The other three quickly became more aggressive, striking and then retreating as he stabbed at them.
The two Carvanha who were targeting Luke were beginning to run out of stamina. Their Water Pulses grew farther and farther apart from each other as the fish began to lose the energy necessary to keep up the assault. Luke saw their exhaustion and took advantage of it. "Fire Blast!" he shouted, scorching them with a wave of fire. Although burnt, the Carvanha were definitely not out yet.
One of the savage fish had managed to get behind Arthur and was about to spring on him. Arthur was occupied with the other three, and didn't notice. However, just as the Carvanha leapt out of the water, Jowl noticed and pounced without thinking. He landed right on top of the Carvanha, his added weight causing it to plunge back into the water.
Clinging to the Carvanha's twin head fins, the Eevee shouted in surprise as it began to swim rapidly and erratically around, trying to buck him off of its back. It swam blindly without any goal in mind, so desperate was it to get Jowl off. He held on with all of his might even as the Carvanha spun like a top, ending up accomplishing nothing but to make itself dizzy.
Disoriented, it staggered into one of its fellow soldiers, making it break off its attack on Arthur. The Escavalier quickly assessed the situation even as he saw Jowl stubbornly holding onto the Carvanha. Faster than the eye could follow, he used another Twineedle attack to skewer not only the Carvanha that Jowl was riding, but also the one that had just attacked him. Jowl managed to shake off his dizziness and leapt once more onto Arthur's back as his Carvanha went belly up.
During this time, Luke managed to successfully defeat one of his pursuers with Fire Blast. The other nailed him with an Ice Beam, and he fell with a startled cry right into the water. Instantly, the remaining Carvanha zeroed in to finish him off.
However, it didn't get far as a lance zoomed in from nowhere and pierced through it. Arthur quickly scooped the sodden Victini up with the other lance. Doing so made Arthur momentarily vulnerable to the last Carvanha, who spat a Water Pulse straight at his back.
"Protect!" Luke cried the moment he noticed the incoming projectile. An instant later, Arthur, Jowl, and himself were safely shielded by a blue barrier that had sprung into existence. Arthur then struck the finishing blow with Poison Jab, ending the last Carvanha.
The crowd of Abyssal Raiders watching emitted a great cheer that swelled up into the arena. There were fewer sounds of disappointment this time around, although General Fang was one of them as he peered down at the six lifeless soldiers. Next time El Nino asks to use my Carvanha Squad as gladiators, I'm saying no, he decided.
"Excellente! Very well done!" the Gyarados called to the victorious trio. Then he turned to a pair of guards and instructed, "Take those three back to the dungeon and see if you can recolectar a few more prisoners. I think we have time for one more lucha." He then gestured to a Tentacool to lower the water level again.
The two Crawdaunt stomped down to the arena floor once most of the water had drained away, once again shallow enough to walk in. As the two of them escorted the prisoners back to the dungeon, El Nino began muttering to himself. "All of this fighting is making me mucho hambre," he mused. "I think it's time to bring out some of the snacks we – hmm? Where did they go?"
The Gyarados looked around for the morsels he had prepared for him and his comrades, but they were indeed nowhere to be seen. "Now that's quite odd," Neptune said, looking around as well and finding nothing. "If you wish, Master Nino, I could get some more. I won't be long."
El Nino nodded approvingly. "Oh, I'll come too~!" Lady Sapphire trilled. "The more the merrier, you know!" She floated down the steps leading away from their boxed-off ledge and toward one of the many exits dotting the sides of the arena, followed closely by Neptune.
When the cheering and chanting behind them had given way to serene silence, Neptune turned to his wife and said quietly, "I received the letter we've been expecting. They said that they know the defenses and passageways by heart now and will be arriving in just a few hours."
Sapphire grinned evilly. "Perfect. Only a little bit more time to endure being with these barbarians, and then this entire fortress will be ours." She giggled hysterically at the thought – not only would the Jellicent Kingdom have the eastern ocean under their rule, but the western one as well. The southern one would come next, and then they would be so powerful that even the Guardians would be forced to bow down to them.
Neptune mimicked her smile and gave a little chuckle himself in anticipation as the moved deeper into the fortress, with the darkness slowly swallowing them up until they had disappeared from view.
-.-.-.-.-.
The next battle in the Abyssal Arena didn't start that long after the last. Only a few minutes had gone by since Luke, Arthur, and Jowl had been returned to their cells when the next four were taken. This time, it was Pteryx, Cliff, Okami, and Gaby that were shoved into the arena and made to fight.
If Gaby had seen this massive cavern earlier, then she would have worried so much more for Luke. It had been bad enough that she had witnessed her friend venturing into the unknown like that, but now that she could see where he had been taken, she felt spared.
Even as she followed her friends into the center of the arena, the Kirlia's thoughts began to wander from her past anxiety down to greater depths. Pteryx and Wyvern were great friends, and the others were decent at best, but why did she care so much about Luke? Is it because he is sweet and always willing to help me, because he is so blind to the enormity of my problems but volunteering anyway? she wondered. Is it because he's so naïve and innocent, and I only want to protect him? Gaby shook her head hard from side to side, trying to dispel all of these deep, confusing thoughts and conflicting feelings.
She looked around at her teammates flanking her. Cliff and Okami were sticking to each others' sides, each of them seeming nervous. They covered that up by determinedly striking up battle-ready poses and taking deep breaths to calm themselves. Pteryx was looking pumped, hopping from side to side and swinging his feathered fists. His expression and his bandana gave him a fearsome appearance.
The arena door opened just then to reveal their opponent – a hulking Octillery that crawled out at a slow, menacing speed. One of his tentacles had a red ribbon attached to it. Gaby realized that she had heard of this Octillery from the other prisoners. He was called Kraken, one of the Abyssal Raiders' best warriors.
"This is my competition?" he bellowed incredulously. "I've seen bigger Joltik! Octazooka!" A huge blue ball of energy began charging in his mouth, which he suddenly fired at the group. The four scattered and prepared for the battle.
Kraken was slowly advancing farther into the arena. "See if you can surround him!" Okami called to the others, and they all gave nods of understanding. Kraken attacked with Bullet Seed next, rapid-firing each volley of seeds from his turret-like mouth. Gaby saw the movement from the corner of her eye even as she moved to flank the Octillery. She defended herself with Magical Leaf, and the leaves ended up cancelling out the seeds.
While Kraken was distracted with Gaby, Okami released Moonblast. The glowing orbs were launched from her ribbons, and they repeatedly slammed into the back of Kraken's head. However, his skull was thick, and the attacks were only an annoyance at best. The Sylveon's eyes widened as he turned to face her next, fury blazing in his eyes.
"Impudent wretch!" he seethed, drawing energy for his next attack. His mouth was glowing orange when he finished charging and blasted Okami with a Hyper Beam. The ray of power streaked toward her, and she only just managed to call up a Protect to shield herself. The barrier shattered, but Okami was safe.
"Take this, ya overgrown seafood dish! Dragonbreath!" Pteryx yelled, blasting Kraken with pink energy. It exploded when it hit Kraken's tentacle, causing him to howl in pain and draw the limb closer to him. The Octillery responded with an Octazooka that barreled toward the Archen. Cliff jumped in with a cry of "Flame Charge!" and rushed straight at the speeding energy blast.
Surrounded by fire, the Growlithe crashed into the energy in an attempt to destroy it. The Octazooka turned out to be too powerful, though, and although it was indeed stopped, the explosion flung Cliff away and onto the ground with a splash. He moaned as he struggled to get up, injured from the force of the explosion.
Kraken was always one to exploit a weakness, and attacked the downed Cliff with Bullet Seed. But Pteryx was unwilling to let that happen. "Quick Guard!" he squawked, zipping in between the two and conjuring a barrier. The first few seeds were blocked, but the others managed to shatter the weak shield and batter Pteryx.
At the sight of her friend being hurt like that, Gaby growled and took a chance. "Focus Blast!" she screamed, not really caring where it hit as long as it was somewhere on Kraken's body. The ball of power streaked forward, swerving at the last second and exploding against his tentacle.
As the Octillery retreated in pain, Pteryx managed to stagger to his feet. But the fear in his eyes made it clear that the Defeatist ability had activated. With two Pokemon badly hurt, it was up to Gaby and Okami to defeat Kraken and save them all.
But can we? Gaby thought as Kraken crawled forward once more, livid and ready to blast them to smithereens. She forced herself not to think about that, instead focusing on the battle and trying to determine a possible strategy.
"If we can stun him enough to immobilize him, then we might be able to take him down," Okami whispered. Gaby nodded as, across the arena, Kraken began charging up another Hyper Beam. "Alright," she agreed. "I'll keep him busy, and you see about rallying Cliff and Pteryx."
Okami ran off to help their two comrades, and Gaby walked slowly and bravely forward, facing Kraken with amazing determination. Confusion entered his eyes – he'd never had an opponent walk toward him before. But he finished gathering power and fired his Hyper Beam anyway. The sizzling beam of energy swept water off to the side in its wake as it streaked toward the Kirlia.
Amazingly, she made no move to dodge. Gaby waited for the right moment, and it came when the beam was almost on top of her. "Double Team!" she cried, immediately vanishing and reappearing along with ten duplicates. Kraken, already dealing with the bout of weakness that came with using Hyper Beam, glanced around in bewilderment at the squad of Gabys.
The true Gaby and her duplicates swiftly surrounded the increasingly panicked Kraken, leaving him nowhere to run and nowhere to dodge her attacks. In eleven voices, the Gabys yelled, "Focus Blast!"
A huge cloud of smoke burst forth as the projectiles slammed into Kraken, although indeed, only one had any effect. Hurt, angry, and with smoke filling his lungs, the Octillery coughed and fired an Octazooka in the direction the effective blast had come from. The smoke cleared just as the ball of energy reached its target. But Gaby had already seen this coming – she had switched places with a duplicate, and the Octazooka simply phased through the illusion and hit the far wall.
He's injured, but not immobilized, Gaby realized. And that means it's time for my secret weapon.
The ten Gaby illusions slowly faded from view, and the Kirlia herself appeared directly in front of Kraken. His eyes widened in shock at the sudden surprise, and he was unable to look away for a couple of seconds. Gaby took this opportunity to strike with her secret weapon – Charm.
Even the hardened warrior couldn't help but smolder at Gaby, who became surrounded by cute pink hearts that danced in the air around her. She clasped her hands together and held them just below her chin as her pupils widened, her bottom lip quivered, and tears filled her eyes. Kraken was filled with guilt at the thought that he had even tried to hurt this adorable young Psychic-type.
Gaby's Charm attack rendered Kraken temporarily helpless, and it was during this hiatus that Okami managed to revive Cliff and get him ready for their next attack. Pteryx was off cowering in a corner, still feeling the effects of Defeatist. Gaby dashed over from the Octillery's hypnotized form and joined them, readying her next attack.
"Now's the time to strike!" cried Okami, several Moonblasts appearing at the tips of her ribbons. Gaby nodded silently and began to charge a Focus Blast. Cliff inhaled, long and deep.
By this time, Kraken had recovered and now turned to face them. But before he could even get an attack of his own ready, Cliff released his long breath in a great, howling Roar attack. The sound physically pushed Kraken back even as he tried to suction himself in place with his tentacles.
It was then that Okami and Gaby fired their Moonblast and Focus Blast, and the energy spheres were actually propelled forward by Cliff's mighty Roar. Kraken managed to get a foothold on the ground and released a Hyper Beam on a certain collision course with the trio's combination of moves.
However, the image of Gaby's Charm attack had imprinted itself in his mind, and as a result the Hyper Beam was at only half the power it should have been at. The Focus Blast, Moonblasts, and Roar tore through the beam and smashed into Kraken one by one. An explosion rocked the arena as smoke and water flew through the air.
When the smoke cleared, Kraken was lying on the ground in a heap. His breathing was strained and he was fighting to stay conscious. The Abyssal Raiders in the crowd were looking on with great excitement as they sensed the fight was coming to an unexpected end.
Cliff and Okami didn't move, but Gaby was filled with the thrill of combat. Her breath came fast and fierce as she stalked forward to end what she had started, anger and bloodlust fueling her muscles. Kraken dazedly looked up in time to see the Kirlia come to a stop right in front of him. He saw the inferno blazing in her eyes as she stared down at him, and he began to feel dread creep out from his heart and ensnare him.
"Please," he rasped. "Please…" Gaby shook her head, and a blue energy sphere began to build in her hands. "No," she replied. "You would not show me mercy if our positions were reversed."
Gaby's Focus Blast hit Kraken at close range, hitting him directly where his heart was positioned and killing him instantly.
The crowd went wild.
-.-.-.-.-.
Kraken belonged to LifeTheNinetails. I RELEASED HIM!
The many battles in the Abyssal Arena are beginning to take their toll – Pteryx and Cliff are hurt, and Fireclaw can barely walk. They've all survived so far, but how much longer can that last?
And what about the Raiders themselves, who don't even notice that there are forces conspiring against them? Thanks to the efforts of our favorite frilly foes, El Nino and his gang are facing a clock rapidly counting down to their last moments.
Stay tuned, and wait for the next chapter!
El Nino: "Critica, por favor!"
Chapter Question #20: Which couple would you most like to see in this story? (Besides Gaby/Luke.)