Yeah... Sorry for those you waited several months and thanks for those who reviewed :D I had some really annoying pc issues-which led me to not having pc now. But hey, it's finally done the fifteen chapter, yay! For those who forgot what happened last: The group arrived to the chimera's world-a Porky's recreation of Onett-where they fought until they got separated.
"Lucas…"
"Lucas…"
"Lucas…" Lucario's distant voice distorted alongside the loud chirps of a desperate bird. It sounded maddening.
I feel confused when I reopen my eyes and meet the glare of death above me.
The Ultimate Chimera brought back scary memories of the time I was sure my mission to pull the Needles for the first time was going to end sooner than expected, inside the mechanical mouth of the chimera.
And then my brain starts working again relating the mad bird with the small, yellow bird atop the chimera's head between its two horns waiting there, impatient, whenever its help is needed.
The Ultimate Chimera's eyes are fixed upon me as if tasting its prey before devouring it in a blood fest… as I once witnessed back in the chimera laboratory where soldiers ran for their lives from the ultimate weapon that broke free and terrorized the halls of that place for who knows how long.
But there's something even more terrifying than its penetrating yellow eyes–its mouth. It was built in a manner that it seemed to be flashing an evil grin . As it opens its mouth little by little, it reveals blood tainted teeth that can be easily mistaken with long daggers ready to cut and mutilate anything in front of them.
It is standing in front of me, watching me intently for no apparent reason.
I can see it is shivering or twitching, as if putting too much effort on a task.
"Lucas! Hurry, I can't hold it forever!" Lucario's voice yells at me, followed by a grunt of effort.
I turn my head to the left to find him at the other side of the room, near the stairs, his feet squared and both arms stretched out pointing at the chimera.
I don't have time to analyze the situation and thus I force my aching body to get up.
A torturing pain reappears in my side reminding me of the accident with Lucario. I'm still bleeding.
However, when I manage to stand up, the chimera still hasn't moved and the damn bird is still chirping with all its anger at me.
My fury controls me and I shoot a PSI shockwave at the bird; I follow the struck animal as it's flung through the air, violently crashing with a wall and hitting the floor.
I limp as fast as I can, a hand holding my side and the other readying a tiny PK Fire–which will be enough to roast the chimera's solely companion. I get near the bird and shoot the small flame as fast as I can. The little bugger reacts just in time and rolls under a big piece of furniture.
I consider giving chase but Lucario's growl warns me not to.
I groan, damn bird, and turn around limping towards Lucario's as fast as possible.
He glared at me, "Upstairs, now!"
I do as told before Lucario gets angry (his glare by itself intimidated me).
The stairs lead me to the attic where I wait for Lucario and unwillingly take a seat, for the pain is too much.
An explosion rumbles below me. Lucario is fine…? To my relief he soon appeared running upstairs and once in the attic threw one of his aura spheres to destroy the stairs.
"That should keep that thing down there just enough," Lucario said, walking up to me. "That was close. Do not take a risk like that again."
I can only nod, all my breath taken in only to endure the pain in my side.
"Now," Lucario says, "Let's do something about that." He points at my ribs.
He crouches and sighs, "My deepest apologies, this was my fault."
"Nonsense," I shake my head, talking honestly, "It was that damned beast."
"At least I will try to help you with this." He closes his eyes in deep focus.
He raises his paw, a multicolor glow embraces it. He hovers his paw over my forehead and then over my side, barely grazing the spike wound. Almost immediately the pain starts decreasing. It doesn't go away, but is not as strong as before and I can ignore it. The bleeding also stops in a few seconds, leaving a blood taint in my shirt.
The multicolor glow stays in the air bringing a brief calm to me.
"That was amazing!" I offer him a smile. "I cannot thank you enough, the pain was horrible. Though I didn't know you had these type of abilities."
"It is the least I can do, I am glad you feel better." He nods, reopening his eyes. "That was Heal Pulse, which I can use at a distance with minor effects. That probably spared a lot of blood from the wound I caused.
"Amazing, thanks again, really." I think the next question for a second; it's not the best time to be curious. "By the way, how did you 'hold' the chimera?"
"Psychic," he looked at his paw. "Another attack."He stands up and tells me, "Come on, let's reunite with the others."
I accept his help, and get up warily cause of my wound. It seems fine, though.
"Lucas!" Lucario pushes me, an instant later the Ultimate Chimera's arrow-like tail goes through the floor, destroying a chink of the attic.
I almost lose my footing and fall in the hole just made.
I point my hand at the chimera, trying to hold the tail using PSI. It proves useless, though, for the chimera quickly retracts it.
Lucario runs up to the hole, energy flowing around his paws. He charges and throws an Aura Sphere down the hole.
"I hit it perfectly, but it will probably just shake it off, had I made my attack stronger, the house would give in," Lucario tells me looking away from the hole
But I don't even get the chance to respond as the chimera attacks again. This time half the floor is knocked down creating a ramp for the chimera to reach us.
"Alright, open our way out, I'll give you a moment," I say to Lucario.
I feel my pocket but there's no thunder sword there. Damn.
I take a second to focus on a powerful PK Freeze beta lever to attack the chimera and block its path, "PK Freeze!"
A freezing wind accompanied by sharp ice shards go towards the chimera. It simply stands there and takes the whole attack. It did nothing but causes an emptying feeling inside me, a signal I've reached my limit.
A chirping sounds in the attic and the bird reappears hopping atop the monster's head. I hear Lucario cry out from behind, the sound of the roof being destroyed follows him.
"Come on, Lucas."
As I am about to leave through the room, the chimera attacks once again with its tail; I only have time to react putting up a shield and backing away–my body breaking its PSI limits. The tail makes contact with my shield and effortlessly shatters it in countless pieces. Leaving me with no protection, the tail stops inches away from my face.
"Lucas!" Lucario catches my attention and extends a paw, which I take. The both of us get on the roof, leaving the chimera behind in the attic.
We get ready to drop in the near empty street below when the roof rumbles under us.
The Ultimate chimera roars from below. It is not going to let us go.
And in the time it took me to blink, the chimera reappeared, its head going through the roof with its mouth wide open like a shark coming out of the water just before devouring a prey on the surface.
Its jaws barely miss me, but it's enough to make me lose my balance. I stumble backwards making an effort to not fall; I call upon my PSI in seek of a solution but nothing.
I only find my mental voice to yell at Lucario.
I trip and fall backwards. Terror hits me and in the hope of grabbing onto something I attempt to grasp the air. The wind runs against me, trying to resist my falling body but to no avail.
"Luca–" My mental message is cut abruptly. Something made of wood and then the ground greets my body with a thump.
A yelp is my only response after my story fall.
My vision is blurry and the pain reappears like a fire unwilling to extinguish; I focus on my other senses; I can move both my hands alright, but the only noise I can hear is a high pitched one that resonates inside me and refuses to leave my ears.
However, through the deafening noise I am able to make out another sound: shuffling inside a dark alley behind me, followed by a small roar.
An explosion took place above me, in the room we were in and my concern shifted to Lucario's well-being
That was until I saw his silhouette jumping off the room, illuminating him in the bright, blue light at the explosion.
He bounce skillfully on the nearest building and landed to my side.
"Lucas, are you okay? Can you stand?"
"I think I can, help me please."
He offered both paws and I stand up with a back pain. Lucario's paws glows multicolor again and I feel relief washing over me once again. Not only have I depleted my energy, but I will do so with his if I continue getting hurt over stupidities.
Now I "feel" it. The chimera just around the corner at the other side of the alley. At least my newfound ability to feel living things is still active. Though, I'm sure Lucario noticed the chimera since we arrived at the house.
"Indeed, but its presence was unimportant then; now we should leave before it notices us."
Lucario signaled me to go around the nearest building quickly, opposite to the chimera in the alley and far from the Ultimate Chimera who was searching for us.
Crossing the street puts us in front of the local hospital, a creepy place judging from the entrance. However, I still don't see the need to enter here.
"Ah, Lucario?" He turned his head to look at me, "Why do we have to enter?"
"Pardon me, Lucas, I forgot to tell you," he mate a little vow. "Ness told me telepathically to meet him here; he did not wanted us to get lost in the city."
He is right, even from here I can sense some chimeras roaming in the hallways, "I see…" I make a pause contemplating which chimeras could be inside. "Let's enter, then."
We step in through where once were two glass doors–I figure out due to the sharp shards that are still stuck in the door frame.
The first thing I see is the typical reception, though this one utterly razed; the counter to receive people, broken in two, chairs all over the place, dented walls and prints of blood in most of the room.
This is only worsened by the scarce and distant bulbs hanging in the middle of the corridors, showering with a weak light portions of the hospital, uncovering otherwise hidden blood prints and a few body parts–as well as mechanical parts.
Lucario and I advance as silently as possible with Lucario acting as our eyes in the darkest sections, his aura serving as our light.
We pass near a room with a chimera mysteriously trapped inside. We discuss the dilemma of killing it or go on; the problem being if Ness and Link follow the same path as us, they won't be aware of these chimeras.
However a more important question arises: How?
How could we take out the chimera without alerting the other "inhabitants" of the hospital? The only logical answer was using my PSI to assist Lucario, by holding the chimera.
He suggested something: offering part of his aura to regenerate my PSI. And before I could refuse, Lucario was already giving in some of his aura. It worked. "So, you can see it, right?"
"Not exactly see it, but I know where it is; I can't make out what it is exactly, though…" There is a brief moment of doubt on Lucario's face. "I am sure I can hold it, though, don't worry, I got your back.
"Alright, get ready, and go when I tell you."
Lucario stands firmly in front of the locked door; he flexes his paws in anticipation.
He puts a paw on the knob and says, "Now, Lucas."
I exhale through my nose and close my fingers as if grasping the air; I sense the chimera in the opposite side of the wall. A moment later a weight falls upon me, a force focusing on my nearly closed hand–the chimera trying to get away from my psychic grasp.
"I have it," I say trough gritted teeth, my voice coming out a bit hoarse due to the effort.
Lucario doesn't hesitate and turns the knob.
His face instantly twists into surprise. He raises his hands to his face, shielding from something.
A pile of metal as high as the door collapses upon him. "What…!" I gasp. Arms, legs, shells, helmets, all mechanical replacements of once natural body parts rain in a clanking cacophony. Lucario stumbles backwards, almost succumbing to the massive weight.
"Need help?" I ask him telepathically.
"No, no, keep that thing held or–behind you!"
I jerk my head to the opposite side. There's a shadow charging through the darkness. All that noise didn't let me hear it approaching. Its head emerges from the dark, revealing a reconstructed caribou almost as high as the ceiling.
I ponder lighting fast if I should let go the chimera in the room to face the caribou or not.
Time runs out however, for the caribou is as near as the next bulb.
I free my right hand and focus as much PSI as I can, releasing it in a wide shockwave the caribou falls and slides down the hall.
From behind me I hear Lucario freeing himself from the avalanche of metal.
Sweat runs down my cheeks, some drops dripping from my chin. The extreme hot in the hospital caused by the isolation of the claustrophobic hallways of the building and the crushing stress I was under is making me even more uncomfortable.
A sweat drop drips on the floor at the same time the caribou rises to its feet seemingly fazed by the last hit, but still willing to battle, nonetheless.
I don't know what else to do; all my PSI is going in the effort of keeping the chimera in the room immobile.
I turn my head to Lucario in seek for help.
He is in his feet already and just as I am about to say something, he disappears, a gust of wind rushes past me–in the caribou's direction–ruffling my hair wildly.
I follow the direction of the wind and find Lucario on the other side of the corridor tackling the caribou to the floor. Both tussle on the floor for a few seconds. The caribou manages to crush Lucario's badly wounded arm (I had already forgotten his arm. Why didn't he say anything?) earning a cry of pain from him. Lucario gains the upper hand, getting behind the downed chimera, he jumps on the caribou's torso and punches it several times in the normal side of his face; he alternates a couple times hitting the caribou with the back of his hand, his spike sinking on the face of the chimera. Even amidst the beating the caribou pushes Lucario away with its mechanical hooves. The chimera tries to get up, but it only tumbled back down, steam comes out of its antler like a machine about to explode.
Lucario's breathing is loud as he stands in front of the chimera. Something tells me he doesn't know what to do. "He's probably going to die anyway…" A though reaches my mind.
Aura starts flowing around his right arm, creating an aura blade that encases his paw.
Without further hesitation he walks three steps and thrusts the blade into the chimera's chest.
The caribou instinctively flails its legs. It emits a faint yowl, the light in its eyes going away alongside the last blow of steam from its antler.
Lucario draws out the blade soaked in chimera's blood. The blade vanishes but the blood stays in his paw and arm.
He strides past me saying, "Now the other one."
To help him further, I put more strength in the grip momentarily.
I only have to do this for a minute, for the struggle of the chimera suddenly is none and holding it, turns as easy as lifting a feather.
Lucario walks out of the room, both of his arms covered in blood from the chimeras and also his.
"That was messy," he tells me with a sigh.
"Yeah…" I look back past the dead caribou and into the dark corridor. "Do you think other chimeras are coming?"
"They are; I see them coming."
"We should go to the next floor. I don't want to witness the cannibalism feast about to happen."
"Good idea. I sense very few chimeras above us." He grunted, "You know, we just made this worse for Link and Ness."
"Oh, right," I say, a hand now shielding my face in shame. "You think you can tell Ness where we are telepathically once they arrive?"
"Sure, that will not be a prob–" He shuts up, his eyes widening in terror. The dangling bulb above us made shadows dance across Lucario's face rather terrifyingly.
"The pink chimera just entered the hospital… It's coming here."
"W-What?" We look at each other and hurry to the next floor.
We decide tacitly to communicate telepathically only. The Ultimate chimera must have incredible hearing if it could hear the fight from the outside.
Running down the hallway, I'm about to turn left when Lucario suddenly puts an arm in front of me. I stop abruptly trying not to touch his wound. "There is a chimera roaming that part. Continue forward until the next corridor, there we go right."
I nod. That was a close call.
I follow Lucario closely to across the floor, turning right then left and the pass a few rooms until I hear something behind me, and look back still running.
I trip over something in the darkness and try to keep me from falling leaning over a hospital cart. I topple it over, dropping over lots of medical tools to the floor. The clamor caused by the tools resonates in the floor like an endless echo of my stupidity.
"Are you okay?" Lucario helps me get up.
"Sure, thanks," I pat him in the shoulder, looking around. How many must have heard this?
"Lucas! The pink chimera is hurrying over here fast," he signals me to follow him.
While I follow him, I can't help but wonder how he ignores his wounds so easily and he I am whining about everything.
We enter a room (all of them are strangely door less) and Lucario looks back into the corridor. "The chimera is where you tumbled." He closes his eyes; I "feel" him thinking hard.
"Hey, can you put a shield covering the entrance here; that should hide our scent from it."
I create an invisible shield double the size of the entrance.
"It must have an excellent smell to follow us all the way here. Now stay dead quiet."
I pull myself as close as possible to the wall and relax my breathing to make myself silent. All my energy is put on my ability to sense the chimera, which is now lurking down the corridor aware of any sudden movement.
It halts just outside the room, looking around, wondering why our scent disappears there.
The sound of the chimera inhaling the air is the only thing I can hear amongst the silence of the area. Not even Nowhere Island's silent graveyard left this confusion in my hearing sense. I almost forgot that I could hear; felt deaf for a moment.
Then the chimera stops whatever it was doing. I can't resist the quietness anymore. An urge for turning my head invades me; but even I fear doing that; what if the chimera hears my hair against the wall. No! I must stay unmoving. I am not here.
W-What is that noise then? I hear loud banging nearby. Really near.
It's so loud that it drums in my ears, almost painfully. And I find the source; within me, my heart hammers my chest with so much force I can't hear my surroundings.
"Lucas… The Chimera is walking away. I think something else distracted it."
We waited only two minutes–two eternal minutes.
"It's in the second floor."
I still don't move for a few more seconds until I exhale and take a deep breath.
I don't remember ever holding my breath as long as when the chimera was a feet away, only separated by a wall.
I stay a minute leaning all my weight on the wall. It was absolutely more terrifying to hide than to run.
Lucario looks at me. "They are here."
The mysterious and concerned tone in his voice made me think he was talking about chimeras, dozens of them. To my luck, "they" were not chimeras.
"Ness and Link are crossing the garden outside the hospital."
I think quickly. It's too risky to go inside here with the chimera roaming.
"Tell them they won't be able to go inside. They will have to climb the wall up to our floor–it's the fourth, right?" Lucario nods. "They must make no noise, warn them there are chimeras around the floor. Once they get inside, lead them here so that they don't cross paths with one."
"I will," Lucario says and closes his eyes.
Lucario sat on the cold floor, eyes closed and in deep focus. He looked relaxed, far from this place, in his own world. I thought he was meditating before initiating the conversation with Ness. However, he wanted to immerse in his surroundings in order to guide our friends safely.
Besides a moment he grunted, bearing his teeth, everything seemed to go well. I felt rather useless waiting a long time until Lucario finished guiding them here.
And then, after what seemed hours Ness and Link finally walk through the entrance. Ness let out a long sigh and flashed a big grin, while Link simply shrugged and smiled with relief.
Finally, I silently said "yes" and greeted them grasping their hands firmly.
We stand in front of the window watching the chimeras' Onett while Ness tells us what happened.
After we were blasted outside the city hall, it got overrun by chimeras and amidst the chaos, Link found a room to hide. They were forced to do so and so they waited there. Though he said they were concerned about us, it was a good moment to rest for some minutes and replenish energy. They found a path to the roof and went there to then go to the house we crashed into.
There were no signs of the Ultimate Chimera by that time.
When Ness finished, Link added something else, the next step in our mission. From the city hall's roof he sighted a strange building probably bigger than the city hall, which Ness said that that building is not in the "original" Onett.
From the window, the four of us observe across the town, in the other side the mysterious building, towering above houses and stores as if watching the surroundings, sunk in chaos and overrun by desperate, starving chimeras that have had to resort to cannibalism.
We are going there.