Chapter Eighteen – Operation Brighton! A Test of Friendship! (pt II)

Up on the 10th floor…

Keith, Alexa, Ryder and Buizel approached one of the doors down a minor corridor. Keith was still supporting Alexa by holding her up by her waist, and Alexa's left arm was still over Keith's shoulders.
"What are you doing?!" Isaac asked in horror, from inside the room. This startled Keith and Alexa.
"Isaac!" Keith called.
"We're here for you, Isaac, just hold on!" Alexa cried.
"Keith! Alex! Whaa!"
"Isaac! Don't you care about your cute little sister?" a male voice asked tauntingly from inside the room. "Hurry up and finish adjusting the software!"
"Isaac!" Keith and Alexa separated and attempt to bash the door down. They failed, however.
"It's no good! It won't open!" Keith exclaimed.
"Ryder, can you give it a try?!" Alexa asked desperately.
Let's turn things up a notch! Ryder surrounded himself with his aura and fired a series of Aura Spheres at the door. Ryder's aura faded, as did the smokescreen given off by the Aura Spheres; the door was unfazed.
What?! It had no effect?! Ryder's absolutely horrified.
"What're we supposed to do now?!" Keith asked in a panic. Alexa's styler picked up a voicemail. She answered it, and she and Keith listened.
"Voicemail, voicemail, it's Barlow here!" Barlow began. "The Dim Sun goons on the ground floor have all been arrested. We're heading back to Pueltown to sort out the troubles there, give me a shout if you need anything!"
"Wait, Barlow, don't hang up!" Keith exclaimed suddenly. He faced Alexa and vice versa. "I have an idea," he told her calmly.

On the ground floor…

"What's up, Keith?" Barlow asked. Crawford and Luana had escorted the arrested Dim Sun goons out of the building.
"We need your help with something!" Keith replied via voicemail. "We need to borrow your…power."
"My power? You'd want Big Bertha if you need something heavy carried," Barlow began. "Or do you mean my trademark field move?"
"That's the one!" Keith confirmed. "Alex and I are close to reaching Isaac, but we can't get to him!"
"I'm on my way!" Barlow stated. "Where are you two?"
"We're on the 10th floor!" Alexa replied via voicemail. "The elevator goes straight to the 9th floor, it shouldn't take any more than 30 seconds."
"Gotcha!" Barlow ended the transmission. "Crawford, you're in charge while I'm gone; I've got an errand to run!" Barlow ran towards the elevator.

Back on the 10th floor…

"We're in business here, Alex!" Keith sighed with relief. "Knowing Barlow, he'll be here in 5 seconds, I bet."
"Alexa! Keith!" Barlow shouted. He ran over to the two Rangers. "Sorry to keep you waiting."
"Nah, you didn't keep us waiting for long," Alexa smiled.
"We didn't wait at all!" Keith laughed.
"This door right here?" Barlow asked, looking towards the door. Alexa and Keith moved away from the door as Barlow investigated. "That's some door alright. Altru does things right, I must admit." He took a few steps back. "Target clear!" he rammed into the door. It didn't budge. "Nope. If this door were the enemy, I'd shake his hand for being so tough. Alexa, Keith, can you help me?"
"Sure!" Alexa and Keith both agreed and approach him.
"Ready?" Barlow asked.
"Yep!" Alexa and Keith confirmed simultaneously.
"Let's knock it down!" Barlow declared. He, Alexa and Keith all took a few steps back. Ryder and Buizel joined in as well, eager to get to Isaac.

TARGET…

Inside the locked room, Isaac, Melody and the Dim Sun admins looked around in confusion.

GROWAAAAAAH!

The door broke down as Barlow, Alexa, Keith, Ryder and Buizel broke through. Keith and Barlow ran up the steps and confronted the Dim Sun admins while Alexa was left on the lower level, exhausted. Ryder helped her up.
"Freeze, you Dim Sun goons!" Keith yelled demandingly.
"Alex! Keith!" Isaac exclaimed happily. Ryder carefully walked Alexa up to meet Keith; the cloth over her knee had started to become more bloodstained.
"Rangers!?" one of the admins panicked.
"We'll bill the union for breaking that door down," a second admin said calmly.
"Oh, boo, your pathetic organisation won't last long enough for the bill to be processed anyway!" Alexa scolded.
"You're too late anyway," the admin sighed. "And by a minute too."
"Isaac finished the Incredible Machine's programming," the female admin began. "Now we don't need you anymore. You know what that means?"
"Isaac!" Melody panicked.
"Melody…" Isaac faced his sister with concern.
"That goes for the gate crashers too!" another male admin scolded. "This is the end for you!" Alexa – now filled with rage – stood up properly and confronted the admins as though she hadn't been injured at all, which horrified Keith and Ryder.
"You just try that and see!" she fumed. "I can't stand it when someone's younger brother or sister is used against them just so the enemy can get what they want! To me, such an act is unforgivable!" Alexa readied her styler. "How dare you use Melody to force Isaac into finishing something so immoral and unjustified! I won't let you get away with this!"
"Alex…" Isaac looks over at Alexa and noticed her injuries; the support bandage over her left elbow, the bandage across her right forearm, the bandage across her head and the bloodied cloth tied around her right knee. Regardless, Alexa stood tall and firm.
"Good for you. Alakazam, get her!" the admin commanded. The hypnotised Alakazam prepared for an assault.
"Alex, watch out!" Keith warned.

"Capture on!"

Alexa fired her capture disc at the Alakazam. The Alakazam was paused while the capture disc was spinning around it.
"Ryder, use Dark Pulse!" Alexa stated towards her Lucario.
It'll be my pleasure! Ryder fired the dark beam of purple rings at the Psi Pokémon.
Barlow and Keith watched with amazement as they saw their injured friend masterfully controlling her capture disc to befriend the hypnotised Alakazam despite her wounds. It wasn't too long before the Alakazam was freed, and it soon fled.
"This can't be happening!" the male admin exclaimed in denial. "Run away!" the two male admins and the female admin tried to flee.
"Whoa, hold on! We're nowhere near the end, the drama's just begun!" Barlow exclaimed tauntingly, rounding up the three admins.
"Isaac!" Melody immediately ran over to Isaac and he held onto her. Alexa's right knee gave way and toppled over, but Keith caught her in his arms before she fell.
"Melody…" Isaac faced Barlow, who appeared to be arresting the three admins. "Barlow…" He then faced Keith, who was preparing to support Alexa again. "Keith, Alex… I…I…I completed the wicked program."
"Save it, we don't care," Keith started, putting his left arm around Alexa's waist to hoist her up.
"You and Melody are safe. That's what matters to us," Alexa continued, placing her left arm around Keith's shoulders.
"We'll handle things from here on in," Keith offered.
"Then I'll go too," Isaac stated. "I know my way around the tower above us pretty well. And you need to disable special software for taking the barriers down. I know how to do that. Take me with you!"
"That settles it then," Barlow began, making his way up the steps. "It's because of Isaac this operation came together. I say he has every right to see this through to the very end."
"I concur," Alexa agreed.
"I'll escort Melody back to Pueltown," Barlow offered. "It'll mean dragging the clowns from earlier, but no biggie. Alexa, Keith, Isaac, the success of the operation is in your hands!"
"Thank you, everyone," Melody thanked, making her way over to Barlow. "Isaac! When this is over, spend lots of time with me! Promise!" She and Barlow – as well as the arrested admins – left the room.
"Okay, let's go, Isaac," Keith stated. Isaac walked over to him and Alexa.
"M-my knees are knocking, but it's only from adrenaline," Isaac said shakily.

A little while later…

Isaac, Keith, Alexa, Ryder and Buizel approached a door leading to the roof. They found it with a static electricity force field. Isaac walked over to the control panel next to the door.
"I'll unlock the door to the roof," he stated, typing into the control panel. The door was disengaged and opened. "There! Let's keep moving!"

Up on the roof…

Keith, Isaac, Alexa, Ryder and Buizel stood outside the door leading into the Altru Tower.
"I'll update Professor Hastings," Keith stated, readying his styler for voicemail. He contacted Hastings.
"Voicemail, it's Hastings, I say!" he began. "I've received word from Barlow! Excellent work, all of you! I'm having a Staraptor sent to you now! Keith, ride it with the Yellow Gem. Join Sven and Wendy overhead!" the voicemail ended. Alexa looked rather depressed.
"Oh, right…I forgot this is where we part ways," she sighed. She was no longer being supported, forcing her to support herself. Keith faced her with concern.
"Are you going to be okay?" he asked.
"I have to be. Our roles are important, we have to carry them out no matter what!" Alexa cried; she was clearly dreading the next phase of the operation. Keith suddenly hugged her softly, which startled her and Isaac.
"Try not to get hurt, Alex," Keith said quietly. "You have the key role here…and…I'm worried for you."
"STARRRRRR!" a Staraptor flew onto the scene and waited for Keith to climb up onto it. Ryder gave Keith the Yellow Gem as he and Buizel hopped onto Staraptor's back.
"Wh-what's this feeling…?" Keith asked quietly. "I'm, like, excited beyond words!" Nobody noticed Lavana, a Magmortar and two Dim Sun admin ladies exiting the tower.
"It's probably just the adrenaline," Isaac assumed. The Magmortar charged towards Isaac and Alexa. Keith noticed and panicked.
"Watch out!" he cried, tackling into Alexa and Isaac to push them out of the way.

THUMP!

WAAAAAAAAAH!

"Keith! No!" Alexa ran over to the edge of the tower in horror as she watched Keith, Buizel and Staraptor – having been hit by Magmortar's punch – flying across the horizon, unable to control their trajectory. Devastated, Alexa started to weep for her friend. Isaac walked over to her to try and comfort her. Lavana recovered the fallen Yellow Gem.
"The Yellow Gem…we'll take this back, thank you very much," Lavana stated arrogantly. Alexa looked back at Lavana; she was furious, but her tears of devastation continued to fall down her face.
"You-"

RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE!

"Whoa!" Isaac panicked as the entire tower virtually shook. Lavana lookd around.
"Huh? The Incredible Machine's turned on already?" she pondered. "Oh, yeah, it's designed to creep out to 100%, it'll get there at midnight."
"LAVANA!"

THUMP!

Alexa tackled into Lavana, forcing her to the ground. There was a brief fight between the two, but Alexa ended up on top of Lavana, pinning her down. Lavana looked up at Alexa in slight fear as she noticed Alexa's emotions were running high.
"For your sake, Keith had better still be alive!" Alexa threatened. "Because if he doesn't survive this, I swear I'll hunt you down, shave your head and sell the hair on eBay! Then I'll throw you into a bath of tar and toss you into a pile of Starly feathers!" she screamed.
"Lavana!" the two female admins ran over to Lavana and they both kicked Alexa in her face to get her away from Lavana. Alexa was knocked back and the two admins helped Lavana onto her feet; Lavana had a bleeding lip and a black eye.
"You two take care of this!" Lavana exclaimed angrily. She then left with her Magmortar.
"Get back here!" Alexa cried as she attempted to give chase, but Isaac held her back.
"Alex, please, calm down!" he pleaded. The two female admins set up a Miniremo unit each, but Ryder used Psychic to crush the two units rather than wasting another Aura Sphere on them. The two female admins fled. Alexa's styler received voicemail.

"Voicemail, I say, it's me, Hastings," Hastings began. "Alexa, why aren't you moving yet!?"
"It…it's Keith!" Alexa – despite her anger having subsided – was still devastated regarding Keith's act. "He…he's been blown off the roof!" she cried.
"We'll dispatch Rangers to search for him," Hastings began. "Alexa, you need to keep going!"
"I don't know if I can!" she confessed, sounding entirely distraught. Ryder and Isaac faced her sadly.
"You have to! But I have good news!" Hastings continued. "Vatona and Nage have completed a program that makes the impossible possible! It's designed to work with the small Tears of Princes pendants. Those stones were fitted into your styler, Alexa, if you recall."
"What?! No I DON'T recall! How the bloody hell did they get in my styler!?" Alexa asked; the sudden news had shocked her completely.
"We installed the stones into your styler while Keith was tending to your wounds from the Hippowdon Temple," Hastings replied quickly. "We'll send you the program now. It will transform your styler into the one and only Vatonage Styler."
"Vatonage Styler?" Alexa asked shakily. She calmed down slightly, but her tears refused to cease falling down her face.
"Alexa, there is an ancient word in Almia," Hastings continued. "The word means 'to rekindle the light that has sunk into the darkness and restore harmony to the world'. The word is Vatonage. It is a word barely remembered by those old men and women born in Almia. But now the ancient word is reborn as the name of your new Styler!"
"Vatonage…" Alexa repeated the ancient word to herself, looking over in the direction where Keith was blown off.
"Alright, Alexa, we will send you the program now," Hastings stated. "With it goes our kudos to all the Rangers for their courage!"
Alexa's styler received, downloaded and installed the Incredible Program, upgrading her styler to the mentioned Vatonage Styler. She looked at it; although her styler had its new upgrade, Alexa looked at it sadly, as a tear fell onto it.
"Keith…" Her sadness turned into determination as she looked up at the rest of Altru Tower. "I won't give up! The future of Almia's Pokémon – nay, everyone in Almia – depends on Operation Brighton! I swear it, I won't let your noble act be in vain! Isaac, let's do this for Keith!"
"Alright! Let's go!" Isaac exclaimed eagerly. He, Alexa and Ryder ran into the tower.

Inside…

Alexa, Ryder and Isaac ran over to the stairs leading to the next floor.

RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE!

THIS IS THE ALTRU COMPUTER, THE INCREDIBLE MACHINE'S POWER LEVEL IS CURRENTLY 1! POWER NEEDED FOR LEVEL 2 IS 50%! REPEAT, 50%! POWER IS RISING STEADILY, THERE ARE NO ABNORMALITIES!

"Aw, no! We're running out of time!" Isaac panicked.
"What do you mean?" Alexa asked.
"The Incredible Machine has three power levels," Isaac began. "Once it reaches level two, it won't be long before it reaches level three, and that is when Almia will be in big trouble!"
"We have to get Sven and Wendy to access the Shadow Crystal before that happens!" Alexa exclaimed.
"Right! But we'll need to disable the barriers first," Isaac continued. "They're guarded by all three members of the Sinis Trio, Ice, Lavana and Heath. We'll need to destroy the circuit balls operating the barriers!"
"Given Ryder's a battling Pokémon, he has enough strength to destroy them no problem!" Alexa stated.
"Yes, but they're protected with a particular kind of programming," Isaac added. "If you can defeat the Sinis member guarding the circuit ball, I can disable the program. Then Ryder can destroy the ball."
"What do you think, Ryder?" Alexa asked.
Solid! Let's hustle!

A little while later…

Alexa, Isaac and Ryder entered a small room, with a large yellow ball standing on a platform at the far end of the room. Heath faced them; he still had his black eye. A hypnotised Rhyperior was standing behind him.
"You again?! Even you bring Professor Isaac, the traitor," Heath said angrily.
"Isaac's the traitor?! You and your bloody team deceived him, you cannot call that treachery!" Alexa scolded.
"You two coming in here to turning off barrier system, you are? Breaking of the Circuit Ball is what you are wanting? No, cannot let you doing that! Allowing not so!" Heath quickly approached and punched Alexa in the face. She got knocked into the ground, and Isaac helped her to stand up, given her harsh treatment her knee had endured due to Alexa forgetting that it was injured. Alexa had a harsh-looking bruise just below her left eye.
"We even now, yes? Rhyperior, get!" Heath commanded. The Rhyperior roared loudly. Alexa readied her styler.
"Ryder, protect Isaac and get him to the Circuit Ball," she said quietly. "Once the program is disabled, destroy the circuit ball. Leave Rhyperior to me."
"Be careful, Alex," Isaac cautioned with concern. Ryder escorted Isaac to the Circuit Ball, avoiding Heath, while Alexa's capture disc circled around the Rhyperior. Heath snuck around and quietly approached Alex while she was concentrating on Rhyperior. Ryder spotted this.
Alex, to your left! He exclaimed. Confused, Alexa looked to her left…

WHACK!

"Aaaaagh!" Heath punched Alexa across the face, forcing her to the ground. The Rhyperior stood there in a daze; the capture was actually a success. The Rhyperior left, but Heath didn't pay attention.
"D'AAAAAAAAGH!" Heath stepped on Alexa's right knee – to be pedantic, on the cloth covering her cut. Isaac looked back at her in horror.
"Alex!"
"Never mind me, get the progra—AAHAAAAAAGH!" Heath stepped on the knee once again, this time, harder than last time. The cloth supposedly protecting the cut had become too bloodstained, causing the blood bleeding out of her cut to slowly drip down her leg. Heath's boot was worsening the cut underneath. Isaac hurriedly disabled the program, allowing Ryder to destroy it with an Aura Sphere. Heath watched the Circuit Ball's destruction with frustration.
"What? Losing again and again?!" Heath moved away from Alexa. "Depressing me, losing is. Not worrying, the barrier is more important."
"The barrier's already been destroyed…!" Alexa struggled to her feet; the cloth on her knee loosened and fell to the ground, revealing her worsened and continuously bleeding cut. She picked the bloodied piece of cloth up off the floor before getting back onto her feet. "Two more to go…!"

On the second floor…

THIS IS THE ALTRU COMPUTER, THE INCREDIBLE MACHINE'S POWER LEVEL IS CURRENTLY 1! POWER NEEDED FOR LEVEL 2 IS 20%! REPEAT, 20%! POWER IS RISING STEADILY, THERE ARE NO AB…ABNORMALITIES!

"Uh oh, this isn't good," Isaac began. "The Incredible Machine is charging power faster than I expected!"
"We need to speed this along, Isaac!" Alexa stated.
"But…what about your knee? And your other injuries?" Isaac asked worriedly. "Are you willing to put yourself in such a predicament?"
"I don't care!" Alexa angrily declared. "I'm doing this for Keith's sake! I'm not letting one drawback and a few complications get in my way of doing what's right! Isaac, there're more at stake than we realise! If this thing really IS a giant Gigaremo, it could command the Pokémon to attack civilians! I WON'T let that possibility see the light of day!"
"Attack civilians…? Alright, Alexa, but be extremely careful," Isaac cautioned. "Operation Brighton needs you."

Not long later…

Alexa, Isaac and Ryder entered the small room containing the second Circuit Ball. This one was red. Lavana wasn't in sight, so Isaac and Ryder immediately ran over to the Circuit Ball, where Isaac succeeded in disabling the program. Ryder destroyed the Circuit Ball just as Lavana entered the room.
"Wha…I'm too late?! I wanted to make a fashionable entrance!" Lavana fumed.
"You did; you were fashionably late!" Alexa teased. "Anyway, what did you do with the Yellow Gem!?"
"I don't have it, that thing's too heavy to carry around!" Lavana panicked, running out of the room, in search of her Magmortar.
It's not THAT heavy, woman! Ryder sighed.
"That just leaves Ice's Circuit Ball," Isaac stated.

Later…

THIS IS THE ALTRU COMPUTER, THE INCREDIBLE MACHINE'S POWER LEVEL IS CURRENTLY 1! POWER NEEDED FOR LEVEL 2 IS 10%! REPEAT, 10%! POWER IS RISING STEADILY, THERE ARE NO AB…ABNONORMAMAMAMAMA…ABNORMALITIES!

"The computer seems to be acting up, but we can't waste time! It's almost at level two!" Isaac exclaimed. He, Alexa and Ryder entered the room in front of them.

Inside…

"Hello, Top Ranger Alexa!" Ice greeted. "And hello to our computer teacher, the boy genius Isaac! Very soon, the date will change. Yes, a new era is dawning in Almia."
"Yeah, the era of Team Dim Sun's demise!" Alexa stated angrily. "You call hypnotising an entire region of Pokémon a new era?! You call that a cause for celebration?! You're sick, twisted and foolish to think that causing Pokémon to suffer mentally is anything to be happy about!"
"Gallade, the boss's present has just arrived," Ice began calmly. "Fetch her for me, won't you?"
"He's STILL after me?!" Alexa exclaimed in horror. Alexa quickly fired her capture disc at the hypnotised Gallade. Ryder and Isaac snuck passed Ice and got to the Circuit Ball. Isaac started to disable the Circuit Ball's program, but he panicked; it was taking longer.
"Oh, yes, I wasn't satisfied with the simple programming you taught us, Isaac," Ice began, watching Alexa attempting to avoid Gallade's attacks with difficulty. "So I studied like there was no tomorrow. This isn't your average computer programming."
"Gallade, stop bloody attacking me, dammit!" Alexa fumed, struggling to control her capture disc.
"Hold on, Alex, just a little bit longer…!" Isaac stated shakily.
"Whaa!" Alexa narrowly avoided Gallade's psychic blade manoeuvre, which aimed for her bleeding knee. "Let's hope I don't get amputated first!" she panicked.
"I can't seem to crack it completely! Ryder, try it anyway!" Isaac exclaimed. Ice watched with a smirk as Ryder's Aura Sphere struck the Circuit Ball. However, it failed to destroy the sphere; Ryder fell into a sitting position, panting.
"Oh, no! Ryder's exhausted!" Alexa exclaimed. "He needs time to rest before he can attack again!" Having successfully captured and released Gallade, Alexa scurried over to her exhausted partner.
I just need…to catch my breath… Ryder panted. Heath and Lavana entered the room; both still had the injuries Alexa gave them both.
"We fail at orders from Boss," Heath stated.
"I'm back from putting my makeup on; Miss Limp-a-lot over there ruined my complexion!" Lavana huffed.
"Aw, but black is so your colour!" Alexa taunted.
"Your booby trap programs were junk," Ice began with annoyance. "They had amateur written all over them! Thanks to you, Alexa and Isaac are here! Lend me your Pokémon; moaning about your failures won't get the job done." Rhyperior, Magmortar and Gallade – all back under hypnosis – entered and ganged up on Alexa.

"All three of them at once?!" Alexa panicked. She readied her styler, but now she was not so confident; not only did she need to protect Isaac, but Ryder as well due to his inability to attack efficiently in addition to being cautious about her own injuries. "This is going to be one tough session…!"

To be continued…