Chapter thirty-five: Above the Celadon Fog

Cy's empty water bottle hits the wooden floor. He is in a state of panic and rushes to get dressed. He sits up on his bed and puts on his pants carefully. Km enters the room with a brown coat to give to her partner and he manages to catch it from her.

"How long do we have?" He asks.

"Not long, they might come knocking at the front door at any minute." Km warns.

"How the hell did they find out?" Cy retorts.

"Doesn't matter." Km retorts.

"Where's your brother?" He asks as Km helps put his shoes on for him.

"Cleaning some of the mess you made."

Cy puts on the coat and stands up carefully. He goes for his crutches but she stops him almost immediately, holding an arm to block his path in the process, "Forget them." She orders him before hiding the metallic instruments under the bed. She takes every piece of fabric from the bed and puts them in the closet. As she is doing this, Cy reaches out to open the nightstand cabinet to get a baton and a taser, which he holsters both to his belt.

Once Km is done, she returns to Cy, "Here" She offers to support him and he allows her to do so, placing an arm over her shoulder.

"Where did you get those?" She asks quickly after looking down at his holstered weapons.

"From the Viridian Forest, at a police station." He says as they begin walking, "TR took them from me at the outpost and I got them back during our escape."

They both leave the room to find Michael in the hallway; the man is wiping down everything with a piece of cloth. Once he sees them, he goes for the window next to the television set and opens it. Michael looks outside and then turns toward the duo and signals them to come, "Get on the exterior stairs outside and make your way to the rooftop."

Km and Michael help Cy climb over the window. Then, she prepares to do the same but not before looking back at her brother, "Thanks, stay out of trouble."

"Hurry, and watch out for Police Needlebots." Michael advises her before she nods in understanding and leaves. He then closes the window and sighs heavily.

Once they're gone, Michael opens yet another window but on the other side of the apartment. He looks back to see his beloved robot looking up at him a few feet away. Michael goes to get the frying pan that Cy used several hours before and places it on the ground from where the Ex-grunt threw it.

"Okay Holo, let's give them a show." Michael sits down on the floor with his arms covering his face in fear as Holo skitters toward him. Thirty seconds later, banging on the front door is heard. Michael looks at Holo one last time and winks at the Spiderbot before…

"Help! Help me!"

The door knob can be seen moving but the door refuses to open. In a matter of seconds, the door is forced open by a police officer who looks down to see a scared Michel and an intruder. Holo immediately moves away and, with great alacrity, crawls toward the window to escape. The officer pulls out a gun and runs for Holo.

"Stop that thing!" Michael shouts.

Unfortunately, it's too late. Holo manages to escape very quickly. The officer rushes toward the window and sticks his head outside but unfortunately finds nothing but dense fog. Unbeknownst to the officer: right above him, in the fog, and clinging onto the foundation of the building, is Holo.

"What happened?" The officer moves away from the window and turns toward Michael.

"Isn't it obvious? That thing broke into my apartment and attacked me!" Michael retorts.

"Stay calm, I'll make sure it won't come back." The officer uses his radio to call for backup while Michael sits there on the floor, unsure of what to do next.

Meanwhile, outside the apartment, Holo's front arms and its underside begin to blink with red lights before its four arms shift into a more appropriate position for flight. Small fans appear and begin to spin rapidly before Holo detaches from the wall of the apartment and flies away into darkness.

After successfully navigating the stairs that lead to the rooftop, Cy and Km find themselves staring down at a lower section of the building's roof. It's not that high, so Km jumps down from it and then looks up toward Cy with an irritated expression, "I'll go find something."

"Hurry." Cy retorts quickly. He takes off his messenger bag and drops it down below where it lands on the ground with a soft thud. Meanwhile, Km searches the nearby area for anything to help Cy climb down.

"The fog is going to be a big problem…" Cy says to himself after Km disappears within the fog. No sign of his partner can be seen anywhere for what seems to be a long time, which puts Cy in a state of anxiety. He tries to climb down, but his injury severely impacts his mobility to a colossal extent. Plus, the loss of his crutches makes the challenge of escape even harder for the young fugitive.

While Cy stands by, Km finds a door that leads inside the same apartment complex. She looks around and thankfully finds a ladder, of all the things she could have found up on the roof, resting right beside the door. She grabs it and slowly walks toward Cy. He slightly leans toward a shadow that appears to be holding an object nearby and is relieved to find that it's Km. She places the ladder against the wall carefully and then steps away to take a look at Cy, "Okay, climb down, Chief."

Cy slowly gets on the ladder and cautiously climbs down using only one leg. Once his good leg hits the snow-filled ground, both fugitives hear the sound of a door creaking open in the distance, with its echo following almost simultaneously in the process. Now panic-stricken, Km quickly grabs Cy and prompts him to put his arm over her. They both head to an air-conditioning unit nearby where they hide behind it. Voices can be heard near the door with the same amount of echo being produced as well. Km narrows her eyes to see who the culprits are, but she can only see their silhouettes.

"This mandatory warrant is hogwash. Those fugitives are probably in another town by now." The voice of a man is heard.

"Or that's what they want us to think." A female voice adds to the conversation.

"Stupid cops, they trashed my place looking for them just now, and they didn't say anything about it! My kids are scared now and I gotta clean up the mess they, themselves, made." The man scoffs momentarily, "It's not even sunrise yet! Why couldn't they wait a while longer to come!?"

"It's all those fugitives' fault." The female retorts.

"I swear…If I saw those runners here, I would hit them over the head and turn them in…in a…in a heartbeat." The silhouette of a man appears and leans against the air-conditioning unit on the opposite side to where Cy and Km are. Cy holds his breath in fear and prays that the man does not turn his head toward the duo. Km, meanwhile, is ready to retaliate if necessary; assuring to herself that her reflexes will be quick to resolve the situation.

Before the man can do anything, the situation facing the fugitives goes from worse to worst. The shadow of a floating object appears and turns out to be a Needlebot. The sudden invitation of a police robot makes Km's hand, the one that's not resting on her partner's shoulder, begin to smoke. The machine quickly scans the resident standing beside the door first.

"Surprised to find that I'm not the fugitive…you stupid piece of hardware." The woman crosses her arms.

Next, it makes its way toward the man standing next to the air conditioning unit and hovers in place. Unfortunately, the man makes a confused facial expression when he smells smoke nearby.

"You smell that?" The man asks, "Smells like something is burning."

"Km…" Cy softly says to her.

The Needlebot begins scanning the man; the red lasers coming off from its body also scan the air conditioning unit behind him…

Battle is inevitable.

"Go." Cy pats Km's shoulder just before she narrows her eyes.

Km, while holding Cy, appears from behind the unit and releases fire from her hand toward the robot. The machine's internal alarm sound for a brief moment before it explodes into unrecognizable shrapnel. The two witnesses jump and gasp in terror. The man in front of the duo falls on his back and crawls away. Km leads Cy out of their hiding spot and brandishes her hand toward the man and woman, "Let's be clear, I want you both on the ground, hands on top of your heads, now!" Km shouts before the pair flinch and do as instructed, "Come on." Km says to Cy, "I know how to get to where we need to go, but I can't really see in this fog."

"Neither can they." Cy retorts.

As fast as they can, the Kanto fugitives make their way through the rooftop and suddenly stop at the edge, "I was here a few hours ago, there's a building we can get to from here…but how will we…"

"There, a plank we can use to get across." Cy points to a loose plank on the ground. Km lets go of him to pick it up.

Cy grabs one of his arms and sighs, "We better hurry, that Needlebot alerted the entire police precinct of our exact location."

"And our trail will turn cold soon enough, come on." Km retorts after placing the plank on a flat surface next to the edge of the roof. Because of the length of the plank, it is most definitely resting on the other side of the fog, on another building.

Cy shakes his head, "We both can't cross at the same time.

"Go first, and crawl slowly!" Km helps Cy down on the ground as he cringes in pain, "Sorry." She says in response. She then turns her back on Cy to make sure the man and woman, or anybody else, don't come at them.

Cy gulps nervously. He's never actually crossed a narrow plank resting high above the ground before. His hands shake violently as he begins his careful trek across the plank. The fog makes the journey even more difficult, not to mention the fact that the plank itself is shaking somewhat. Cy begins sweating from his forehead as he tells himself not to look down below him. He stops to rest momentarily and does so a lot. Eventually, he's halfway across the plank, and is halfway from passing out due to fright. After taking rests along the way, he makes it to the other side. He crawls away from the edge and pants in relief. Soon after, he gathers enough strength inside him to yell toward Km, "Cross!" Cy shouts and Km turns to the plank with noticeable trepidation.

Km sighs softly before she begins her trek all the while standing. Her balance, and her life, is in jeopardy. Unfortunately, she sees yet another police Needlebot approaching nearby. For now, the machine hasn't found her yet, but she's not even halfway the plank yet. Km tries to speed up her journey as fast as she can, but the plank soon shakes almost uncontrollably before she almost loses her balance. She carefully begins crawling to the finish line instead of standing.

"Almost there…" She whispers. She can hear the sounds of the Needlebot's small rotors getting louder.

Now almost across, she stands up again and takes a literal leap of faith as the plank behind her moves slightly to the left. She falls down next to Cy. Now that the duo is on the opposite building from Michael, she stands up and kicks the plank…the entirety of it falls into the depths below.

"Km!" Cy shouts, pointing toward floating lights that appears to get brighter as it approaches the fugitives. Km extends her hands and, like before, fire escapes her palm and travels toward the culprit. The Needlebot's alarm sounds but it is destroyed just like the one before. The remnants of the machine, which is now in flames, also fall into the depths.

Km turns to Cy and picks him up slowly. He points to a tall cage ladder which leads to an even higher point on the building.

"I know Cy. I've been through here before." Km retorts.

"How far do we have to go?" He asks.

"Not far." Km explains, "I sure hope they aren't by the river when we get there."

"I'll climb first…" Cy responds with an adamant expression.

He grabs the step in front of him and begins to climb with his good leg while his other dangles freely. He does so rather quickly, so Km is able to follow suit in a short while. As they climb the fifty-feet tall ladder, a helicopter can be heard circling around the building that they had just been standing on. Thanks to the fog, they are practically invisible, but the sound of Needlebots passing a dozen feet below their shoes causes the duo to try and make haste. It takes roughly a minute to climb the ladder to the rooftop of the taller apartment building. Once Cy is safe on the ground next to the edge of the roof, Km appears and picks him up.

They make their way across the rooftop, where they drop down and land on a small section of the roof as before to make it towards yet another ladder. They climb down, but this time Km is the first to use the ladder. It takes less time than the previous one but once they reach the bottom, Km realizes a major problem. They stare at the building across from them; it is closer to the building they are standing on, which means they could jump across unlike before; however…Km turns to Cy…

He raises a hand at her, "Just find a way to help me across." He retorts as they hear police sirens race down the street below them, "They're probably right behind us." He says nervously. Suddenly, they both hear a loud sound above them. Cy turns to Km, "Hurry." Cy retorts before looking up at the ladder, "They're climbing down!" he adds.

Km prepares to jump across, she takes a few steps back and then runs toward the edge…and jumps across successfully. She looks around for a way to get her partner to where she is but it's proving hopeless. Then, she spots something along the wall that goes from the building she's on to Cy…a pipe!

"Cy, think you can hang on the pipe and get across?" She shouts as her voice echoes.

Cy has no time to think about it, for the voices behind him get louder as the authorities climb down to confront them. He shambles to the rectangular-shaped pipe near the edge. The top of the pipe is flat, so he is able to grab it with ease. He takes a deep breath before he begins to make it across. It is not long before the fugitive is seen dangling high above the ground, making his way to safety.

"How you holding up, Cy?" Km asks as she observes him, "I'm alive." He responds.

Without warning, the door behind Km opens violently. She turns around to see a police officer run out to catch Km. She raises one hand to release a flame while using the other to grab a Poké ball. The man sidesteps to avoid the attack and is now on the ground. He looks down momentarily to take out a gun to use but the moment he looks back up, a dog Pokémon jumps on top of him. Km's Growlithe disarms him before Km herself takes the gun and slams it across the man's head, knocking him unconscious. The dog looks up at his master and whines but she says, "He'll live."

Meanwhile, Cy is halfway across, but soon a police officer jumps down from the ladder and points a finger at the duo, "There they are!" He takes out a gun and points it at them, "Stop!"

Seconds later, two more officers climb down from the ladder and join the other man. Cy turns his head to them, "I can't stop, I'm losing my grip, you imbeciles!"

The officer radios for help, but then suddenly a Pidgeotto appears and begins flapping its wings rapidly, causing strong gusts of wind to strike the officers hard. They all cover their faces and try to find cover. Unfortunately for them, just after the attack ends, Km jumps near them and sidekicks the first officer in her view as he charges to attack. One of the other two policemen rushes in to the left from where his buddy once stood beside him, but Km does a spinning kick to his head and he falls down hard. The third man aims his gun at Km, but Growlithe, who also jumped, arrives and unleashes ember at the man, who falls on his back in pain, dropping his weapon in the process. The first officer, now on the ground next to Km, goes for his taser and strikes Km's leg for a brief second, who yells. Growlithe rushes to the man and bites hard into his arm, causing him to yell and let go of the weapon. Km recovers quickly and kicks the man in the face, causing him to go unconscious as well.

"Km!"

She looks toward Cy, who's made it to the other side. She takes out Growlithe's Poké ball and calls him back. She takes two of the three officers' guns and throws them over the edge of the building. She grabs the third officer's gun and holsters it on her belt. As she leaves to jump across, the third officer, barely conscious, looks at her and says in pain, "You can't keep running…sooner or later…we'll catch you."

"Stuff it." Km retorts before jumping across.

Once she makes it across, she hears the sounds of Needlebots getting steadily louder. Cy puts his arm around her before she looks up at her Pidgeotto, "Keep our backs safe."

The bird follows them as they get to, once again, another ladder to climb down. Cy is first as Km watches from the edge for any imminent threat. That threat soon appears when three police Needlebots arrive and sound their alarms.

Km takes cover behind a ventilation duct and takes out the gun and fires at one, which results in them shooting needles at her and the bird. Pidgeotto acts on its own and rushes at one of the robots at top speed, leaving a white streak in its wake. It crashes into one and it blows up. Pidgeotto makes a U-turn and crashes into another Needlebot. As for Km, she manages to destroy the third machine on her own. After the feat is done, Km throws the gun away and begins climbing down the ladder as Pidgeotto hovers next to the ladder.

Once the duo get down the last step, they are now on an outside staircase similar to the one they were on where Michael's building is located. Km leads Cy through the narrow space as they hear yet another barrage of Needlebots incoming. Km lets go of Cy and unleashes fire at the first robot she sees while Pidgeotto calls to its master and points with its beak down below them. Km quickly looks down to see police officers ascending the ladder to get to them, "Halt, Celadon City Police Department!"

Km then hears her bird cry out in pain as a needle strikes it: it begins falling toward the ground. Km acts quickly, she takes out her ball and aims it carefully and fires, which saves the bird's life. The needle that was once on the Pokémon free falls and smashes into a million shards as it hits the ground.

While this is happening, Cy takes out his baton and smashes a window to allow entry into the building. He runs his weapon through any glass left on the frame to avoid injury, "Through here!" He shouts as Km helps him inside.

"They're inside the building!" One of the officers talks into his radio as he and others run up the stairs.

"Pray we can still get out of this without a hitch." Cy retorts as soon as they are both inside.

"Maybe we can if they have a basement in this building." Km explains.

"What do you mean?" Cy asks as Km opens a door leading into an unoccupied living room, "We can get to the sewers." Km explains.

"I didn't think you'd suggest that." Cy retorts, "Alright…let's hope the basement has a ladder too." He says sarcastically.

They make their way out of the apartment and head down a hallway to an elevator. As they make their way there, behind them several officers appear from where they were just inside and rush down the hallway to catch them. They make it to an elevator as Km continuously presses the button, "This always happens, I swear…why can't an elevator just for once…" The elevator door opens and they rush in. It closes just as the police officers make it to where they are.

Muzak plays in the elevator as they wait. It takes about thirty seconds before the doors opens again. Km leads Cy out and the both of them rush down another hallway. Once they get to the corner, they hear voices behind them, "There they are!"

Km lets go of Cy as he shambles away to safety. The officers fire at Km before she turns left to get some cover against a wall. The officers run down the hallway too close to Km before she comes up with a plan. She gets out of cover and quickly creates a wall of fire, stopping the men in their tracks. She ducks down, avoiding more bullet streaks from striking her. Cy continues his trek before a man comes out of hiding where another corner is and tackles him. Cy, in retaliation, takes out his taser and strikes the man to the side, causing him to get off Cy. Km arrives and sees the man take out a gun before kicking the gun away in the process. Km helps Cy up but he looks behind her in fear before shouting, "Behind you!" The man punches Km in the face. The man goes for Cy next, but the young adult takes out his baton again. Cy ducks as the man throws a punch and Cy retaliates by striking the man in the kneecap, causing him to fall down in extreme agony. Km grabs Cy, who puts away his weapons, and quickly leads him down the long hallway.

"There!" Cy points to a sign in the shape of an arrow that reads basement. He looks behind him and sees the injured man reach for his gun to aim, "Look out Km!" He yells before shots are fired at them. Both dodge the hail of bullets just as they make a quick turn to the right into yet another hallway. Km sweats as she carries her partner, "How far do we have, damn it!" She yells.

Cy points, "There it is."

Both of them enter and close the door behind them. Km turns on a switch, turning on the lights to the stairs leading down the basement. Cy takes his belt off and wraps it around the door hinge located on the top of the door and tightens it to prevent their pursuers from getting in, "Okay, let's go." Km takes Cy and they reach the basement. Cy looks around as Km rubs her face, "Damn that guy hits hard."

"Over there." Cy hops with one leg to a circular shaped object on the floor that reads Sewer. Km runs to it and opens it, setting it aside, "My nose…I think it died!" Km covers her nose with her arm in repulsion.

"No light." Cy opens his old messenger bag and takes out a flashlight to hand to Km, "Hold please, will you, princess?" She takes it while he takes out his taser and removes the batteries to put them into the flashlight. She turns the switch and it flickers slightly, "Let's hurry." Km says before they hear banging on the door upstairs.

They both look down at the darkness of the sewers before Cy breaks the silence, "I'm really getting tired of climbing ladders today."

"You and me, both." She retorts.

They make their way down the ladder, but Km stays behind momentarily to reach for the sewer door to enclose them inside the depths of the sewer.