XXX Chapter 3 Meet the Enemy

Once again, Noah didn't really know what he was doing as he opened the door to the museum. The whole experience was so surreal, like he was dreaming as he walked through city property in the dead of night. Noah's breathing hitched slightly. Getting caught wouldn't be an option. His Pokémon's ears twitched as they picked up on his hesitation.

Cash. Cash. Cash. Fifty-thousand dollars in cash or more, Noah reminded himself. He needed the money to support his family. It wasn't his fault that he was here. He gave his country everything when he enlisted, and what had he gotten for it? Not much at all. Certainly no job security. It was like the government no longer cared for him now that he'd served his time. Noah clenched his fists.

He breathed out. Focus on the task at hand. Okay, how was he supposed to know what the device looked like if he found it? There would be no display labeled 'Artifacts from Space.' He supposed Mirage would have to tell him if he was right or not.

One thing was for sure, he couldn't do anything in the dark. "Pikachu, light up the area with an electro ball."

The mouse Pokémon made a ball of energy that gave them enough light to start looking. The New York Museum displayed Mahogony walls with beautiful etchings. There were several archways and doors to choose from.

A museum wasn't exactly a place he cared to spend time, but Noah did notice that the air smelled better in this part of town. The wealthy even had better air than him.

In the silence of the night, he walked to one of the doors. When he couldn't open it, he looked down at Umbreon. "Umbreon, use Dark Pulse again, but make it subtle."

Umbreon's rings glowed like the moonlight. A force of darkness appeared like a small, exploding shadow and crashed into the door's lock. Noah checked behind him before reaching for the handle and entering with his Pokémon at his side.

"Be on the lookout for guard Pokémon like Growlithe and Ghastly," he said.

As he spoke, a purple orb appeared. The ghost Pokémon looked stunned before adopting a look of aggression. He charged a Shadow Ball.

"Dark Pulse," Noah whispered.

Ghost met Dark and Dark easily overpowered. Ghastly fell before he knew what hit him. Umbreon did a little spin to show off his prowess.

Noah looked around in the darkness. "Umbreon, please keep your rings glowing if you can. Pikachu, do another electro ball."

The view became slightly better. The only other light source was from the streetlights bleeding in through the blinds outside. Noah figured the room he was in was as good a place as any to start.

He ran into somebody.

It was a woman. She probably worked here. Oh no. "Oh wait. This isn't what it looks like," he said frantically with his hands up.

"It looks like you're trying to steal museum property," she said nervously. Her curly hair bounced as she spoke to him.

It was what it looked like, but for a good cause. There was really no explanation that would make sense to her.

A Kirlia appeared and guarded her trainer. "Kirlia!" the Pokémon declared.

Umbreon growled and pointed his ears towards the Kirlia. The psychic Pokémon looked as nervous as her trainer. She knew she was weak to Dark. The woman must have known the problem as well because she looked around and dove for a museum Poké Ball.

Noah was not about to order his Pokémon to attack a person. Instead, he grabbed the woman's arm and yanked her back. Then he grabbed her under the shoulders and pushed her to the ground as carefully as he could. She yelped. Kirlia moved to help, but Umbreon pushed her away with a Dark Pulse. The psychic Pokémon was frantic. Noah yelled at it to stop screeching or else.

Noah held a hand over the woman's mouth as she struggled. "Pikachu, get rid of the electro balls," he ordered.

"Pika!" Pikachu said as he released the electricity.

They were enveloped in darkness again. Noah really didn't want to be identifiable after this whole fiasco was over.

He turned her around so that they were face-to-face. "Look, I don't suppose you know where an… alien-ish artifact might be? That's all I need and then I'm out of here."

Even in the dark, Noah could immediately tell that she knew what he was asking. That was lucky.

It was then that he noticed something clutched in one of her hands; something that didn't look like anything he might see on Earth. His heart sped up.

"I need to get it to the aliens so that they can get off this planet… Please don't scream," he explained as he removed his hand.

Her eyes flickered to something, and his heart slowed as he spotted it.

Noah was standing up as guards busted through the door with flashlights and Growlithes. Why didn't I think to get a mask or something? He covered his face and let go of the museum worker. The woman was about to ask the guards for help but then she shifted her gaze to the windows in horror as a loud crash sounded. Something big and metal was coming towards the museum. Everyone screamed and scrambled to get out of the way.

"It's yours," she told him, throwing the artifact to him. He deftly caught it like it was a football, feeling the strange metal in his hands.

Noah was hit with a memory of his service days when he'd yell at people to move. He ordered everybody out of the room.

"What was that?!" the woman asked.

Good question. That couldn't be Mirage and his crew. He figured the Autobots weren't the only ones looking for the artifact.

"The bad guys!" he said. "Keep moving."

Blasts of energy from an alien weapon singed through the museum. Frankly, Noah didn't know how the enemy could have missed them, but maybe they were worried about hitting the artifact.

"Kirlia, light screen! Then use teleport to get yourself out of the way," the woman ordered.

The psychic Pokémon spun like a ballerina and erected a wall of majestic light in front of the windows. The light screen managed to stop the blasts from hurtling any further, but they took the psychic wall with it. Noah noted the power of the energy weapon in comparison to Kirlia's psychic prowess. He wondered if her final evolution would be strong enough to withstand the gunfire, and if Gardevoir would be a match in a one-on-one fight.

"Kirlia!" the Pokémon cried as she made another defensive wall of light and then teleported herself next to her trainer.

Noah thought about how his own Pokémon would fair. Umbreon was bulky but with an average attack and special attack. Maybe if he had some dark glasses or a special attack stat booster, he could do some damage. Unfortunately, they didn't have access to those things right now. Then there was Pikachu, whose stats were not very good, except for his speed. The family had discussed evolving him, but thunder stones had never been part of the budget, and Pikachu hadn't cared if he evolved or not.

Noah was wishing they had made it part of the budget.

The metal behemoth outside revealed itself to be a terrifying sentient robot. He was covered in black armor that was so dark he was practically part of the night itself. His red eyes were full of evil glee. The robot pushed through Kirlia's psychic wall like a shark ramming through glass. The light screen cracked under the pressure and he advanced.

The three Pokémon cried out in distress. Noah panicked as he figured he wouldn't be able to protect any of them, including himself. When he was a soldier, he at least had access to weapons and ammo. He had nothing as a civilian.

A blast of gunfire hit the enemy robot, and Noah felt slight relief as he heard Mirage's voice. Then the distinct voice of their leader came through: "Autobots, protect the key."

"Let's go," Noah said as they continued running. The woman and the three Pokémon ran with him.

The museum's front entrance had turned into a scene from Terminator. Noah counted five or more giant robots as they fired laser weapons at each other. Each of them either skillfully dodged or endured the hits. He saw the Autobot leader as he wielded a melee weapon against the enemy, but he couldn't seem to land a hit, and that worried Noah. If Optimus couldn't overpower these guys, who could?

Noah and the woman were outside in the open, which was a terrible position to be in, but staying in the museum wouldn't be an option because they'd be trapped. He only hoped the Autobots knew how to provide appropriate cover.

"I have eyes on the key," one of the evil robots said. His voice made the pair cringe with fear. Why did bad guys have such distinct, evil voices?

Mirage fired his double pistols and managed to do a bit of damage. He started to say something but then a jet of some kind took him off his feet and into the air. He shrieked before plowing back into the ground in front of Noah.

"Oh, cool, you're still alive!" he said, like now was a good time to be joking.

Noah couldn't believe the giddiness of this robot, but it did make him feel slightly better that Mirage wasn't terrified and hopeless about the situation. Maybe it was possible to win.

Noah and the museum worker continued sprinting near the cover of the museum's stone foundation. That was when machine gunfire attempted to pick them off. The pink Autobot flipped through the assault like she'd been dodging bullets all her life.

"Get out of here!" she yelled at Noah as she perched herself onto a pillar of the museum.

Arcee finally got hit, but she spun and fired into the air at the jet robot. They seemed to be just as nimble as she was and nothing hit them. The jet pulled a weapon out of somewhere and threw it in front of Noah. He saw his life flash before his eyes as he recognized it as a grenade. The thing exploded into a burst of blue light and sent him and the woman flying backwards. Noah didn't understand how the grenade didn't disintegrate them, but he knew that the artifact went flying. Arcee attempted to get the key, but the bulkiest enemy grabbed a car with a grappling hook and sent it flying into her.

She can dodge bullets, but not a car? Noah thought.

"Enough games. I'll get it myself," the leader said.

The yellow Autobot suddenly threw a pillar at him, but to no avail. The evil robot easily deflected the attack with one of his arms.

It was then that Optimus confronted the enemy leader himself. He swung at him with his ax and Bumblebee fired on his back, but the enemy easily shrugged off both of them. With a quick swat, he sent Bumblebee flying into the building. The enemy robot countered Optimus's ax and even disarmed him. Then he took his own ax and injured Optimus's shoulder. He swung at his gut and followed it up with a strong kick. Optimus found his back against a wall.

Noah's blood ran like ice and fire at the same time. The fear of facing certain death enveloped him. If the Autobots were killed, then him and his Pokémon were going to die next. His brother and mom wouldn't have anyone else. Noah cringed hard as Optimus was smashed in the face and then brought to his knees.

"Don't be frightened, humans," a distinctly female voice patronized. It was the jet who took Mirage for a ride. "It will be over soon."

"Primus would be ashamed," the enemy leader told Optimus as he raised his weapon.

It was then that Noah saw Bumblebee grab Optimus's red-energy ax and run toward the enemy in a desperate attempt to save his leader's life. He would have delivered a powerful blow if the enemy hadn't turned in time. Bumblebee could do nothing as he was swiftly impaled.

Noah felt physical pain in response to Bumblebee's cries. His Pokémon cowered behind him. He didn't want to put them in harm's way, but it looked like they were at their last stand anyways. His breathing slowed. In that moment, he remembered his military training. He also remembered a Pokémon champion that he saw on TV. Ash or something. That boy's Pikachu packed a serious punch. Could his dad's Pikachu do the same? He was a good trainer before he died. And the robots were made of metal. Maybe a Thunder combined with Pikachu's electric typing multiplier and a good conductor would be enough power to subdue the robots.

"Pikachu," he muttered, looking down at him. "I hate to ask this of you, but we need your help. Can you put all of your energy into a Thunder for me?"

Pikachu shook but balled his little fists and crackled the electricity pouches on his cheeks. Noah told the museum worker to get out of the way.

The enemy robot paused to mock the smaller robot before he raised his gun for a killing blow. The ground shattered beneath Pikachu's feet as the sky opened up and lent the Pokémon some of its energy. All Noah heard was the mouse Pokémon yelling his name before unleashing a storm of yellow electricity into the enemy robots. Bumblebee was also shocked by the attack, but the enemy dropped him as thousands of volts of electricity dumped into his body.

Several seconds passed and no one moved. Noah slowly turned around. The enemy robots stood in surprise as residual electricity sparked over their metal bodies. The Autobots' eyes were wide.

Pikachu breathed heavily before fainting. Noah gathered him up into his arms and looked at the enemy. The evil robots looked like they'd just been sucker punched by an actual thunder storm, which was essentially what happened. The sound of sparking electricity crackled around them like they were black, short-circuiting Christmas trees. The smell of burnt rubber and metal permeated the air.

As the enemy leader tried to take a step forward, something came from the sky. Noah looked up and saw an enormous metal bird (because, of course!) flying alongside a Noivern. They loosed an attack of fire and wind around the enemy.

Noah felt the heat. It was like getting surrounded by a flaming tornado. He called his Pokémon back into their Poké Balls, and the museum worker followed his lead. He didn't know where the backup came from, but they showed up right on time because Pikachu's Thunder wasn't enough to put them down.

"Enough!" their leader announced. "We have what we came for."

Nothing could be done as they retreated with the artifact.

XXX

It's hard writing a fight scene when the main character barely knows anyone's names (i.e, evil robot, jet robot, museum worker, etc.)

I couldn't remember exactly how the museum scene went before the fight because I had seen the movie months ago. Some details are probably different (aside from the added Pokémon, of course).

I had a fun time writing this chapter. Welcome everyone who fav'd and followed and thank you so much for the reviews! Let me know if there's anything you'd like to see.