Welcome back everyone! As per usual, it was a long wait so we get a longer chapter to make up for my lack of time management. XD
Update on the new fic I am posting for Halloween, it should be released Oct. 26ish before I head out of country for the week! Might be a bit of a delay on this fic as well, not that it's exactly bustling in here! Still, in case any of you shy lurkers are here, I gotchu. XD
If you are a lurker, please feel free to drop a review/fav/follow, nothing motivates me more than feedback! Until then, I' catch everyone later!
Chapter 14
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"WE'RE SORRY!" The screeches belonged to two Haunter, holding comically large sized bumps on their forehead. Tears rolled down their faces as they shrunk away from their attacker.
Axl had his arms crossed, annoyed. "You two nearly made me jump out of my fur." He scolded, setting his scalchop back onto his stomach. The air was now significantly colder with the two Haunter in his presence, chilling Axl's bones as the gaseous bodies floated in front of him.
A scowl adjourned his face as he stared at the two now helpless ghost-type Pokemon, more annoyed that Nolan was right more than anything.
Speaking of said bat, he got right in the face of the Haunter. "Alright you two, spit it out!" He started.
Axl pulled his scalchop out, an evil gleam in his eye. "Yeah, tell us how you poop!" He demanded, making the Haunter shrink back in fright.
Nolan hit Axl over the head. "That's not what's important right now, idiot!" He shouted. "Tell us where Iris is!" There was a bit of desperation in the Zubat's words as he was clearly worried about his girlfriend, although masked by a layer of unyielding rage.
Haunter 1 had his hands over his face. "Please, we don't know where she is. Big Bro was in charge of putting her in a cage, not us!"
Haunter 2 had his hands in a prying motion. "We didn't want to harm any of you, we were just going to borrow your house for a bit." He pleaded, making Axl raise a brow.
Ghost-types were…different from your average Pokemon. Similar to Hazaranmon, they dealt with great scrutiny from other Pokemon due to their perceived appearance as monsters. Most just lived in the forest, being unable to live in the society of everyday Pokemon, and thus were very territorial in certain cities. Peridot City normally had a low level of ghost-type related activities, although the neighboring Amethyst City was a completely different story…
Last Axl knew, it was to the point where ghost type Pokemon were forming gangs in order to gain control of the forest around the city. Although, staring at the two cowardly Pokemon on the ground, he somehow doubted they were gang members of any sort. Although this 'Big Bro' person could be different.
"You two idiots better tell me where we can find your Big Bro, or I'll bite your stupid faces straight off of your head." He snapped, his patience waning with the two.
Haunter 1 gasped, looking offended. "I don't have a stupid face, do I?" He asked his partner, sounding hurt.
Haunter 2 made a 'so-so' motion with his hand. "I mean…a little." He admitted, sending his friend into a quick depression.
He suddenly shot up, a shocked look on his face. "Wait a minute, we have the same face!" He said, sounding surprised.
Haunter 2 paused for a moment before placing both his hands on his cheeks, flabbergasted. "OH NO!" He screamed, horrified.
WHAM! BOP!
"AHH, WE'RE SORRY!" They shouted in unison again as two more fresh bumps courtesy of Axl's scalchop popped up on their heads. A vein of annoyance had now popped on Axl's head as he set his trusty weapon back on his stomach again, although keeping a paw on it just in case they acted stupid again.
Zubat was just as angry. "Will you two take this seriously before we obliviate you!" He snapped, his fangs unveiling themselves in his mouth.
Axl nodded. "He's right… seriously though, about the poop thing."
Nolan hit him over the head again. "You're taking this less seriously than they are." He yelled, aggravated with his friend.
Haunter 1 was in a praying form. "Please, we were only doing what Big Bro ordered us to do." He begged the two Pokemon.
Haunter 2 had tears leaking down his face. "We didn't even want to do this, we swear." He screamed very dramatically.
"We wanted to be truck drivers!"
"But we don't have legs!"
"And I'm allergic to leather." Haunter 1 very over dramatically wailed the last part of his sentence before being walloped by Axl into one of the walls.
Haunter 2 put his hands up. "Gah, brother!' He shouted in fear, his brother laying with swirls in his eyes.
The vein had returned to Axl's forehead while Nolan flapped his wings angrily. "You keep mentioning this big brother of yours, maybe it's time you spilled the beans on who he is." He said, fumed.
Axl had let his thoughts drift elsewhere though, thinking of Erin alone in the basement and feeling a little concerned at what was possibly down there with her. He wanted to go check on her but knew that leaving Nolan alone with this Haunter was probably a bad idea even if his brother was knocked out now.
He knew how dangerous ghosts could be…he was from Amethyst City after all.
He snapped his attention back to the other two, Haunter 2 now twiddling his fingers together anxiously.
"If I tell you, Big Bro isn't going to be happy with me…" He trailed off fearfully. "He's already angry enough as it is all the time…"
Nolan unsheathed his fangs. "Well, I'm not very happy either at the moment," He said menacingly, the razor-sharp points of his teeth glistening. "So, either you tell me, or I will suck your soul out!"
An awkward pause fell between the three Pokemon at the Zubat's words, before Axl burst out laughing.
A blush adorned the Haunter's face. "I mean…"
Flustered, Nolan smacked both hard on the head. "I MEANT WITH LEECH LIFE, GET YOUR MIND OUT OF THE GUTTER!" Axl laid on his back comically from the impact while the Haunter started groveling again.
"Please, please, no more violence!" He cried, a third lump protruding from his head. "I'll talk…my big bro will take out anyone who tries and interfere anyway. He was a former four-star level threat, you know."
Axl and Nolan snapped their heads in a more serious level at this, shocked at the revelation. That would be a big problem if he was telling the truth.
"The name." Nolan hissed impatiently.
The Haunter looked away anxiously, as though the name he was about to say would appear and punish him for snitching.
"Gilbert Redfield."
"You're lying." It was Axl who spoke, appearing unusually serious.
Nolan looked worried at this. "He was a former underground boss in Amethyst City, right?" He asked both of them. "He was caught a couple years back if I recall."
The Haunter shook his head. "He escaped just a few weeks ago and came to this region to gain his strength back. He met us just after he escaped and got us to help him take over this scouting house. The more we take over, the less eyes we'll have on us in these woods."
Nolan huffed. "Did you think anyone was going to check in at any point? How long did you think you were going to keep us locked up?"
The Haunter spoke in almost a perfect replica of Nolan's voice. "Forever. It's not just images we can conjure, you know." He replied.
If Nolan had eyes, he felt as though they would be wide in shock. "Arceus above, how terrifying."
A sudden shriek echoed in their eyes, reverberating in the empty house. Axl gritted his teeth as a sickening thought started to gnaw at the pit of his stomach as he could only think of one thing at the moment.
Erin...
Ripping his scalchop off his stomach, he smashed the side of the Haunter's head, knocking him out with his brother.
Nolan's brows raised. "Woah, dude." He said, taken aback at the sudden movement. "We didn't-"
"Nolan, I understand you're nervous about Iris and I promise we will find her. But right now, I need to get to the basement." Axl said, tightening his scarf. "Stay here and keep an eye on these two, it's better if I do this alone."
Nolan was shocked but managed to nod. "Uh, yeah. I'll take care of 'em if they wake up. Only got the jump on me last time when I wasn't expecting them." His tone was a lot calmer now and he watched as Axl ran quickly out of the room, presumably downstairs. "I haven't seen him like this in a while…"
Meanwhile, a light groan came from the forgotten vase in the corner. "Can somebody please get me out of here?" Ripley begged.
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"Heh heh heh, you're not boring, kid, that's for sure." The grating voice from the Gengar taunted an injured Erin. Blood was spilling from a cut on her arm, and she was heaving to catch her breath.
She had managed to wriggle out of Gilbert's surprise attack after nearly passing out from fright, but now was tasked with trying to beat him in a battle. A few moves in, however, and she was realizing that this Pokemon was definitely both stronger and more experienced than her. She didn't recognize him from any of the posters in the Guild.
She stared him down, unwavering in spite of her injury. "What did you do to the scouts?" She asked, huffing as her lungs were screaming for breath.
His grin was stout but remained silent as he started to melt into a shadow on the ground, making Erin take a step back in anticipation. The large shadow bounced around on the floor, moving more and more quickly until he emerged again with a hand ready to strike.
Barely registering it in time, the leaf on Erin's tail glowed a light green as she was able to meet him in the middle.
"Shadow Sneak!"
"Leaf Blade!"
Pushing against each other, Erin was overpowered by the larger Pokemon and knocked back into the ground, catching herself and landing back into a defensive pose. Gilbert, however, was ready for her landing and had already formed two brown globs of sludge on each hand.
"Sorry, kiddo, this one's gonna hurt!" He laughed before throwing both at her. "SLUDGE BOMB!"
It was a direct hit and Erin felt pain explode on the front of her body as she crumpled to her knees. Opening her eyes, she felt grateful that the nauseous feeling of being poisoned didn't follow up with that attack as it was taking everything in her to not pass out as it was.
Coughing, she pushed herself up. "Gengar's normally can't learn Shadow Sneak, right?" She asked, thinking through her notes. "It takes someone exceptionally strong to learn a move they're not genetically able to learn naturally."
Gilbert snickered. "Look at you, the walking Pokedex." His grating voice responded. "I may not look like much, but I ran the Underground of Amethyst City back in my prime. Even got a four-star level bounty placed in my head by the time I was through. Do you want to know how many souls never made it out of my territory?"
Erin narrowed her eyes and found a bit more strength inside her. Jumping up with another Leaf Blade attack, Gilbert was able to escape backwards and fire another Sludge Bomb barrage at her.
Extending a vine from her back, she latched herself on one of the beams in the ceiling and managed to pull herself safely away from his attack and onto the beam itself.
A light blue ball had formed in her hand, a lot harder to see than Gilbert's Sludge Bomb. Once she had gained enough power in her attack, she threw it at him, and the ball broke off into five smaller ones.
"Hidden Power!" Caught a little off guard, Gilbert blocked the attack with his arms, wincing a tiny bit at the icy touch.
Feeling his lip, he snickered at her attack. "You guild members never know when to quit." Disappearing into the ground again, he swiftly swam his way around Erin and popped out of the ground, causing Erin to gasp in fear at his second gear of speed.
Grinning at her, he slashed her with surprisingly sharp fingers across her face, sending her backwards and making her shriek in agony. Three deep claw marks were embedded in her cheeks and blood was starting to pool out of it, Erin checking this as she put her fingers to her face.
Gilbert proceeded to grab Erin's head and shove it into the ground, pinning her there as she scrambled to escape his grip. "You know…It's a shame you ran into me here. I'll tell you one thing right now." His voice was getting darker as he pushed her further into the ground. "I've killed Guild Members much stronger than you. You're smart, I'll give you that. But too bad you weren't smart enough to run away from me when you realized the strength difference between us. I doubt you'd have any value as a hostage if I'm being completely honest with you."
Erin was barely listening though as she struggled to escape his iron grip. Trying to think on her feet, her stomach in this case, an idea formed in her head as she considered her situation. Planting her fingertips in the ground, a few seeds sprouted from her fingertips and wormed their way into the ground. Closing her eyes as they took a painfully long time to work their magic, a surge of relief as an explosion of vines erupted underneath them, ensnaring them both and blinding Gilbert.
"What the what?" Gilbert yelled as he suddenly lost sight of the Snivy who was able to snake her way out in his confusion. Stepping away from the situation, she placed her hand on the ground again as another vine, much tamer than the others, came up and latched itself onto her wrist.
Her pain started to subsidize a little as energy started to flow into her body, granting her much needed relief. Gilbert, who's energy was being sapped, ripped the vines off himself and threw them to the side.
His grin had never left. "Could've died quickly but suit yourself." He snickered. His eyes started to glow blue, entrancing Erin and making her lose sight of her world around her. The room had become a blur and Gilbert's purple body was morphing into one of an evil, black and red hue.
Her senses were melting into one and her chest was rapidly and painfully pounding as she struggled to concentrate on only one to ground herself. Her mind felt like a fuzzy cloud, and she couldn't string together a consecutive thought without it branching off into a million different ideas.
Her sight was starting to wash over in a rainbow hue and everything seemed less real to her. An itch hotter than lava was also covering her body to the point she was scratching herself raw in order to relieve herself of it, unaware of the damage she was slowly inflicting on herself.
It was hell.
As though the intense energy she was experiencing wasn't enough, her senses only continued to pulsate even further, making her feel tiny and exposed in an already empty room.
Gilbert looked at his fingernails in satisfaction. "Ah, Confuse Ray." He said wistfully, before extending his claw-like hands once more. "Always takes the fun out of the battle, they always end up as useless as you are right now."
Erin squirmed on the ground, her world spinning with vision like she had just gotten out of water. She had been confused before in mock battles, but it was never this bad of a trip. Usually, she just got loopy in an almost funny way. Never had she experienced this level of anxiety, almost like she felt herself physically losing her mind.
Gilbert walked around the panicking Snivy. "No harsh feelings, you seem like a really sweet girl and all. But I have enough mouths in here to feed as it is. Besides," His face darkened in a sinister smile as he raised his hand above his hand to cut her down. "It's been too long since I spilled such pretty little blood."
Erin very sloppily tried to block with her hands, anticipating the end of her life.
I'm so stupid, why didn't I just call the Guildmaster. I was in way over my head…
What about Karl?
She glared at the Gengar, unable to track him, but refusing to go out without a fight even if the horrifying state of confusion she was in absolutely crippled her. Even if she had to completely whiff or pray for a miracle.
She had to do what it takes to survive, because Karl needed her.
She very clumsily extended the vines on her back as the whole room felt like it was vibrating, getting ready to risk everything on one last attack.
Suddenly, a light blue light flashed in between them, and Gilbert let out a shriek of agony as he was thrown back hard against the wall. Another blue shape had accompanied it, not as bright as the light it produced, but close and warm feeling. Realizing how cold it was, Erin very dizzily pressed herself into it in order to help bring herself back down.
Suddenly, the mysterious shape spoke. "Uh, I get I'm cute and cuddly, Erin, but this may not be the ideal time at the moment." Why did that voice sound so familiar? Her dazed brain wouldn't let her put a face to it as suddenly she felt her anxiety suddenly lifted from her body.
She looked up at the blue blob to ask who he was…unfortunately her tongue was so numb from the confusion that it simply came out as "Heffghlel."
"Oh dear." The voice sounded sheepish and suddenly a sweet juice started to fill her mouth and Erin felt herself being brought back to earth. Almost as exiting a dream, Erin had to blink a few times to completely ground herself.
She was pressed against Axl's chest, who was looking down on her in a mixture of amusement and relief.
She squeaked a sound of embarrassment and jumped back, blushing a bright red at the situation she woke up to. Remembering the events that had taken prior, she glanced away awkwardly.
"Er…where did you get the berry?" She simply asked.
Axl chuckled. "Remember when I patted your shoulder…?" He asked sheepishly, pulling a couple of berries from his scarf.
Erin sweatdropped. "Honestly, if it wasn't for the fact that you saved me, I'd be a lot madder." She admitted, still not looking at him.
Axl held a hand out for her to help her up. "You going to be okay, 'Heffghal'?"
Erin blushed again. "Oh, shut up!" She yelled comically, before snapping in a more serious role. "Wait, where did he go?" Her cheek was starting to sting, and she realized how much pain she was in all of the sudden. Still, she refused to let Axl know she was in any pain.
Speaking of which, she was surprised to see him more serious. "Yeah, that's the issue. I'm not sure if you're familiar with the name Gilbert Redfield at all?" He told her. When she shook her head, he shrugged. "I figured. He used to be a very dangerous criminal in Amethyst City a couple years back until he got captured."
"Who's saying 'used to be'?" Shadows started to form around the spot Gilbert had landed, having swam into the ground in order to lessen the fall.
Erin stuck a hand out to defend Axl. "Go back upstairs with Nolan and contact the Guildmaster. He's strong, but I'm not going to fall for his Confuse Ray again. I can hold him off until he gets here." She said this bravely, but tension was making her skin vibrate.
Axl shook his head at her, impressed. "Nothing less than I would have expected from Peridot City's finest." He said proudly, gently shooing her hand away. "But I don't think there's a need."
Erin was going to question him, but Gilbert had completely reformed and had spotted the two. Upon seeing that his attacker was Axl, his grin dropped to a menacing frown and his pupils became pinpoints in his large red eyes. "You." His ghastly whisper made the room drop about ten degrees.
Axl grinned. "Hey, Gilberto, long time no see my man." He said friendly, absolutely astonishing Erin. "Was getting your life paid for the last couple of years so miserable that you had to escape?"
Erin stared at him. "How is it seriously that everyone I've met the past couple days, you've somehow managed to piss off at some point?" She asked, absolutely flabbergasted. "What is he even talking about?"
Axl looked at her and sheepishly scratched the back of his head.
It was Gilbert who answered though. "You're kidding, right? You mean to tell me he's your friend and you don't even know who he is? What guild did you say you were a part of again?"
Erin stared defiantly at the Gengar. "Peridot City." She answered, even more confused.
Gilbert looked around. "Tch, I'm going to have to get used to that, I forgot this isn't Amethyst anymore." He muttered, before staring back at her. "Well since you don't seem to know the first thing about your friend, allow me to get you acquainted. I'll never forgive that stupid otter for as long as I live for capturing me and locking me up. Axl Ingrassio, the 'Phenom of Amethyst City', a former guild member of their Justice Guild, and would have been the youngest deputy they've ever seen."