The Broken Glass Alchemical Company stared up at their attackers as the smoke of their attack wafted through the air around them. With their carriage overturned and disabled, plus with the vast stretch of land left between them and Copper Gorge, escape would be nearly impossible.

Ulrich smiled at their collective distress. "Come on, make this fun for me! I didn't travel all the way out to the middle of nowhere just for some disappointing prey."

Amos growled. "Bastard!" He aimed and hammered on his gunarm, firing curving shots through the air.

Ulrich laughed before effortlessly dodging out of their path. The bullets rode through the sand streams and tried to take Vilgot from behind, but the Flapple quickly sheltered behind his apple hide and shielded the attacks. He then dropped out of the air, air currents spinning his body around, before launching like a cannonball the second he touched the ground.

"Golden Demolition!"

The company dodged out of the way as the rolling Flapple came speeding by them, breaking off a part of the carriage as he did. As he spun, air currents coiled around him, changing his trajectory back toward them. Magni immediately rushed down with Megahorn and clashed with Vilgot to stop his advance. Sparks flew between their attacks as they grinded together, but Magni managed to scoop his horns under and toss him into the air.

Ulrich flicked his wrist and caught Vilgot in Psychic. "1% Psycho Core—" With a causal flick, he launched the Flapple back at Magni. "Gentle Seedling!"

"Royal Gala Crush!" Vilgot's shell reflected in a metallic sheen, picking up more speed as he fell.

Unable to dodge, Magni roared out in pain as the apple dragon came crashing down atop his back, crushing the ground beneath him. The sheer force of the crash sent his friends flying back in the dust and rubble, slamming into the underside of the carriage.

"Magni!" Evelot cried.

Vilgot launched off the stunned Scolipede and charged toward her. "You're next, alchemist!"

Phoebe jumped in front of Evelot with her rifle drawn. "Mystery Bullet!" After loading in a Blizzard-infused bullet, she sent the power of Metronome through it and fired. From the shot came a mighty blizzard laced with Leech Seeds. Though a bad roll, the Blizzard would be more than enough.

Or so she thought.

The Blizzard bullet slammed into Vilgot, but he continued on through as the bullet pinged off his shell. The harsh cold winds hammered across him, but it barely did anything to slow him down.

Before he could crash into Phoebe and Evelot, Amos immediately tackled them out of the way. Vilgot pierced through the carriage's underside and blasted out from through the roof on the other side. He skipped off the ground, launching into the air and joining by Ulrich's side.

"Heh, barely a scratch," Vilgot taunted, wiping blue berry juice off his chin.

The company picked themselves up, rattled by the Flapple's incredible power. "What the hell?" Phoebe gasped. "The apple-wearing wyrm should've been shattered to bits! How did he take one of my bullets?!"

Evelot peeked out from behind the carriage with her telescope. She caught a glimpse of the lining under Vilgot's wings and noted that they had built in pockets. From what she could see, each one had a seed within them. She gasped. "Oh no…"

"Do I even want to know?" Amos gasped.

"If I had to wager a guess, his ability is Ripen, and he has the Recycle move. Ripen can double the natural benefits given by certain berries. He must be able to accelerate the growth rate of seeds with both it and Recycle."

Phoebe scowled. "So, if he took one of my shots—"

"He has a stash of yache berries on him, plus who knows what else."

Amos opened his gunarm and started reloading. "Absolutely wonderful. Well, in that case, one of you distract him while I—" His eyes widened as he felt a Psychic grip over his body before being lifted into the air. "Wha—HEY!"

Ulrich smirked. "1% Psychic Core: Gentle Seedling." He flicked his wrist and threw Amos across the air.

"SHHHHIIIIIIIIIIT!" Amos felt the cold air slicing across his face as he flew. He swung his pincer and conjured up a localized Sandstorm, catching himself on the air currents. Once he found his balance, he channeled the sandstorm forward and rode through it. "Lousy little—"

"5% Psycho Core: Blooming Force." Ulrich raised his hand, channeling the sparking teal energy to the tip, and fired a beam straight forward.

Amos immediately swerved out of the way, bracing himself as the attack punched a hole through his storm and knocked him out of the center. He caught his wings on the air and fired down on Ulrich. The Alolan Raichu laughed as he weaved through each shot before appearing above the stunned Gligar.

"Surprise~."

Amos turned to fire, but Ulrich snatched him by the collar and gripped his wrist to keep him from firing. He desperately swung his tail and beat the electric mouse with it, but to little effect. "I'm going to rip out your stomach and feed it back down your throat!" Amos snapped.

Ulrich grinned. "You're as violent as they say, old man."

"Who the fuck are you calling old—ACK!" Ulrich tightened his grip, strangling the shirt around Amos' neck.

"But hey, I won't keep you from your dirt nap any longer." He pressed his hand to Amos' temple and charged his attack. "5% Psycho Core—"

"Stinging Shower!" A barrage of poisonous spikes fired out from behind the destroyed carriage, raining down behind Ulrich.

He smirked and sped out of the way, violently whipping Amos around and strangling him harder. "I'm surprised that last attack didn't break your back, you savage mongrel!"

Magni picked himself up, panting heavily. "Not…yet."

"Magni!" Evelot gasped.

Phoebe jumped out from behind cover and fired at Ulrich, who deflected the bullet with a timely Psychic. She reached for another bullet, but Vilgot careened down from the sky and smashed into the ground in front of her, throwing her back in the shockwave.

"Golden Demolition!" He revved himself up in a whirlwind before blasting toward the downed Aipom, striking her dead on.

"GAAAH!" she cried as he bowled over her body and face. She skipped off the ground before being struck on the Flapple's return trip, sending her flying toward Ulrich.

The Alolan Raichu pulled his hand away from Amos and aimed his attack at the airborne monkey. "Blooming Force!"

"PHOEBE!" Evelot and Magni screamed.

Before Ulrich's attack fired, Amos made a last-ditch effort and swung his legs up, kicking into the mouse's arm and causing him to misfire into the sky. Phoebe freely fell back toward the ground, groaning in pain.

Ulrich scoffed. "Well, that was uncalled for—GAK!" Amos slammed the barrel of his gunarm into his open mouth.

"Fuck you!" Amos screamed before slamming on the gun's firing hammer.

Right before the bullet exploded out of the chamber, Ulrich instantly sped out of the barrel's blank point range, dodging the bullet in a fraction of a second. Amos freely caught the air on his wings and fired the rest of his chamber at Vilgot.

The Flapple rolled and deflected the shots off his apple hide, charging toward Phoebe as she weakly picked herself up. Magni, tensing up his leg muscles, sped out from behind cover and intercepted Vilgot with a timely Megahorn, striking hard enough to send him flying off course. He bounced and skidded off the ground before uncurling himself and taking off into the air.

Magni picked Phoebe up by the collar and rushed her back behind the carriage right as Amos landed. Evelot immediately took Phoebe in her arms and fished out a potion. "A-A-Anyone got a plan?" she asked as she fed the vial to the weakened Aipom.

Amos closed his eyes, focusing on the sand particles flowing around the area. He detected both Ulrich and Vilgot floating above, patiently waiting for them to make the next move. He opened his eyes and scowled. "They have the advantage in an open area like this. We could bunker down in the ruins, but that'd just leave us in an isolated spot for them to bombard. We can't stay out here."

Phoebe finished drinking the potion and broke out into a fit of coughs. "Agh…dammit!" She shook her head and growled. "Well, what other choice do we have? Fighting these assholes is a one-way ticket to Hell for all of us!"

Magni glared. "Copper Gorge."

"What? You're joking, right?"

Evelot glared. "Actually, Copper Gorge might be our best bet. It's basically a labyrinth of rock and hills. We can easily find somewhere to hide and wait them out."

Phoebe pointed over her shoulder. "Are you forgetting that our ride is currently on its way to becoming scrap? Besides, it would take us a half hour to get there, remember? That's not enough time to get away from these losers!"

Amos shielded his eyes and gazed out over the horizon. "Hmm…maybe not."

"What do you mean?"

"That half-hour estimate was just for the speed we were going." He glared at Magni. "But if you're fully amped with your Speed Boost ability…"

Evelot's eyes widened. "But with the damage done to the carriage—"

"We don't exactly have a lot of options."

Phoebe pushed herself up against the carriage and panted. "Unfortunately, Lamecaster is right. So, how the hell are we going to flip this thing over and get some distance between them and us?"

"Hmm…" Amos pulled out some uncharged bullets from his bag and glared at them. "Rags, you said he was using Recycle with his Ripen ability, right?"

"Y-Yeah—EEP!" She reached out as he tossed her some of his bullets.

"I'm going to draw their attention and make him use Recycle. Copy it and make as many bullets with it as you can." He jumped on top of the carriage, flaring up his Sandstorm.

Phoebe glared. "What the hell are you planning?"

"Something stupid." He kicked off and soared up into the air. He opened his revolver arm and loaded in new bullets.

Ulrich and Vilgot placed their goggles on and laughed. "Seems someone still has some fight in him," Ulrich taunted. "Come on, Blind Luck! Let's see what you can really do!"

"You'll regret saying that," Amos grumbled. With a beat of his wings, he increased the volume of the sand, shrouding everything in a dense sandstorm that blotted out even the sun. Though he didn't have the Sand Veil ability, he was able to dive into the storm and hide from view.

Ulrich laughed. "Well, isn't this just entertaining? You have some fight in you after all, Blind Luck! Good for you!" He reared his hands back, charging two orbs of sparking teal electricity. "10% Psycho Core: Scattering Honor!" He thrusted his hands forward, firing a barrage of miniature electro orbs into the sand stream.

Each shot punched a hole through the sand, letting light shine through for the briefest of seconds. Ulrich peppered the entirety of the surrounding storm, dishing out explosions until one landed a direct hit on the hidden Gligar. Amos fell out from cover and flailed on an updraft.

Vilgot flapped through the raging storm until he was above the flailing Gligar. "Snap Dragon Slam!" He curled into an apple and burst down from the sky, using the mysterious air currents surrounding him to increase his speed and push through the opposing winds.

Amos swung his tail like a rudder and swerved out of the Flapple's downward path. He spun the chamber of his gunarm and fired. "Freeze Bullet!" A bullet laced with Ice Beam fired from the barrel.

"Replenish!" A green aura surrounded Vilgot just before the bullet hit him. It struck dead on, but his tough shell absorbed the impact without any repercussions. "Didn't learn your lesson, huh?!"

Amidst the fight, Evelot managed to see the moment of the technique's activation and copied it with her Mimic. She ducked back behind the carriage right as Magni finished flipping it onto its three remaining wheels. "Oh, I hope Ammo knows what he's doing," she muttered as she hurriedly channeled her Mimic through the bullets.

Phoebe jumped onto Magni and helped him into his harness. "Knowing that buffoon, he's already thought of a way to get us as far from these losers as possible."

Back in the skies, Amos continued gliding through the air, dodging lazy shots one after the other from Ulrich. He barely put in the effort to aim his electrical beams, each one punching holes through the storm. He grinned, firing a few shots close to Amos to make him squirm and flail. "Dance for me, Blind Luck! Come on, you can do it!"

Amos growled. "You're getting on my nerves!" He hammered on his gunarm more, raining down bullets streaking along the sand currents. He whipped his pincer, commanding the streams to bend and twist the trajectory of the bullets.

Ulrich grabbed Vilgot with his Psychic and tossed him around himself. The Flapple curled into a ball and allowed himself to take each bullet head on, bouncing them off his shell. "Crush him good, Vilgot!" He flicked his wrist and fired the apple wyrm through the storm.

"Royal Gala Crush!" He hardened his armor in a metallic sheen and struck into Amos.

He spat up blood upon being hit, but curled his teeth into a bloodied grin. "Shnee-heehee!"

"Huh?!" Vilgot gasped as Amos suddenly dug his pincer into the split in his apple.

"Poison Tail!" With a death grip on the Flapple, Amos wildly swung his poison-coated tail into his shell. The poison splattered and seeped into the splits in his armor, working its way inside to the wyrm himself.

"Get! OFF!" Vilgot opened himself up and slapped Amos back with his wings. However, this left him open for a counterattack as Amos readied his gunarm.

"Drill Bullet!"

Vilgot furiously beat his wings and barely managed to avoid the full force of the fired bullet. The spiraling force coming off it grinded against the edges of his shell and nicked his side. He winced, but fell back through the sand currents to get himself away from the Gligar.

Ulrich reached out and caught Vilgot as he flew by. "Well, points for not going down like a bitch," he teased.

"You could put in a little effort!" Vilgot shouted.

"Why would I? I'd win either way."

Amos let himself fly up in the updraft, rising high into the storm. I just need to buy a little more time.

"Amos!" His eyes widened as Evelot's voice called out directly under him. He looked within the shadows of his poncho and saw something swarming inside. "I made the—"

"HOLY SHIT!" he screamed.

"EEP!"

"WHEN THE FUCK COULD YOU DO THAT?!"

"I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN TO—"

Amos saw a burst of light coming from his peripherals and dropped out of the sky, narrowly avoiding Ulrich's lazily fired beam. He glared inside the darkness of his poncho. "Fuck it! What do you want?!"

"I-I-I got the bullets!" A hand slithered out and presented the bullets to him.

"About damn time!" He swiped them from her and flicked his gunarm open, letting the remaining bullets fly out. He loaded three Recycle bullets in, two purple glowing bullets, and one pink glowing bullet. He slammed the chamber shut and spun it. "Get ready to hightail it out of here!"

"R-Right!" The darkness inside his poncho settled back to normal.

"Fucking creepy…" He shook his head and took off through the storm, this time flying with purpose. He streaked through the sand like a bullet himself, slicing across the storm's surface.

Ulrich laughed. "Someone's getting serious! Maybe I'll play seriously, too!" He reared his hands back, charging them with psionic electricity. "10% Psycho Core: Scattering Honor!" He fired his volley attack of mini shots, tracking Amos' movements as he weaved and sliced through the sandstorm.

Amos shielded his face as shots nearly grazed him and threw him off balance. He hurriedly flapped his wings and continued along his flight path. You made the mistake not killing me immediately, you brat. The longer you remain in this sandstorm, the better I can read that high-speed movement of yours. That split second of arrogance will be your failure!

Ulrich reached out and grabbed Vilgot with his Psychic again. "This time, I'll just beat him over the head with you, Vil!"

"I'm all for it!" he exclaimed, preparing to curl himself up.

Amos hissed. "Take this!" He hammered down on his gunarm and fired several shots through the storm.

Ulrich smirked. "This again?" He sped himself and Vilgot out of the way, dodging the bullets effortlessly. "Too easy—"

BANG!

His eyes widened as an unseen bullet sharply turned in the air and sniped him through the shoulder. What Ulrich hadn't realized was that, when Amos fired off his bullets, he hid the pink bullet behind the first two bullets. Ulrich was so focused on dodging that he never noticed the third bullet whipping through a particularly strong current and lining the shot toward his shoulder.

The second the bullet impacted, pink chains erupted out and wrapped around him and Vilgot. "What the—" they gasped.

Amos smirked. "That bullet was infused with Fairy Lock. You two are immobilized."

Vilgot laughed. "You're joking, right? Even if the move's been enhanced when fired, it won't keep us locked up forever."

"Oh, I know. Those two shots you dodged…were the actual plan." He hammered his gun again, firing off two Recycle bullets.

Ulrich and Vilgot followed the winding trajectory and watched them impact the two stray bullets from before. The very second they scraped the dead bullets, life sparked back into them and ricocheted off as if fired from a gun. The bullets spun through currents surrounding the duo before striking into each other.

The collision between both bullets caused them to explode into a black void. Ulricha and Vilgot's screams were sucked in along with them as the space around them distorted into a singularity before blinking out of existence.

Amos blew on his gunarm. "Warp Bullet." He beat his wings and dove out from the storm as it finally subsided.

With the sand clearing out, he flew toward the broken carriage as it started to pick up speed. He barely managed to grab onto the roof before Magni broke into a wild sprint through the snow-covered plains. His shades flew off his head, and he hissed from the sun beating down on his eyes.

Phoebe and Evelot reached out from the window and dragged the Gligar inside before he slipped. Phoebe slammed the window shut and gasped for air. "Holy shit, that was crazy!"

Amos propped himself up against the seats. "We're not out of danger yet! They can only stay in that Phantom Force for so long! Magni, get us the fuck out of here! NOW!"

The Scolipede roared and rushed with all the might he could muster, powering through the splitting pain in his back. The company braced themselves in the unsteady carriage, watching the ground fly by through the destroyed floor. Though its chances of surviving the journey were slim…

Their only shot of survival now was getting to Copper Gorge and finding shelter!

Meanwhile, within Copper Gorge…

"Scintillating~!"

Deep within the caves of Copper Gorge, a young scientist was hard at work tinkering with the most unusual relic he procured some time ago. It was one of his many tests on the relic, the subject of countless, sleepless nights of fervent study. The four-legged hound mused over his prize with sparkling, emerald-green eyes as a fifth appendage whirred and sparked from his back, shakily reaching for a quill on his desk and jotting down notes.

"Upon closer examination with greater auditory apparatuses, I was able to detect the faintest of noises coming from within the relic. It sounded akin to a heartbeat. Is it alive, or is this the natural rhythm of nature I've heard of? Absolutely scintillating~!"

He picked the relic up in his paws, turning it around a few times. It was a strange cube of sorts, marked with a blue eye that seemed to shine under the light. He knocked on it a few times, an action that procured no useful data, but a habit he picked up from weeks of inexhausted observation.

"I'm one step closer to uncovering the secrets of my ancestors. What did the arbiters discover when they came to this land? And who were the first people of this savage land to realize the potential of this rare phenomenon? Am I looking at the ancient debris of gods? Or have we stumbled upon something far greater than our world?"

The hound's curiosity was short-lived as his eyes glanced at a clock mounted on the stone wall. Realizing the time, he set the relic down and retracted the fifth appendage, folding it across his back.

"Time sure has a funny way of sneaking up on you. Oh well, time to check and reset the traps again. Until later, my mysterious artifact~. Allons-y!"

Back in the Desert…

A cloud of dust kicked up behind the company's broken carriage as Magni hightailed it toward Copper Gorge. Phoebe hung out from the window, peering into the distance with the telescope and getting a read on their position.

"How much further?!" Amos shouted from inside.

She glared. "It looks like we're making good time! About three minutes away!" She pulled back into the carriage. "But it'll take us forever to get to the bottom of the gorge and hide away in the caves."

Amos nodded. "As long as we keep at this speed, we might have enough time to—"

BANG!

"AAHHH!" The trio jostled inside the carriage, flying out of their seats. Amos spread his limbs out and caught himself before he could fall through the floor. Phoebe grabbed the back of Evelot's costume and kept her from falling through, too.

"They escaped?!" Evelot shrieked. "They should've been trapped for at least five minutes!"

Phoebe peeked out the window again and gasped. "Uh, I think they were trapped for five minutes…"

Despite their best efforts to put some distance between them and the bounty hunters, they lacked the means to outpace them. Ulrich followed close behind the wobbly carriage within a field of psionic electricity. Vilgot held onto the Alolan Raichu's shoulders, bracing himself against the cold air whipping across his face.

Ulrich smirked. "Psycho Field Core. Nice try, losers, but you can't beat me in a battle of speed."

Evelot gasped. "Surge Surfer!"

Amos growled. "He created a localized electric field with Electric Terrain? Are you kidding me right now?!"

Ulrich laughed. "You think fleeing into the gorge will save you? You can't even escape us!" He grabbed Vilgot and tossed him at the carriage. "Let them have it, buddy!"

Vilgot curled into a ball and started spinning. "Golden Demolition!" Once he touched the ground, he bowled forward at great speed and rammed against the carriage. It jostled the company around again, throwing them to the wall. He continued weaving in and out, slamming his body against the destroyed wagon and nearly knocking Magni off balance.

"RAAAAAAH!" Magni roared. "Kill—"

"Magni, don't you fucking stop!" Amos yelled. "Just focus on getting to the gorge!"

"…" The Scolipede snorted and continued apace, putting his all into his legs and slowly getting the edge in speed over Vilgot.

Ulrich, however, wasn't so easily lost as he casually hovered alongside the speeding carriage. He massaged his wounded shoulder. "That was a mean trick you pulled back there, Blind Luck, but a stupid one as well. You've got some balls to think that was going to slow us down!"

Amos finished loading his gunarm and aimed out the window. "I was hoping you'd take the hint, but I have no qualms killing two bastard brats!" He hammered the gun and fired through the walls.

Ulrich smirked, watching the bullets fly at him in slow motion. He casually tilted his head back and let them fly past him. "A crippled scorpion like you is out of his element. Desperately holding onto any fleeting chance you have of surviving out here. It's pathetic! Do you know how easy it is being me?! This is a jaunt through the park compared to your shitty flailing!" He grabbed Vilgot's spinning form with Psychic and steered him into the carriage. "1% Psycho Core: Gentle Seedling!"

He pushed Vilgot up against one of the front wheels, grinding it to wood shavings. With no wheels on its right side, the carriage tilted over and grinded against the desert, nearly pulling Magni to a stop.

Phobe held onto Evelot tight as they started slowing down. "MAGNI!" Evelot screamed.

The Scolipede roared, stomping his feet down and bursting forth with greater aggression. The harness pulled tightly against his skin, guaranteeing him some harsh bruises later, but his mind was dead set on protecting his friends. With his fury building, he continued apace and rushed forward even faster despite the extra resistance.

Ulrich groaned. "So lame! Oh well, guess I'll just kill your savage. 5% Psycho Core—" A bullet rang out and entered his field of vision. He tilted his head and dodged it.

Amos flipped out through the window and landed atop the roof. "Pick a fight with my steed, and you answer to me. Sandstorm!" He stomped his foot and swung his arms, calling upon a fierce sandstorm around the carriage. "Magni! Keep your eyes closed! Just focus on running!"

The Scolipede roared, squeezing his eyes shut and galloping without fear.

Amos hammered on his gun, sending out bullets that curved through the storm. However, with Ulrich's increased speed, he casually dodged all the shots until they lost all their kinetic energy. Amos fired off a few rounds of Venoshock, but Ulrich simply levitated higher in the air until the toxins dispersed in the high winds.

Furthermore, Vilgot kept ramming himself against the carriage, working his way onto the other side and smashing against the wheels. Evelot cowered in the corner, rocking herself back and forth, while Phoebe tried to load her rifle. The repeated slams against the carriage caused her to fumble her bullets.

"AGH! Fuck this!" She set her rifle aside and pulled out her knife. "Come here, asshole!" She kicked the door open and waited for Vilgot to ram into the side again. Once he did, she drove her dagger down and let the heat burn into his shell.

"GAAAAAH!" Vilgot pulled back, rolling parallel with the carriage as smoke hissed off his armor. Once he shook off the smoke, he rolled back for a counterattack.

"Bad move, shit-for-brains!" She reared her dagger up and stabbed down into his armor again.

"Braeburn Burst!" Phoebe's eyes widened as an orange glow erupted off the Flapple's armor. It expanded like a kinetic force, slamming into the Aipom and throwing her back into the carriage while blasting the door off.

"Phoebe!" Evelot cried.

Phoebe picked herself up and inspected her face. She felt blood dripping from her nose. "F-Fuck, what was that—" Another explosion rang outside, jostling the girls through the carriage again.

Back outside, Amos was trying to keep his footing as Ulrich unleashed a barrage of psionic shots around the carriage, purposely aiming to destabilize the ground and prolong the torture. He could feel the carriage being withered down the longer they allowed the chase to continue. Any moment now, it would be nothing more than a sled in the desert.

Ulrich bellowed with laughter. "This is way more fun than debt collecting! Everyone always thinks they can get away from me, and I have to remind them of their place in the criminal hierarchy! I'm a Deadly Seven, you worthless stain! I am the hype!"

Amos growled. "You are an annoying shit!" He aimed his gunarm and fired through the storm.

Ulrich buzzed around, dodging each bullet effortlessly as his laughter blared through the sand. "It's the natural order of things! Maybe when I finally get some recognition, maybe I can even usurp Abasolm's role as the strongest! He's just a withered sack of dust anyway! I bet I could blow on him, and he'd crumble! I am, after all, the greatest!"

"Do! You! Ever! Shut! Up—"

Upon the fifth hammering of his gunarm, he felt the metal crumble off his arm. His eyes widened, watching the revolver he had surgically stabbed into his arm finally succumb to the damage dealt with the monstrous Scovillain from before. The metal clinked off the roof and fell into the sand, forever lost to the desert.

Ulrich smirked. "Looks like you're out of firepower, Blind Luck."

Amos cradled his bare arm and carefully stumbled back along the unsteady roof. He glared down through the hole and saw Evelot tending to Phoebe's injuries. They were all virtually out of commission. Outmatched and outpaced.

Vilgot, sensing this turnabout, bounced off into the air and flew alongside Ulrich. "I smell defeat in the air~!"

Ulrich charged an attack through his hand. "Indeed, my friend." He aimed his attack for Amos' head, snickering at the Gligar's defiant stare. "Well, it's been real. Thanks for delivering us to Caractacus, too. Now, kindly hand over the alchemist, and I'll make this as quick and painless as possible. A small thank you for the good laugh."

"…" Amos sighed. "Fine. You win."

"As always. I'm glad you're using your brain for once—"

"But we're not done yet." Seeing the duo's confused reaction, Amos took a deep breath and shouted, "Magni! JUMP! BRACE YOURSELF!"

Magni, trusting the Gligar's word, readied his legs and took a mighty leap forward, tossing the carriage off the ground with him. Just as he did, Amos dispelled the Sandstorm, and the duo's eyes widened in horror when they saw where they were.

They were directly above Copper Gorge!

"ARE THEY INSANE?!" Ulrich and Vilgot shouted.

Amos dug his pincer into the roof as they started falling into the gorge. He used Sandstorm to push themselves closer to the wall. "Magni! Dig your feet into the wall and start running! Don't stop!"

Magni, fighting against his own falling momentum, dragged his feet into the rocky surface and kicked off for a straight shot to the ground. Phoebe and Evelot clung onto each other and screamed as they started picking up speed while Amos held on for dear life.

I projected my Sandstorm out further than those two dunderheads realized, Amos thought through the rushing winds. It took a lot out of me, but I already scanned the gorge. If I'm correct, we're coming up on a—

At the bottom of the gorge, there was a slope where the wall and floor connected. It allowed Magni to smoothly adjust his positioning without slowing down. All the downward momentum they built up from falling allowed him to go into a mad sprint through the canyon, nearly vanishing from Ulrich and Vilgot's sightline.

The bounty hunting partners immediately shook off their shock and dove down after them. "Crazy bastards! I didn't expect them to actually jump into the gorge!" Vilgot yelled.

"It doesn't matter!" Ulrich yelled. "As long as we can see them, they can't get away from us! We're still in control here!" He grabbed Vilgot and took off flying after the runaway carriage.

The company raced through the winding pathway of stone, bracing themselves as the carriage jolted and shook over the uneven terrain. The last of the wheels were torn to shreds, and the damage taken over the course of their escape took shape as cracks split across the walls and floor.

Amos kicked the broken walls open. "Get onto Magi! Burkhard, cut the harness!"

Phoebe, after finding her second wind, jumped out of the carriage while Amos grabbed Evelot. As he jumped over to Magni with her, Phoebe sliced into the harness with her dagger and cut the destroyed carriage loose, freeing Magni up to run at greater speed. She nearly fell off when the harness came undone, but Amos caught her tail and pulled her back in.

"You good?!" he yelled.

"Y-Yeah, thanks." She winced. "Uh, listen, about earlier—"

"Uh, guys!" Evelot screamed, pointing toward the sky.

They jerked their heads up and saw Ulrich and Vilgot gaining on them. The Alolan Raichu laughed. "You're putting up a better fight than most idiots I've chased! This is the first time I've actually gave a shit about keeping up with someone!" He reared his hands back, charging two massive orbs of psionic electricity. "What the hell! I'll show a modicum of respect by giving you 25% of my full power!"

Phoebe pulled out her rifle, though couldn't steady her aim on Magni's back. "I'll put a bullet through your head before that happens!"

Vilgot growled. "Quit stalling and kill them already, Ulrich! The alchemist should survive with her Disguise ability!"

"That's the plan!"

"Burkhard!" Amos yelled. "Don't think about aiming! I'll guide your shot!"

"You fucking better!" she screamed.

Ulrich's smirk grew. "Time to die!"

"AAAAHHHHH!" Evelot hid under Magni's cloak and trembled.

"Stinging—" Magni reared his head back and charged up his horns with poison.

Phoebe raised her rifle. "Take this!"

"Curve Shot!" Amos shouted.

CLICK!

Time seemed to freeze around the company as they heard a distinct clicking noise coming from nearby. In the split second upon hearing it, they turned their eyes toward the direction of the sound and saw something glinting in the daylight. A thin wire flapped through the air, which caught along Magni's neck after running into it.

Their eyes widened when they saw a spike attached to the other end of the wire, and something sparking out from the wall.

"Oh shit—"

A chain of explosions erupted across the gorge walls, blowing the rocks loose and sending them crashing down to the bottom. Ulrich immediately stopped and backed away from the ensuing rockslide. More explosions rang out across the walls, dislodging stone above the bounty hunters. Acting fast, Ulrich held onto Vilgot tightly and took off flying into the sky, easily weaving through the raining rock.

"What is this?!" Vilgot shouted.

Ulrich growled. "Caractacus!"

The duo climbed higher and higher of the gorge, avoiding the symphony of explosions, before shooting out back to the surface as a cloud of dust erupted out. They coughed and fanned the dust from their faces. The ringing of the explosions lingered through their ears indefinitely.

Vilgot let go of Ulrich and hovered beside him as he caught his breath. "Holy…Holy shit, that was…oh Arceus!"

Ulrich brushed some dust off his shoulder. "Tch. Looks like Caractacus doesn't want anyone getting too close to him. Crazy bastard must've trapped the entire gorge. There's no telling what he set up down there."

Vilgot winced. "What do we do? That rockslide surely killed them, and Dr. Underhill is going to be angry if he finds out we killed Faucher."

"No, Faucher's definitely alive. Like you said, her Disguise ability would've protected her. Besides, even if it didn't, we know she could hide in the shadows if she wanted."

"What do you mean?"

"She linked her shadow with Lancaster. That's how he got those extra bullets earlier. I've only ever seen one other person who uses a technique like that."

"Who?"

"…" Ulrich shook his head. "It doesn't matter. We'll need to wait for the dust to clear before we go digging around in the rocks. If she's still down there, you can take her back to the meetup point while I hunt for Caractacus. If not, we'll have to search every inch of this gorge for them."

"…" Vilgot sighed. "Are you absolutely sure those other three are dead?"

"I can't be sure, but it wouldn't change anything." Ulrich snickered evilly. "After all, I am the fourth strongest member of the Deadly Seven."

Two Hours Later…

The first thing Amos heard as he stirred awake was an obnoxious ringing in his ears. He recalled the explosions going off around him before he blacked out. He recalled Magni desperately protecting everyone under his sturdy body, shielding them from the brunt of the rockslide, but he surely thought they all died. His head certainly felt like it was pelted by a rock or two.

As his mind cleared, he heard another sound: wheels. Wheel rolling across a smooth rock, followed by a…buzzing? Crackling? Electricity?

Amos sat himself up, swaying from his throbbing headache, and cracked one eye open. He found that he was laying inside a covered wagon, and a rather large one. No light shined against the cover, telling him it was either dark out or that he was inside a cave.

Looking around a bit more, he found that he wasn't alone. Phoebe, Evelot, and Magni all lay inside the large wagon, still unconscious but very much alive. Their wounds looked to be shoddily patched up. Amos soon looked to himself and found bandages wrapped around his right arm and his head.

Finally, his eyes drew to the source of the noise he was hearing: the crackling coming from the coachman's seat. He weakly pulled himself to his feet and limped over to the coachman.

"Ah, one of you is awake," a voice spoke from the other side.

Amos glared at the shadow of the coachman through the curtain. "Are you friend or foe?"

"Heh, straight to the point. Scintillating! Well, I suppose I'm neither, though the fact you're not dead yet should tell you I'm closer to a friend. Count yourself lucky I found the Mimikyu with you, otherwise I would've definitely left you lot to die."

Amos growled. "You know who she is?"

"I'm familiar with her."

"Then give me one good reason I shouldn't kill you."

"I mean, I did save you, so—"

"I've had a shitty couple of weeks, so drop the snark and get to the point. Start by telling me who the fuck you—" As soon as Amos drew the curtains open, he froze. One look at their supposed savior hit him with a feeling of awe and horror unfamiliar to him, even beyond what he experienced fighting Cain Underhill.

What he saw in the coachman's seat…was something unfathomable to the eyes.

"What…the hell?"

At first glance, one would mistake the coachman as a regular Boltund. He was dressed in a long black coat, brown slacks, and a white tunic. One would say the most unusual feature about him was his emerald-green eyes that sparkled even in the dark.

However, none of that was what shocked the battle-hardened Gligar.

Before him was a Boltund of flesh and metal. Both hindlegs and right foreleg were replaced with metal prosthetics. His lower jaw was made of metal, too, with the corners of his maw still visible between where flesh and metal met. The jaw perfectly cupped around his snout and possessed small, sharp canines on the front corners. Finally, a thin metallic arm extended out through a slit in the hound's coat, sparking and twitching as it waved to the stunned Gligar.

"Well, I was hoping to save introductions for later, buuuut…" The Boltund turned and grinned. "Salutations! My name is Caractacus MacGyver, and I'm the smartest man in Virdis."