~ Kira University, Dormitory Square ~
The battle seemed to spiral out of anybody's control. The toxic spikes on the ground posed a threat to Arin and Kruler, and with the burning sensation overtaking Kruler, she found herself struggling to keep up with the climate of the fight.
Kroto, meanwhile, was dealing with both Hera and Therian. Jumping between surfaces, he found that his acrobatics move was invaluable to surviving the fight, though he found it hard to deal with two powerful pokemon at the same time. 'Suppose it's better than fighting ferals…' He thought as he lunged himself at Hera, hitting her with his strongest close combat.
"Gah! We can't lose to a bunch of puckered up university students!" Hera screamed.
The Passimian landed next to Kruler, narrowly avoiding a set of toxic spikes scattered about his feet. "Stuck the landing!" He shouted, "You okay, Kruler?"
"My leg… it burns, but I'll live!" The Totodile responded, hacking up a bit of spit.
The battle seemed like it dragged on for an eternity, despite it only lasting a few minutes and counting. Kroto was fine, but suddenly found himself mentally pincered between Kruler's state and being surrounded by hostiles. 'We won't be defeated! Not this time!' He thought to himself, despite his situation.
Just before anybody could do anything else, a shout of "Hey!" drew everybody's attention to the north hallway, where a Scizor and two Usaring appeared.
"Gweh heh!?" Therian nervously laughed.
"You! Stop right there!" President Jurgas demanded.
The Drapion turned to Arin, "Arin, we need an escape! Now!"
Arin reached into his bag and fumbled several orbs, "Uh! Here we are, warp orbs! Use 'em on yourselves, I'm outta here!"
The warp orb shined in Arin's hand and warped the Audino away. The Drapion followed suit, swiping one and blinking away. Therian initially looked around at the situation and saw a charging Scizor, sprinting through the toxic spikes. Seeing little room to dawdle, he gave a "Heh Heh…" before swiping up an orb and warping himself away.
With a metal pincer hitting the ground, President Jurgas growled, "Dammit! They got away!"
As the toxic spikes dissipated, Kroto immediately sprinted up to the President, sweat trickling down his face. "Who cares about that! We have a bigger problem!"
"I know! A terrorist has likely planted some Eterna Orb somewhere on campus! I have all my staff on alert!"
"No! You don't understand! We have to evacuate!"
"Why?" The Scizor asked, "I just said that I have my staff looking for the weapon!"
"Those pokemon that just escaped said that the Eterna Orb is set to detonate in an hour and that it might be too late to defuse it!"
President Jurgas nearly choked on his spit. "So what you're saying is, we have no hope of stopping this or making a proper evacuation?!"
Kroto shook his head, "Unless we get moving now, we will all be swept up in an Eternarift, with no hope of getting out!"
"Shit! Everybody evacuate, I'll send out a message to all connection orbs! I'll also get the authorities to escort students out! Now move!"
"Got a lum berry to spare?!" Kruler asked, gritting her teeth, "My leg is burning from all this poison!"
On his way out, the president tossed a lum berry from his pocket at the Totodile. Catching it in her mouth, the poison instantly lifted from her system and she nearly instantaneously felt better.
"Now let's GO!"
~ Kira University, Dormitory Square - 50 minutes to detonation ~
"And that's what happened, officer." Traximus finished, sighing.
The Urshifu merely tapped his finger to his chin, "I see. So you were unfortunate victims to this Krokorok's parcel, huh? Seems like he's a bit of a suspicious character."
"Sir, I don't think it was his fault though, he-"
Before Traximus could finish his statement, he noticed President Jurgas sprint out with his posse behind him. "Hey, isn't that the president of the university? What's he doing with Kroto?"
"Officer! Notify your superiors! We need to evacuate, NOW!"
"What?! There was an order to investigate this area! We will not-"
"There's an active Eternarift happening!" The president shouted, "We have no time to waste, GO!"
The Urshifu immediately dropped everything he was holding, going wide eyed. Traximus then watched as the Urshifu and the President scattered in different directions. The other pokemon that overheard then began to file outward towards the exit in a panic, turning the dormitory into a chaotic scene. The Bagon found himself and his friends immediately swept up in the flow of traffic.
"Guys! What's happening?!" Traximus shouted.
"Some pokemon planted an Eterna Orb! We gotta get outta here!" Kroto shouted back.
"What?! How?! When!?"
"No time to explain, hurry!"
~ Kira University, Commons area - 30 minutes to detonation ~
Students fled from the university like a sewage outflow pipe busted open. Pokemon of all types scattered in all different directions, but headed towards one destination, the exit. Traximus and his friends found themselves on the eastern side of the crowd, nestled between some faculty members and students that were fleeing. However, a thought hit Traximus right as they were leaving. 'Damn! Where's Palla at?!' Just before he could act on that thought, or warn anybody in any way, a voice cried out words that would send shivers down his spine.
"FERALS! Every pokemon for themself!"
He then felt something warm graze his back. Not enough to hurt him, but just enough for it to sting. He snapped his head right to see a feral Dragonair spew a line of dragonbreath past him and into the crowd. Some pokemon cried out in pain as Traximus attempted to trace the trail of dragon breath to its destination, but he couldn't see past the stampeding civilians. Suddenly a hand appeared from Traximus's right and pulled him underneath something solid. He then soon found himself between Kroto's arm and chest implant.
"Wherever that Eterna Orb is, it's spewing out ferals!" Kroto deduced.
"How?!" Kruler shouted, "Didn't the other Eterna Orb pull things in?!"
"Who cares, Palla's missing!" Traximus interjected, attempting to retain his stoicism. At those words, Kroto stopped sprinting and placed Traximus on the ground, causing other larger pokemon to swerve around him.
"Okay, where was she last?!" Kroto asked, ducking under an ice beam, "And remember fast!"
"In the Hall of Ordination, she has class around this time! Let's go!" Kruler shouted, directing the group against the current.
Navigating the crowd to get to the lecture hall proved to be a challenge in itself, as they had to push through pokemon that were bigger and avoid crushing pokemon that were smaller. Fortunately, even through all the panic, the crowd managed to lighten up towards the back, leading the group to eventually make it onto the path towards the Hall of Ordination. Wasting no time, they bolted into the building.
~ Kira University, Hall of Ordination - 20 minutes to detonation ~
"Palla!"
"Palla shout for us!"
"Tusks, you in here?!"
Their shouts gave no headway. Room after room they frantically checked. Still no sign of their Axew friend. That was, until they heard a scream come from one of the rooms in the back. "Palla?!" Traximus screamed, leading to him and the others to sprint into one of the classrooms in the back. The sight they saw put fear into their hearts. A red-eyed Druddigon had something cornered while other ferals, such as Pupitar and Dragonair hovered over other unconscious students.
"Traximus!? Help!" That familiar voice cried out from the back.
Kroto snarled, "Looks like those ferals have her cornered!"
"Then lure them away from her and snag her when they're distracted!" Traximus shouted.
"But how?!"
"Toss me at 'em!" Kruler demanded.
Both of the boys glanced at her, but seeing no time to object, they instead nodded at her. Kroto picked her up and got in position. Getting to a vantage point, Kroto used his acrobatics attack to sprint up the south wall, spun himself around, and launched the Totodile directly at the Druddigon. Charging up an ice punch, she scored a direct hit on the Druddigon's right cheek, causing frostbite to spread from the impact zone up towards the eyes.
Kruler then landed on the wall. "Score! Direct hit!" She cheered. Falling to the ground, she landed right next to her Axew companion. "Now, let's go!"
"O-Okay!" Palla agreed, as she sprinted alongside Kruler towards the two boys. Unfortunately, the alpha Druddigon roared as loud as it could, rattling the building and temporarily stunning Team Nova.
Kroto, the first one to regain his composure, swiped up Traximus and Palla and put them on his back. "Kruler, on me! Don't ask questions!"
"Don't need to tell me twice!"
Kruler grabbed onto the passimian's tuft, causing Kroto to grit his teeth. With all three Pokemon attached somewhere to his back, Kroto began sprinting away from the dragons.
~ Kira University, Commons Area - 10 minutes to detonation ~
Getting into open air, Team Nova noticed that the skies above Kira University began to swirl with black clouds. Kroto huffed through the grass, clearly exhausted from the weight he's carrying on his back.
"Kroto, you okay?" Kruler asked, looking back behind her, "They're still after us!"
Noticing the Passimian's fatigue, Traximus shouted, "Kroto's slowing down! We're not gonna make it like this!"
"We could get off and sprint ourselves!" Kruler shouted.
"No good! You guys… aren't… fast enough!" Kroto responded, breathing heavily.
"Collision Course!"
"Electro Drift!"
Suddenly, the tide of the escape took a turn for the better, when Team Nova spotted both coach Setzo and Dr. Mamado collided together, causing a burst of energy to spew from behind them.
"Students!" The Miraidon shouted, "I'm not losing any more to these ferals!"
"I'll take them! Come on!" Coach Setzo responded, "Kroto, hand me Palla and Traximus!"
Kroto did as instructed and the Koraidon placed the duo directly on his back. "Alright…! Let's get out of here!"
Racing through the destroyed campus proved much easier than racing through the crowd. However, that didn't make the scene much easier to stomach. Deserted shops, stores and restaurants lined the streets of the commons. Ferals then began appearing in droves, occupying much of the space behind and ahead of them.
"Left, no Right!" Traximus shouted, unsure of where to go to avoid confronting the ferals.
"Leave the navigating to me short stuff!" Setzo chuckled, attempting to lighten the mood as he zipped through a space between two shops.
Following the Koraidon closely, Dr. Mamado found that Kroto was falling slightly behind. Noticing the obvious exhaustion, he lifted Kroto, with Kruler still hanging off him, onto his back. "Get on, no explanations needed!"
"You can carry my weight!?" Kroto hoped.
"Don't ask questions! Just do it!"
With both instructors now carrying both sets of students, they raced their way past a horde of ferals in parallel. Streams of dragon fire, ice beams, and other attacks were launched in numerous directions, stalling the group's progress at points. Thankfully, the ride pokemon retained their composure, all the way up until they were stopped by a large, red eyed pokemon with blue scales and accents of ice. What the students found odd was that it looked oddly like an icy Tyranitar.
"Hey! What the heck is that!?" Kruler shouted from the back of the Miraidon.
"An alpha Baxcalibur!" Dr. Mamado shouted.
"Well it's blocking our exit! Let's smash its head in!"
Traximus craned his head to scold Kruler, "Didn't you pay attention in history?! Defeating an alpha here and now would make things worse!"
The Koraidon shook his head, "He's right! As much as I would like to lay the smackdown, I can't risk ya'll in the crossfire!"
"Then the logical thing to do is to charge straight through!" The Miraidon added, charging the electrical wheel in his chest, making him gleam a bright yellow glow.
"Right behind you, brother!" Setzo too, gleamed a bright light, this one orange.
~ Kira University, Trolley Gate - 1 minute to detonation ~
Charging straight towards the Baxcalibur, the alpha immediately took notice of the approaching pokemon. Roaring, it caused coach Setzo to lose his footing and nearly trip directly underneath the large, burly frame of the creature.
"Hurry!" Dr. Mamado shouted as his counterpart regained his footing and bolted towards the university gate.
With the Baxcalubur giving chase, the crew saw no other option than to keep running. Fortunately for them, the Baxcalibur was slow and that speed enabled the group to make a beeline for the main gates. Bolting past them, the group eyed one last trolley that had its doors open. Mid-sprint, the duo of professors waved down the operator of the trolley and yelled in unison, "Shut the doors! NOW!"
Speeding their way, they managed to ride directly into a spot in the trolley that was densely populated with other pokemon that were panicking. "GO! GO!" Dr. Mamado shouted at the trolley operator, causing the Metagross operator to twitch something in the trolley car and move it as fast as possible.
Dismounting and looking out the window, Traximus found that both the university and the Baxcalibur became smaller and smaller. The distant roars and swarming ferals about the place made it feel foreign to him. 'Just when I was getting used to going there, too.' Looking back to the rest of his team, he found his heart sinking. Everybody was accounted for, except for one. That golden Charmander who's cocky, yet well-meaning personality drew them here together in the first place was taken away from him. Sighing, the Bagon fell back into his seat, trying to get some rest.
As the trolley sped away, a loud bang rattled everybody on board, causing many to scream. Looking out his window once again, Traximus saw as the once bright and colorful university became gradually overtaken by a coat of purple-black energy. Looking further upwards, he noticed a swirl of black clouds with crackles of lightning hitting a dome-like barrier that enveloped the university.
"So that's what an Eternarift looks like from the outside?" Traximus asked, "Looks dreadful."
"Well guys, now what?" Kroto inquired, "I don't think we're going back to the university anytime soon."
"To be honest with you," Kruler started, "I'm not sure."
~ Gullverian Command Center ~
"Yes, I want all agents advised, potential Talgerian activity had been reported near the border. They don't appear to be actively marching, but we need eyes in the sky around that area. This is a priority objective."
The Kommo-o slouched his body atop the desk he was at. Barking orders at a bunch of teams felt oddly tiring for him this time. 'Just another day…' Resting his hand on his face, he mumbled, "Gods, please don't let this spiral out of control…"
Sighing, General Garland lifted himself from his seat and moved over to the war table. On the table were a variety of figurines, some black, others white. 'Let's see. We have several correlated incidents on Kira University,' he pondered, placing several tokens on the table near Ultima Highlands and Kira University, 'Then, there's suspicious activity happening at the border, which the university is only a several hour trolley ride from. These have to be coordinated attacks by Talgeria, but we need more concrete evidence to press them on. Perhaps that Alcryst guy can help with that?'
Snagging his connection orb from his holster, he invoked it and asked to contact Alcryst. A few seconds of a glowing orb later and…
"This is Alcryst. Go ahead General Garland."
The Kommo-o tapped his finger to his chin, "Have you found any more evidence in the past days that links Talgeria to these incidents on our soil?"
"Not much, but I have a working theory on who some of our enemies might be."
"Good. Then get to the Gullverian Command Center, on the double. We will share this information with the Prime Minister and-"
"General Garland, SIR! We have a problem!"
Burtoli burst into the room like a stampeding Tauros. General Garland nearly lost his footing when the heavier pokemon approached him.
"What is the meaning of this?!"
"Kira University! It's GONE!"
"What do you mean 'gone'?!"
"It's off the map! We immediately lost contact with some of our agents there, the consensus being that there was an Eterna Orb planted there!"
Going wide eyed, the Kommo-o immediately severed the connection orb's communication with Alcryst. Turning to the Aggron, he shouted, "How? The last one didn't do that!"
"We-We're still looking into that…" The Aggron winced, making the general angrier.
"Well look faster!"
The Kommo-o released the Aggron, leaving him to flee the general's room and into the next room. General Garland then imbued his connection orb once again.
"Alcryst here. Did something happen? Do you need assistance?"
"Cancel my earlier orders. You have an Eternarift to dismantle in Kira University. Again."
"Another one? Wait, I see it! That's not just an Eternarift! That's… The formation of a mystery dungeon!"
The Kommo-o doubled over, "A WHAT?!"
"The university itself is turning into a mystery dungeon! You need to evacuate everybody from the surrounding area, NOW!"
~ End of Chapter 3 ~
