Sam could only scream as he fell into the Abyss, the light of day rapidly fading away into darkness. His mind ran on autopilot, running the same words like a constant loop through his mind.
I'm gonna die.
Even with in his panic, his fear… a part of him was bracing for the inevitable impact, for each of his bones to break in an instant.
That was when he saw it. Rushing towards him from above. So faint and so fast that he barely registered it. The Skarmory, Emrys? No, it was too ghostly, completely the wrong shape.
It flooded his vision… a hand reaching out as a scream, not his own, pierced the air…
He awoke to find his entire body throbbing. Every bit of his skin, every inch of muscle pulsed with a soft, prickly pain as if he had walked through a field of thorns.
Firstly, he noticed it was more annoying than painful.
Secondly, he realised he was still alive.
Sam's eyes slowly flickered open, a groan escaping his lips. Reddish-grey rocks dominated his view, clustered around a black pit that seemed to continue on to the depths of the world… no… back to the surface. He was on his back.
How… how am I alive?
Wincing, Sam slowly pushed himself upright into a sitting position and began to scan himself over. He was bruised, and his back ached like nobodies' business, but he wasn't in pieces at the very least.
The image of that ghost, that hand reaching out… it came right back to his mind. W-what was that? Did it save me? Maybe it-
Then the realisation hit him. If he made it down – the Scorbunny leapt back out to his feet, teeth gritted as his body throbbed in protest. "Aidan!" he shouted, finding himself surrounded by more red-grey boulders, some of which looked particularly sharp and jagged as they pointed up towards the sky. It was also then did Sam also felt the heat of this place. It wasn't uncomfortable, but he could physically feel the sweat beginning to build up.
But regardless of his scanning around, there was no sign of Aidan.
"Aidan!" he bellowed, blowing out his lungs of air in the process, hoping against hope that his friend was somewhere nearby. But Aidan didn't respond.
Instead, another voice screamed from the rubble, "H-Hey! I-Is someone down here?!"
Sam felt a weight shift off his shoulders, Bruce?
He started to run towards the source, only to nearly cry out as another jolt of pain ran through the whole of his body. Tightening his fists, he transitioned into a jog, and made his way through the boulders.
In a clearing at the edge of the field, a bruised Bruce was eying the field with worried red eyes. And alongside him, was the seemingly okay, but very panicky looking Nia, the bat-Pokémon spinning round on the spot in mid-air, desperately searching herself. Bruce's eyes widened as Sam emerged, "S-Sam!? Are you alright?!"
Nia spun round, her voice shrill but thankfully restrained in volume, "You're hurt!"
Sam waved a hand, brushing it off as he reached for his pouch, looking for the spare oran berry he had picked up before climbing into the dungeon. "It's better than it looks, what about you two?"
"We're fine!" Nia snapped; all signs of her former bubbliness now eradicated. "But I can't find Dan or Alice anywhere!"
"And I have no idea where my team is either." Bruce growled, stomping the ground beneath his feet. "One minute we'll just going through this room, the next the floor opened up beneath us! What the hell happened!"
"Earthquake." Sam confirmed, gritting his teeth, "Aidan and I managed to get up to the summit, but then the quake hit."
Bruce blinked, "So… does that this is another part of the dung-"
"Bruce." Sam interrupted, shaking his head, "I think the dungeon is gone."
The Bulbasaur shuddered, looking over the cavern they found themselves in with a nervous and resigned eye. "Y-yeah… I think you're right. Those walls didn't really look good…"
"Can we stop talking about this place and please focus on FINDING OUR FRIENDS!" Nia screeched. Sam cried out, clutching onto his ears as the amplified cry clawed at his eardrums. The crackle of rocks cracking against rock walls loud enough to somehow reach his ears anyway.
"For the love of-" Bruce snapped, spinning round on the bat Pokémon with burning red eyes, "Do you want to bring the place down on us!?"
Nia rapidly shook her head, a look of shock evident. "S-Sorry, but we can't just sit here and-"
"Alright enough!" Sam barked, stunning the two other Pokémon into silence as they turned towards him. Rearing back, Sam took in a breath, feeling his body aching that bit less. "Right now, we need to work out a way out of here and get help… and hopefully find everyone else on the way."
Bruce and Nia shared a glance between each other, the anger and concern visibly simmering down before they could finally share a nod. Sam let out a sigh, "Alright… let's see…". He rose up onto his toes and began to scan the area around them, searching for any potential exit. The last thing they needed was to find that the only way out was straight up. Only Nia had a decent chance of probably heading up that way, but with the memory of Emrys getting blasted by that superhot steam fresh on his mind… even that wasn't certain.
Thankfully, he eyed the mouth of a tunnel built into one side of the craggy chamber they found themselves in. It was dark and ominous, but at this point, it seemed like it was their only path forward. "There." Sam declared, pointing at the opening, "We'll just have to make sure we keep climbing up."
"It's b-better than sticking here for sure…" Nia replied, clearly nervous.
Bruce meanwhile, took a moment to stare at the opening for a couple of seconds, mind deep in thought before he turned back towards Sam. "Sounds like a plan, lead the way!"
It was now Sam's turn to hesitate, glancing between the two Pokémon who were now looking up – and down – to him. Suddenly being thrown in charge wasn't exactly what he wanted, but the realisation quickly wormed its way in. They had no time to debate this, not if they wanted to get to the surface or find the others. If I could survive the fall… then surely Aidan would have had to have made it!
Rubbing his hands together, Sam nodded sharply. "Alright, follow me!"
The good news was that this place wasn't another Mystery Dungeon. It seemed that the earthquake had completely broken apart the third Broken Wood dungeon.
The bad news was it was a damn maze. The trio moved through rocky tunnels and small chambers at a slow but steady pace, trying to make their way forward. Each of these should have naturally been dark, if not for the soft red glow radiating from cracks in the floor and occasionally the walls. Sometimes the path they would take would offer some progress, allowing them to rise up to the surface. At others, they would walk down one tunnel only to find their path blocked with a pile of rubble. No one wanted to try and clear a path, less they cause another – lethal – cave in in the process. And it wasn't just the signs of potential magna that were a problem, it was the steam too. Every so often, a puff of stream would erupt from one of the cracks. They weren't being fired off with the same force as Sam had previously seen, but that could change all too quickly and he wasn't keen to find out.
Sam could almost taste the tension and the fear in the air. Nia was still twitching, 'jumping' in mid-air at the slightest noise, be it from the steam or rock chinking on rock. Bruce looked a bit steadier. At first glance anyway. His eyes were constantly flicking towards the cracks surrounding them. Sam could only imagine the grass-type fear. Out of the three of them, Bruce probably had the most to worry about magma bursting free into the caves.
As for the Scorbunny himself, he managed to bottle his fear up the best he could. Nearly getting killed a few times in short succession could do that. But even so, his concern for the others formed into a solid lump in his throat. Where was Aidan? Did he fall into another cavern? What about Alice and Dan? Or Edward and Denver? Or the rest of Bruce's team?
What about Emrys? Were they taken out by a blast of steam or were they still flying out there? And what about Esper's team? Could they have got-
He clenched his fists, trying to focus on the task at hand and failing. Damn it, where are they?
They started down another tunnel, climbing higher up towards a four-way junction directly ahead of them. "H-How big is this place?" Nia asked worryingly, her eyes drifting back the way they came. "You don't think… that it could be that place that Edward talked about?"
Sam glanced over at her, "The dungeon with those Guardians?"
"Y-yeah! We are under Broken Wood… what's left of it…"
"That's just a story." Bruce grumbled, grinding his teeth. "This place doesn't like a dungeon either."
"Maybe this is what's left of it." Sam mused.
"I kinda doubt tha-"
As reached the junction, a red shape dashed out of the corridor to their right. The lumpy head swivelling round towards them, eyes bloodshot. A Magby. With Nia and Bruce gasping over his shoulder, Sam dragged his foot back and letting the surge of heat run over. He could only hope the others would get back behind him.
The Magby stumbled back, nearly tripping on a stone and tumbling over. Its entire body quivered, the magna Pokémon panting with puffs of hot air. That was when Sam realised it wasn't angry at all.
It was terrified.
The Pokémon snarled as Sam reached out with a cautious hand, confirming its Feral nature as it tried to pick itself up. A green vine snapped forward past the Scorbunny, letting out a sharp crack not to dissimilar to a whip. Letting out a squeal, the Magby turned and bolted down one of the other corridors, scurrying away into the dark.
A heavy sigh escaped Bruce as his vine retracted back into his bulb. "Phew, I thought we're going to get fried…"
The concern in Nia's voice only grew ever more prevalent. "B-But why did it run? I know it's only young but it's still dangerous."
Sam's heart was already hardening as stared down the path that the Magby had originally came from. "Maybe it was running from something else…"
He could only hope that it was running from a crumbling cave, and not a larger, more dangerous Pokémon hiding down there.
That was the scream rushed in from directly ahead of them, Bruce automatically taking a step back as Nia herself cried out in surprise. But Sam's ears swivelled towards the source, and as if on autopilot, they began to catch the details of said scream.
"…hit! You're going to crush my legs!"
"I've got to move the boulder so we can pull you out!"
Denver! Edward!
"You're not one trapped!" Denver barked.
Another voice spat in response, "Shut it! Struggling ain't helping!"
Alice!
"You shut up Alice! You're not helping either!" Edward snapped.
Sam spun towards the others, backing up into the central tunnel, "I can hear the others! They're right up ahead!"
In that instant, Bruce and Nia's eyes brightened, the two breaking out into a run behind the Scorbunny as he led the way ahead. The scurried deeper into the tunnels, only stopping for Sam to work out the direction of the voices before pushing onwards.
They found them within another chamber, one that could have been mistaken as a larger tunnel at first glance. However, the opening at the far end was not the only break in the walls. Faint white beams of light fell through the ceiling, pushing away the red glow from the walls and the floor and replacing it with a more natural set of lighting. Must be getting closer to the surface.
The others were gathered in the middle of the chamber, the Yanma and Ducklett were the closest, the latter wincing as they held onto one wing. "My team!" Bruce cheered in undiluted relief, sprinting towards them. Nia shot off after him, no doubt looking for Dan.
Sam meanwhile slowed as he approached, looking past the rest of Team Forest. A large boulder rested at one side of the tunnel, where standing alongside it was Alice and Edward, eyes fixed onto it.
Denver was sprawled out at the edge of the boulder on the floor, his face wrinkled with pain as his tail slapped on the ground like a drumstick. Peering over the Skourpi's body, Sam could only wince. The bug type's legs was hidden from view, underneath the boulder.
Aidan and Dan however, were nowhere to be found.
"Shit." Sam uttered, pushing aside his concern and fears for the two missing Pokémon as the need to help Denver became more apparent, sprinting towards the Pokémon gathered by the boulder. "What the hell happened here!?"
"What do you bloody think!?" Denver roared, tail slamming down with even more force.
Edward barely glanced over his shoulder, "Aftershock shook the boulder loose, landed on Denver. We only just managed to get Callum's wing out, but I can't shift the boulder." He grunted as pressed his head against the rock and tried to push it, his hooves scraping against the stone floor. Denver cried out with a hiss, the boulder refusing to move.
Alice crouched down; eyes fixed on the point where the big rock was resting on Denver's legs. "I only need a little bit of a gap, and I can pull him out."
"No no!" Denver barked, shaking his head vigorously, "Don't let this bitch touch me! She probably caused this!"
"I'm one of those trying to get you out of this dipshit!" Alice snarled.
"Can we not get in a fight again!?" Sam snapped, stepping up alongside the Skiddo, "Look, I'll help push." He glanced back over his shoulder towards the others, "Can someone help us with this!?" he shouted.
Bruce's head snapped round, the Bulbasaur standing next to his hurt teammates, "S-sure! Give me a second!"
Once Bruce had got on over, the three Pokémon leaned against the boulder at the ready. "On three. Alice, get ready to pull him out." Sam said, pressing his shoulder against the warm stone.
"Got it." Alice replied, grabbing hold of Denver's side and tail.
"Alright… One. Two… three!"
Grunting, Sam threw his entire weight against the boulder, his entire body straining as his shoulder squished itself against the object. Edward and Bruce's groans rumbled down his ears as first the boulder resisted… and then began to move. Shoulder throbbing, Sam let out a pained cry as he pushed harder.
"Almost… ugh! I've got him!"
Sam jerked himself back, a faint thud being emitted as the stone rolled back into place. Edward was already by Denver's side, the Skorupi crying out as he tried to stand, his legs incredibly still intact, if severely bruised. His body quivered, and suddenly collapsed back into a heap. "I-I can't walk…" Denver gasped, shivering.
"You'll be fine." Alice stated coldly, "An Oran berry will help for now."
"He'll still need treatment." Edward pointed out with a glare, helping Denver up to his feet.
Sam moved to help them, lifting up Denver from the other side. "Has anyone seen Aidan?"
"What about Dan!?" Nia cried out, touching down near the Team Forest members.
Edward grunted as he lowered Denver down to the ground near the injured Ducklett. "I saw Aidan about twenty minutes ago." He explained with a wary tone, "We heard Dan's voice coming from down there."
The goat jabbed his head in the direction of the other exit from the chamber, further down. "Aidan went on ahead to try and find him. That was five minutes before the aftershock hit us."
Sam could only slump with relief, feeling that last heavy weight lift off. Aidan was alive. Alive and mobile. But he felt that smaller, but still prominent feeling of dread as he looked down towards that tunnel. Wondering what lay beyond. Was Dan trapped down there? What was Aidan walking into? Nia was already drifting past the border, her eyes fixed on the entrance. He looked back towards Edward, "Have you heard anything back from-"
"No. We haven't." Alice said, coming up next to them.
The shake of the Skiddo's head only confirmed that.
His concern only growing further, Sam took one final glance at the tunnel, trying to work out a plan of attack before directing his gaze back up towards the openings in the ceilings. They were dark shafts that ran straight up towards little pinpoints of light near the top. "I've tried shouting to get someone's attention." Alice explained, all the anger or distantness gone from her voice. "Not exactly had much luck though."
"It means we're close to the surface at least… all we need is for someone just to look down here."
As he turned round, Alice had narrowed her eyes. "Good luck with that." She stated, "I caught a glimpse of the outside, the quake was going off outside of the dungeon too. We've got no idea what state Broken Wood is in."
"Way to put a damper on things Alice." Bruce grumbled, strolling past back towards his team and earning a thinly veil glare from the Buneary.
"No point in trying to sugar-coat this bloody mess." She countered, jerking her head to the shafts. "A couple of holes in the ground aren't going to catch much attention."
The Bulbasaur stopped in his tracks and spun around on her, baring a pair of little fangs, "Well, what's your plan then witch?" he snapped, "Most of us can't climb up that! You want to try it? Wave a little flag whilst your up there?"
"I'm good at hopping up gradients, not sheer walls."
Hell, we can't start fighting now of all times!
Sam stepped in between the two, "Even if me or Alice could climb up the shafts, we don't know how far we'd have to go. One wrong move and…"
He let the words hang in the air, but not before another thought slipped into his mind. "Wait… we've got flyers, can't they fly up?"
"I wouldn't count on Filip to get up there." Edward replied, motioning with his head towards the Yanma. Sam hadn't paid much attention to him at first, but now he could make note of the dragonfly's face. His eyes seemed glazed over, his pupils fixed on the far wall and his wings were quivering up and down rhythmically. Even if a Yanma could make it up, he wasn't going to do it in that state.
That leaves…
"No! I want to stay here!"
Nia had finally recovered enough to face them again, shaking her head and holding her little hands together. "I want to look for Dan!"
Bruce was wondering back towards them, his eyes flicking up towards the shafts. "Err… That's not really a good idea Alice, maybe we should just hang on, maybe find another way-"
"Nia is the only one who can get up there." Alice said firmly, crossing her arms, "And she'll be able to call for attention."
Edward sighed, "She has a point…"
"No!" Denver shouted, eyes widening in blind panic. "She'll do anything to split us up!"
Nia's head meanwhile dipped down, "But Dan… I need to find him… if he's hurt…"
The Buneary's features seemed to soften, turning away as if to hide that softening expression. When she spoke, there was a faint quiver in her voice. "I'll look for him."
The Noibat's head snapped back up, "W-What?"
Shaking her head, Alice turned to her, her voice . "I'll look for him for you. I'll bring him out of there."
"Dang it, don't listen to her Nia!" Denver ranted, trying to rise to his feet only to collapse again. A flash of alarm flickered across Edward's face. "Denver…"
Alice frowned, "I'm not going to-"
"Not a chance you damn witch!" Denver cursed.
Bruce seemed conflicted, glancing between the three, "I don't know… if we start splitting up now… especially with… ugh…"
Sam was already beginning to sense the tension. The fear rise up around him. If they keep threatening to fall into a fight again, they might as well have been dead. For fucks sake, why do I have to keep pulling everyone back together?!
Thankfully for Sam, his response to all this was obvious. Especially so since it wasn't just Dan down there… but Aidan too.
"I'll go with Alice."
With the exception of Filip, the group collectively looked his way, the Scorbunny stepping up alongside Alice. "Aidan's down there too, besides, me and Alice will be able to cover most of the ground down there to find him and Dan. Everyone else can hunker down here whilst Nia flies up and tries to find Esper or… well… anyone."
Alice turned towards him, a scrawl widening across her face. "I don't need help on this-"
"Look around you Alice!" Sam snapped, waving an arm around the room, "You're going to need all the help you can get. You don't know what's down there." He let his voice get a little bit quieter, not enough to be a whisper but quiet nonetheless. "Let me help you."
She stiffened, a faint growl coming forth as if trying to scare him off. But Sam held his ground, and the Buneary let out a little groan. "Fine."
Satisfied, he turned towards Nia, "Think you can fly up there?"
Nia seemed to relax a bit at the prospect of someone looking for her friend, some of her fear drifting away and her old perkiness beginning to resurface. "O-Okay! I-I can do that. Just please… find Dan you two, okay?"
Sam pulled a thin smile, giving a sharp nod, "We will."
Denver closed his eyes, shaking his head and looking away and drawing Edward's attention away from the discussion. Bruce seemed ready to debate otherwise. A little bit of a flicker of disgust perhaps? But then the reptile shook his head and finally turned away, "I'll keep everyone else here. Don't get yourselves killed."
On cue, Nia flew up towards one of the shaft entrances, holding onto it with her claws as she looked down on the others. "S-Stay safe."
And with that, she entered the shaft and began her ascent.
Sam turned towards Alice, crossing his own arms. She flashed a cold, hard glare at him. "Can you ever take a hint?"
He flashed a little smirk, "I'm a bit of a stubborn bastard."
Alice huffed back at him… though he couldn't tell if Alice was frustrated or amused. "Don't try and be a hero." She stressed.
"As long as you don't punch my lights out."
That earned him a little chuckle. "Then let's go."
Alice began to hop down towards the tunnel, and Sam jogged alongside her, headed once more back into the depths.